Emerging trends threaten health gains

Photo by: AFP

An HIV-positive woman lies in her wooden house in central Phnom Penh. Despite impressive progress in reducing HIV rates in Cambodia, the Kingdom may still not meet its Millennium Development Goals for health.

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Robbie Corey-Boulet
Friday, 27 February 2009

Though the Kingdom has made progress since the health-related development goals were adopted, officials must now combat emergent trends as well as problems that persist WHEN Mony Pen discovered five years ago that she was HIV-positive, the list of things she did not know about the disease included how she got it, how she could treat it and how long she could live with it.

"People told me I was probably going to die very soon," said the 28-year-old Phnom Penh native, who learned of her status only when her husband, a policeman, died of full-blown Aids two years after they married.

These days, Mony Pen, now an adviser to the Cambodian Community of Women Living with HIV/Aids (CCW), knows all about transmission and treatment, and can discuss in detail everything from antiretroviral drugs to the threats posed by opportunistic infection.

She also knows this expertise sets her apart from the majority of Cambodian women, particularly those outside Phnom Penh. The 2005 Cambodia Demographic and Health Survey (CDHS) found, for example, that 67 percent of women in Mondulkiri and Ratanakkiri provinces believed HIV/Aids could be transmitted by a mosquito bite and 56 percent believed it could be spread "by supernatural means".

Mony Pen said she believes this lack of knowledge could fuel a resurgence of the disease that might erase the much-touted gains made against it in recent years.

This concern is not hers alone. UNAIDS Country Director Tony Lisle told the Post this week that several trends - in particular, the rise in so-called indirect sex work performed in beer halls and karaoke bars - could trigger an increase in new infections that might even "set the scene for a second-wave epidemic".

In this regard, Cambodia's fight against HIV/Aids resembles its broader effort to meet targets under the three health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

With some exceptions, notably in the area of maternal health, available data shows that Cambodia met or exceeded targets for 2005 and is likely to do the same in 2010 and 2015. But certain recent trends have muddied the picture, reinforcing the fact that progress is not inevitable.

Speaking in reference to HIV/Aids, Lisle captured a widely held view of the general health picture in the Kingdom, one articulated in recent interviews by doctors, NGO workers and government officials: "Yes, Cambodia, you've done a fabulous job," he said. "But it's not over."

Photo by: SOVANN PHILONG

An HIV-positive three-year-old child plays at home in Phnom Penh after receiving treatment at a Phnom Penh hospital

A FOUR-PART LOOK AT CAMBODIA'S MDGS
Last year marked the midway point for achieving the Millennium Development Goals, benchmarks for developing countries established in 2000 that cover everything from poverty to environmental sustainability. Last year also marked the five-year anniversary of the adoption of Cambodia's Millennium Development Goals, the localised versions of the global goals. In a four-part series, the Post looks at the progress made and the challenges that remain in achieving targets set for 2010 and 2015, drawing on government data as well as interviews with officials, NGO workers and Cambodians who stand to benefit from the effort. Part Two looks at the goals for child mortality, maternal health and diseases such as HIV/Aids.

Child mortality
A recent survey assessing the impact of rising food prices on child health underscored the tenuous nature of progress made in pursuit of MDG No 4: to reduce child mortality.

The Cambodian Anthropometric Survey, findings of which were made public last week, found that the percentage of children classified as acutely malnourished - the number of which had fallen by half between 2000 and 2005 - increased from 8.4 percent in 2005 to 8.9 percent in 2008.

The strong link between child malnutrition and child mortality - noted, among other places, in the 2005 assessment of MDG targets published by the Ministry of Planning - suggests that, in light of the survey results, Cambodia might have trouble meeting its 2015 target mortality rate for children younger than five: 65 deaths per 1,000 live births.

The survey results run counter to Cambodia's recent performance in the area of child health. Between 1998 and 2005, the under-five child mortality rate fell from 124 per 1,000 live births to 82, far surpassing the target of 105.

Viorica Berdaga, chief of child survival at Unicef, said via email that this decline could be attributed to factors including better access to safe water and the promotion of breastfeeding, which provides children with disease-fighting antibodies.

But Berdaga also noted that the mortality decline was in part due to a lowered fertility rate, which calls into question Cambodia's ability to reduce child mortality even further.

In its 2005 assessment, the Ministry of Planning noted that fertility declines have had a similar effect on child mortality in other developing countries but that, in most cases, "the initial positive impact" was "not enough to sustain continued improvement in child mortality due to underlying causal factors". Berdaga said this assessment could be applied to Cambodia as well.

Asked to predict whether Cambodia would meet the 2015 child mortality target, Berdaga could say only that the Kingdom "has a chance".

Maternal health
If current trends continue, several experts said, Cambodia has little, if any, chance of achieving targets set under the fifth MDG: to improve maternal health.

The most recent reliable data shows that the maternal health situation has worsened as of late. The Cambodia Demographic and Health Survey (CDHS) found that the maternal mortality rate per 100,000 live births had increased from 437 in 1997 to 472 in 2005. The interim target for that year was 343.

In a recent email interview, however, Pen Sophanara, a communications associate for the United Nations Population Fund, emphasised the "promising signs" she said could potentially reverse the trend, including higher rates of deliberate birth- spacing.

She echoed the conclusion presented in the 2005 Ministry of Planning assessment that officials could significantly lower the maternal mortality rate by providing more family planning resources, which allow women to allot sufficient time between pregnancies. Longer gaps between pregnancies tend to result in smoother pregnancies and healthier infants.

On top of limited family planning, Pen Sophanara said efforts to improve maternal health continued to be hindered by a shortage of midwives and skilled birth attendants.

She said the Ministry of Health was aiming to have one midwife stationed at each of the Kingdom's health centres by the end of the year. In addition to bolstering recruitment, she said, officials will need to distribute resources to rural health centres to ensure midwives can be effective.

Kek Galabru, president of the rights group Licadho, said midwives should be able to take blood samples, conduct ultrasounds and screen for potential delivery complications.

She also stressed that midwives should be adequately paid so they do not collect informal fees, a practice that prevents very poor women from accessing health services.

Pen Sophanara said midwife recruitment and other efforts in place could potentially yield a drop in the maternal mortality rate, pushing it closer to the goal of 140 deaths per 100,000 live births by 2015.

"Nobody wants to see women die giving lives," she said. "If these figures continue to be positive, maternal death will be lowered."

Photo by: ROBBIE COREY-BOULETMony Pen, whose late husband gave her HIV, works to give women access to HIV/Aids information.

The HIV/Aids fight
One target already surpassed is that pertaining to HIV/Aids infection, a leading indicator of progress made in achieving the sixth MDG: to combat HIV/Aids, malaria and other diseases.

Meeting the target resulted in part because of a statistical error that caused the rate of infection in the late-1990s - which was used as a base in establishing benchmarks through 2015 - to be artificially inflated when the MDGs were adopted. Because of the adjustment that occurred when better data became available, current rates of infection are already lower than the targets.

For example, the estimated prevalence among Cambodian adults in 2006 was 0.9 percent, lower than the 2005 target (2.3 percent), the 2010 target (2 percent) and even the 2015 target (1.8 percent).

According to a 2008 UNAIDS report, however, Cambodia's prevalence rate is the second-highest among all countries in South and Southeast Asia (only Thailand's is higher). And, while acknowledging progress, Lisle and other experts cited a range of persistent problems.

Mony Pen said she has concluded from her own observations that discrimination against those infected with the disease remains high.

Sou Sina, 29, who is from Sihanoukville and now works at CCW in Phnom Penh, said she encountered this very obstacle when she tested positive at the age of 20.

"At the time, my family took care of me, but they were afraid," she said. "They didn't understand the disease. And that broke my heart."

Like Mony Pen, Sou Sina learned of her status only when her husband died. She also found out then that her son had been infected through mother-to-child transmission, but she did not know how to obtain treatment for him. He died two years later - at the age of four - of tuberculosis.

Lisle said it is common for women to become infected by their husbands unwittingly. In addition, he pointed to data suggesting that programs designed to prevent mother-to-child transmission have been ineffective.

Data from 2008 indicated a mother-to-child transmission rate for HIV-positive pregnant women of 35 percent.

Lisle said Cambodia has traditionally "led the region" in the fight against HIV/Aids, adding that he has every reason to believe this will continue. But a failure to respond to these emergent trends, he said, could quickly render the Kingdom's recent progress aberrational.

In Cambodia, Lisle cautioned, there exists the threat of "a second epidemic waiting right around the corner".

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY MOM KUNTHEAR AND CHEANG SOKHA

Tribunal graft charges spread

Photo by: HENG CHIVOAN
Monks file into the Extraordinary Chambers on the opening day of Duch's trial on February 17.

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Cat Barton
Friday, 27 February 2009

German delegation exposes results of secret UN probe; staff concur

IT became a monthly ritual: Employees on the Cambodian side of the Khmer Rouge tribunal would get paid, and then they would - somewhat grudgingly - hand over some of their salaries to their supervisors.

"You get paid in full, but when you [collect] it, you put it in an envelope and give it to the collector," a former employee at the UN-backed court told the Post in an interview late last year, describing how many of those working at the court were forced to hand over a percentage of their paychecks to higher-placed officials.

"In front of people, you're told to say, ‘No one is taking away my money,' [and] the money transferred into your account is the full amount, but then you have to ... give over the percentage," the employee said.

These kickback allegations are at the heart of a corruption scandal that has plagued the tribunal since they first came to light in 2006.

Despite denials from Cambodian court officials, the accusations were of enough concern to spark a review by the UN - the results of which have never been made public.

But a report from a German parliamentary delegation, written in November after its members met with the tribunal's deputy director of administration, Knut Rosandhaug, has shed some light on the graft allegations, detailing a bleak assessment of the court's corruption problems.

"A serious problem is the grave corruption which impedes on the work of the hybrid court," the report cites Rosandhaug as saying.

"Cambodian employees are required to pay kickbacks in order to be able to work," the report says, with the authors - members of the Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid Committee of the German parliament - using the German term schutzgelder, which literally means protection money.

Rosandhaug told the Post Thursday that he had no comment, as the “document referred to is issued by an entity outside the UN and the ECCC.”

“It is now for the Germans to comment,” he added.

The report had been available on the Bundestag website but was unavailable Thursday afternoon with no explanation. Rainer Buescher, the delegation’s press officer, did not respond to requests for comment Thursday.

The report’s findings, however, support accounts given by tribunal staffers and the concerns of lawyers for Brother No 2, Nuon Chea, who have sought to launch a criminal investigation into the alleged graft.

“It certainly confirms some of our worst suspicions,” Andrew Ianuzzi, a legal consultant for Nuon Chea’s defence team, said Thursday.

One court staffer explained in a series of interviews conducted with the Post how the kickback operation worked.

“For the first four months [of my contract], I paid 70 percent [of my salary in kickbacks], then it went down to 10 percent,” said the employee, who requested anonymity for fear of retribution.

“Let’s say you are the supervisor. You have 30 people under you, so the people under you know to give their envelope [containing the kickback] to you, and you hand it to Sean Visoth,” the employee said, referring to Cambodia’s top court administrator who is implicated in the Bundestag report. “In all the sections, it’s the same thing.”

The scheme was deeply unpopular – “Would you like it if you got paid, then your money got taken away?” the employee asked – but was maintained by a climate of fear.

“I’m afraid, if they know I talk to you, they’re not going to take a gun and shoot me in my face, but they will find some way [to fire me] … or they [will hurt] my kids,” the employee said.

“I can tell you until the day you close the door, the corruption will still go on,” the employee added.

“Anyone who speaks, they will be terminated.... They will set up their committee and find a way to get rid of that person who has talked, and that is why up to now” no information has come out.

Included in the Bundestag report are details of last July’s UN probe.

“It is deeply troubling – everyone had been placing blame for corruption on the Cambodian government, but now it seems like someone or some officials with the UN are involved in a potential coverup,” Ianuzzi said.

“It is very damaging for the credibility of the tribunal. Why are international officers protecting corrupt Cambodian officials?” he added.

The report cites Rosandhaug as saying that “the United Nations should withdraw from the tribunal, in case the national government continues to object following up on the corruption allegations”.

“Until today, the government categorically denies the existence of that problem. The United Nations would suffer from a loss of credibility if they’d support a tribunal which is characterised by corruption,” he said, according to the report.

In January, the Nuon Chea defence team filed a complaint to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, claiming unresolved graft allegations threatened the legitimacy of the tribunal and violated their client’s right to a fair trial. The lawyers accused Sean Visoth and the court’s former chief of personnel, Keo Thyvuth, of violating criminal law by “perpetrating, facilitating, aiding and/or abetting an organised regime of institutional corruption at the ECCC during the pending judicial investigation”. They also demanded the results of the UN investigation be released.

The complaint prompted a criminal investigation, but this was abruptly dropped in February.

Sean Visoth has been on sick leave since November, and the head of the court’s public affairs department, Helen Jarvis, said she knew of no date for his planned return to work.

“As far as I know, the UN does not have authority to conduct investigations into Cambodian staffers,” she said Thursday, adding that she knew nothing about the report and could not comment on it.

Sean Visoth could not be reached Thursday, but a woman answering his phone said he was too busy to speak to a reporter.

“It is unclear from the [German] report what exactly the UN found Visoth to be guilty of – did he pay money from his position? Or did he demand money from others? From our perspective ... the latter is more complicated, as it suggests more ECCC officials may be involved,” Ianuzzi said.

“We have some information that the UN has a sectional list” of officials involved in corruption, he added.

The team says this is troubling, as the office of administration is responsible for nine sections of the court, including court management and victim support.

“If everyone in the office of administration is paying kickbacks, everyone is compromised,” Ianuzzi said.

He said the defence team now planned to write a follow-up letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and forward a copy of the delegation’s report to the Phnom Penh Court of Appeal’s prosecutor general in a bid to reopenthe criminal investigation.

In addition, the delegation’s report quotes Rosandhaug as saying the Cambodian government “tries to interfere in the work of the tribunal”.

“The government of Cambodia has already signalled that it will not allow for additional criminal investigations to be opened,” the report says.

The court’s international co-prosecutor, Robert Petit, has sought to try an additional six suspects, but his Cambodian counterpart, Chea Leang, has voiced opposition.

The key question now, however, is what the response – other than further hushing up of the issue – will come from the UN, Ianuzzi said.

“There is a lot of momentum. Things are moving forward. The Duch hearing last week was a success, [and] many people are emotionally and professionally invested in the tribunal, and they want to see it succeed,” he said.

“But everyone needs to take a long hard look at what are the allegations, [and] I hope Knut makes a comment. What this institution really needs is leadership, and no one is leading the ECCC at the moment.”

Ieng Sary ill; hearing postponed

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Georgia Wilkins
Friday, 27 February 2009

In his absence, lawyers argue for his release

DETAINED former Khmer Rouge minister Ieng Sary's bail hearing was postponed to April 2 after he was deemed unfit by doctors to attend the Khmer Rouge tribunal for the scheduled hearing on Thursday.

The 83-year-old was admitted to hospital Monday after doctors found blood in his urine. He was discharged Wednesday.

Lawyers for the accused octogenarian continued to press for his release in his absence on the basis that insufficient medical care was available at the court's detention centre.

"Pre-trial detention is not a form of punishment," co-lawyer Michael Karnavas told the court.

"One cannot discuss the health issue if one does not know what the heath issue is," he added on the issue of getting doctors to provide information as "experts" to the case.

It was also debated whether or not the court could have a hearing in his absence, with civil party lawyers arguing that a video link to the former leader's jail cell could be set up.

This was dismissed by defence lawyers, who claimed it would give a false sense of justice and strip Ieng Sary's right to participate in his trial.

In a press conference after the hearing, Karnavas criticised the pace of decisions at the UN-backed tribunal.

"When it takes 11 months to make a decision, it is unacceptable," he added, calling the chamber a "black hole".

However Cambodian co-prosecutor Tan Senarong said, "We don't intend any delay of the hearing but unfortunately, as you know, Ieng Sary's health is not good."

Vendors protest relocation

Photo by: HENG CHIVOAN
May Chhann, an Olympic Market vendor who is 71 years old, protests the relocation order on Thursday morning.

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by May Titthara
Friday, 27 February 2009

Streetside fish vendors near Olympic Market say they'll continue to protest relocation order, as city officials say removal necessary to ease traffic jams.

FISH vendors from the capital's Olympic Market say efforts to protest their forced removal from the streets where they have long operated have been met with threats of police violence.

Some 100 of the vendors were trying to deliver a letter to City Hall on Thursday when police told them to turn back or face physical
punishment, forcing them to move their protest to a different venue, according to a representative of the group, May Kim Seak.

City authorities sent letters to the area's 766 street vendors on February 2 telling them they would have to cease trading on the sidewalks near the market by last Sunday in a bid to clean up the area.

"We just want the Phnom Penh governor [Kep Chuktema] to resolve our problem and help us keep our right to sell at our old places," said May Kim Seak.

She said that in 1993 the vendors had been forced to move to street 310, one block from Olympic Market. Now, she said, the municipality wanted them to move even further away from the market.

"We have handed in our letter and the municipal Cabinet has stamped it. They said they would work out a settlement and told us we should stop protesting and go home," she said.

Another vendor, Heng Vannak, who is disabled, said he had been waiting four days for the authorities to resolve the issue, but nothing had happened. "I can't earn any money because I have to come and protest," he complained.

Lo Yuy, Chamkarmon district governor, said the vendors' sales activities had damaged the street and the authorities needed to repair it.

The commune chief of the Tuol Svay Prey I commune, Ly Pu, said vendors had the right to protest but that would not affect the municipality's determination to stick with its development project. And that meant they would not be allowed to sell from the sidewalks of Street 310 again, he said.

"That area is the street. We have provided them with new stores they can move to," he said of the municipality's plan to shift them to a street behind the Tuol Sleng Primary School. "We want to eliminate the culture of sidewalk selling. They have clogged up traffic for 10 years now."

Rights Report: 'Poor' rights record

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Georgia Wilkins
Friday, 27 February 2009

RIGHTS REPORT

THE United States lamented Cambodia's "poor" human rights record in its annual human rights report Wednesday, citing the abuse of detainees, the impunity of security forces and "endemic" corruption as the areas of most concern. The report is submitted to the US Congress every year, along with 195 other country reports, for foreign policy decisions. "Security forces committed extrajudicial killings and acted with impunity. Detainees were abused, often to extract confessions, and prison conditions were harsh," it says. Embassy spokesman John Johnson said the US was "working with the Cambodian government on most, if not all, of the issues brought up in the report".

Comfrel report blasts council elections scheduled for May

FUNDING THE VOTE
The 2008 general election cost $16.8 million and accommodated roughly 8.1 million voters. The council elections scheduled for May will cost $1.5 million but will only accommodate 11,353 voters, according to the National Election Committee.

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Meas Sokchea
Friday, 27 February 2009

In a new report, the election watchdog argues that the polls will not be of interest to the average voter and will also be too expensive.

THE Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia (Comfrel) on Thursday issued a report criticising the upcoming council elections scheduled for May, in which the group says the polls will hold no interest for the general public, which is not allowed to vote in them, and will therefore prove largely meaningless.

The report states that the elections will be relevant only to the political parties that won council seats in 2007's commune council elections.

May's council elections will see the country's 11,353 commune councillors vote to determine the representation of their respective parties at the higher-level district councils and the municipal and provincial councils.

The election process is part of the government's strategy to devolve power to fill the gap between representation at the local and national levels.

Under the council election law, councillors may not vote for any individual of their choosing but instead must vote for one of the candidates put up by each party represented in that commune. That, said Comfrel Executive Director Koul Panha, means the system is flawed.

No real ballot choice
The report points out what it regards as another problem: Because commune councillors were appointed to the ballot list by their respective parties, and thereby won their posts, they need to serve that party's interests. For that reason, Comfrel states, they are unlikely to vote for the candidate of another party - even if they want to.

"So in reality, they will simply vote for their own party, although some could be bought off by other parties," the report states.

Cost concerns
The report also argues that the cost per voter will far exceed the cost per voter in the 2008 general election. The general election cost US$16.8 million for around 8.1 million voters. According to the National Election Committee (NEC), which manages the country's polls, the vote in May will cost $1.5 million for 11,353 voters - more than 50 times as much per voter.

NEC Secretary General Tep Nytha said the law requires his organisation to run the council poll but acknowledged the cost will be much higher per voter and said this is due to the logistics required for the vote.

"In the national election, we would have one ballot box in each office," he said. "But in the council election, we have two ballot boxes and two voting forms because councillors are voting for the district level and the provincial level."

Pursat, Battambang villagers say armed robbery on the rise

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Thet Sambath
Friday, 27 February 2009

Villagers' robbery totals in many cases differ from totals provided by police, who some allege are not doing enough to curb the trend.

CHHIT Cheak, 52, was getting ready for bed Saturday night when four robbers entered his home in Pursat's Bakan district, pistol-whipped him and pointed a gun to his head. One of the robbers then cut his head with an ax, he said, before the group stole more than US$300 worth of gold and $50 in cash.

"They hit me and tried to kill me because I had no more money for them, but luckily I was able to hide under a heavy bed," he said.

Chhit Cheak said he has heard of five cases of similar armed robberies this year in nearby villages.

Other villagers in Bakan district said there have been at least two cases of armed robbery in the district this month. They said they had also heard of other robberies taking place elsewhere in Pursat, marking an increase over previous years.

But Ros Bunnan, provincial police chief in Pursat, told the Post Wednesday that there had been just one robbery case this year and four or five in 2008.

"I do not think robbery cases have increased in my province," he said.

But Pursat is not the only place where villagers' accounts conflict with those of law enforcement officials.

In recent interviews with the Post, villagers in Battambang and Pailin provinces also reported a spate of robberies in rural areas, with some asserting that ineffective law enforcement had failed to address the problem.

Effects of the robberies
"They are frightening people," Chhit Cheak said of the robberies. "People do not dare go out of their homes at nighttime."

"I am worried of robberies because they have happened more and more in remote villages", said Mom Sarin, who also lives in Bakan. "They
are armed with guns and no one dares to intervene."

Mom Sarin said the tight networks typical of rural villages worked in the robbers' favour.

"When they know someone has sold rice, pigs or cows, they can then rob them at nighttime," Mom Sarin said.

Yoeum Ny, 49, who lives in Battambang's Banan district, said she was robbed at knifepoint Sunday night of 1,100,000 riels ($266.60) and 16,000 baht ($445.18).

"They robbed me, they hit me and they cut me with a knife when I was shouting for intervention from relatives," she said. "I did not know if they had guns or not because it was so dark. But they threatened to kill me, and then they slashed me with a knife."

She added: "We all are worried of security at nighttime. We cannot sleep because we are worried about robberies."

Yin Mengly, provincial coordinator for the rights group Adhoc, said there have been at least two armed robberies in Bakan in February, one on February 19 and another on Sunday. He added that he believes there have been more in other districts.

Por Vannak, military police chief in Battambang, said there were at least 10 robbery cases this year in the province.

Sor Thet, Battambang's police chief, acknowledged that robberies were on the rise in remote villages but said he did not have enough officers at his disposal to launch a crackdown.

Chea Mony asks to meet disgraced top cop in prison

Photo by: HENG CHIVOAN
Former Phnom Penh police Chief Heng Pov shown here in a file photo.

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Neth Pheaktra and Tom Hunter
Friday, 27 February 2009

Union president has requested permission to visit Heng Pov, who oversaw the investigation of his brother's slaying.

CHEA MONY, president of the Free Trade Union (FTU), has requested permission to visit the former Phnom Penh police chief, Heng Pov, in Prey Sar prison.

Chea Mony said he intends to visit the former police commissioner primarily to inquire about the 2004 killing of his brother, former FTU leader Chea Vichea, who was gunned down at a Phnom Penh newsstand. He told the Post Thursday that he would not force the ex-top cop to talk about his brother's slaying, but hoped they would be able to discuss it.

Heng Pov is currently serving a 58-year sentence on a range of charges including kidnapping, murder and extortion. He attempted to flee the country and was granted political asylum in Sweden before being deported from Malaysia back to Cambodia.

Heng Pov was in charge of the investigation into Chea Vichea's death and has hinted subsequently that he knows about an alleged coverup.

The two men convicted for the killing - Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun - were released by the Supreme Court in December, pending further investigation.

Heng Pov's lawyer, Koa Sopha, told the Post Thursday the visit could be in both of their interests - hinting that Heng Pov could potentially shed new light on Chea Vichea's murder. He added that the UN and other NGOs should visit Heng Pov in prison, saying that "while he is accused of nine crimes, he is also human".

Thun Saray, president of the rights group Adhoc, told the Post Thursday it would likely be difficult to gain access to this high-profile prisoner.

Mong Kim Heng, Prey Sar prison director, said he had not yet received Chea Mony's letter of request and declined further comment.

Group says robbery suspects tortured

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Thet Sambath and Chhay Channyda
Friday, 27 February 2009

THE Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee called Wednesday for an investigation into the alleged torture of five robbery suspects who were arrested in Battambang province late last month.

In a letter submitted to the Battambang provincial prosecutor, the coalition of rights groups pushed for an investigation of the military police officers responsible for the suspects' detention.

The five suspects were arrested in Battambang's Bavel district on January 31 in connection with a robbery committed the day before, Yin Mengly, provincial coordinator for the rights group Adhoc, told the Post Thursday. They were initially detained in the district prison before being transferred to Battambang provincial prison.

At a February 3 court hearing, Yin Mengly said, the suspects appeared to have been brutally beaten.

"They were seriously injured, with scars and bruises all over their bodies," Yin Mengly said, adding that he believed the bruises were inflicted with a bat and were part of an attempt to get the suspects to confess.

Por Vannak, military police commander in Battambang province, denied the torture allegations and accused rights groups of reflexively supporting suspected criminals.

More gambling centres close

Photo by: Heng Chivoan
A security guard stands in front of a closed branch of Sporting Live in Phnom Penh on Thursday. The company is the latest gambling entity to face closure, it said.

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Chun Sophal and Hor Hab
Friday, 27 February 2009

Sporting Live Group among many gaming venues shut down across the Kingdom following Prime Minister Hun Sen's crackdown on Cambo Six.

THE government's crackdown on licensed gambling extended beyond Cambo Six on Thursday following an earlier directive targeting all electronic gaming, slot machines and sports betting in the Kingdom, officials said.

Minister of Finance Keat Chhon said he issued a declaration Wednesday terminating all previously valid licenses following a directive by Prime Minister Hun Sen the same day ending gambling to "make social reform, strengthen public order, and improve social morality".

"We will punish - in accordance with the law - any business licensee who disrespects this declaration," Keat Chhon said.

Sporting Live Group, an internet-based sports gambling chain set up in 2006, was forced to close, it said Thursday, the latest company to be hit by the government crackdown on gambling after Hun Sen's abrupt announcement on Tuesday that Cambo Six would be closed for moral reasons.

"We agreed to close our business in accordance with the government's decision," said a Sporting Live employee who requested anonymity.

Its Phnom Penh branches were shuttered Thursday, while other officials outside the capital reported they had forced closures in the provinces.

Like Cambo Six, Sporting Live also has foreign backers, although the company employee refused to answer questions about the overseas money invested. It employs 200 workers, he said.

Both Sporting Live and Cambo Six said Thursday that they had not been able to pay out all winnings owed to customers because of the crackdown, despite Keat Chhon's insistence that all punters could be paid by the end of Wednesday.

Nancy Chau, manager of Cambo Six's head office, said Thursday that during a meeting with Keat Chhon the previous day, she had been advised to send a letter to the prime minister requesting a compromise on the issue in a bid to save the considerable investment - both domestic and foreign - in the company.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We agreed to close our business in accordance with the government's
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"We told the prime minister we have an agreement; we cannot immediately end the agreement," she said, referring to the company's licence, which before this week's forced termination had been valid until January 31, 2011.

Chau said there had been no reply from Hun Sen as of Thursday afternoon.

"We do not know [the response] - we are lost right now," she said.

Daun Penh district Governor Sok Sambath told the Post he had followed the government's directive to cease the operations of licensed gaming venues.

"We have closed all seven Cambo Six branches, three Sporting Live branches and nine slot-machine venues in Daun Penh, he said.

In Preah Sihanouk province, Governor Sboang Sarath also closed a number of gambling venues, he said.

In Phnom Penh, however, the NagaWorld, a riverside casino featuring slot machines, was still operating as normal on Thursday afternoon.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STEVE FINCH

S'ville port to go online, official says

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Sam Rith
Friday, 27 February 2009

Integrated Asean agreement expected to expedite customs clearance around region.

CAMBODIA is set to implement a major Asean agreement that would drastically cut customs clearance times and allow importers to access the entire region through Sihanoukville Port, a port official.

Starting in May, authorities will apply the Asean Single Window (ASW), which synchronises customs information systems and allows traders to forward goods to any Asean country after clearing one regional port of entry, said Ma Sunhout, deputy director general at the Sihanoukville Autonomous Port.

The agreement went into effect in 2008 in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam are set to implement the plan by 2012, which would see the region linked by a unified customs system.

Ma Sunhout said that computer systems and customs procedures are being revamped for the ASW.

"We will officially implement the Asean Single Window in May ... at Sihanoukville Autonomous Port," he said.

He expected that an inaugural event will be presided over by Prime Minister Hun Sen on May 1.

Businesses have long complained that inefficiency and corruption in Cambodia's customs systems harms Cambodia's competitiveness.

Ma Sunhout said the system would reduce clearance times and cut business costs, especially for importers or companies relying on foreign feedstocks.

Under the plan, clearance times would be cut to 30 minutes, from a regional average of four hours, he said.

Single checkpoint
The Sihanoukville Port plans to build a single customs clearance point to quicken the approval process.

Sin Chanthy, secretary general of the Cambodia Freight Forwarders Association, said he was pleased that the plan will soon be realised.

"I am very happy to hear the news that the government will officially implement the Asean Single Window in May," Chanthy said.

"I hope that through the Asean Single Window clearance will be cheaper and less expensive."

Chanthy said customs procedures have improved in the leadup to the ASW with the creation of an electronic document processing system, but that processing still takes between three and five hours per container.

He noted that the cost of clearance has fallen in the past year from US$50 to $25 for a small container, and from $80 to $40 for a large container.

Tias Tary, a customs officer at Tanjung Priok Port in Jakarta said ASW had been successful in her country. "This system has really reduced time and cost," she told a group of journalists touring Southeast Asia last week on a program sponsored by the East-West Centre of Hawaii.

Hyundai to delay parts plant, open showroom

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Nguon Sovan and George Mcleod
Friday, 27 February 2009

The announcement follows official visit from Hyundai boss to gain support for new factory

South Korea's Hyundai Motors said it is delaying construction of a parts assembly plant in Cambodia after the company's vice chairman, Choi Han Young, met Prime Minister Hun Sen and National Assembly President Heng Samrin to drum up support for the venture.

Jason Sun, director of Star Motors (Cambodia) - the authorised local Hyundai distributor - said that the plans would have to be delayed because of the global financial crisis, which has seen automobile demand nosedive around the world, including in Cambodia.

However, he said Hyundai still planned to go ahead with a new Hyundai showroom in Phnom Penh to increase the company's presence.

"Cambodia is a small market, but the standard of living is rising, and there is lots of potential," he said.

The showroom, located on Russian Boulevard, has already been built and will be launched "in a few weeks", Sun added.

Choi met Hun Sen on Tuesday and Heng Samrin Wednesday, and an application for the parts assembly plant is currently being considered by the authorities.

"We have submitted our investment proposal to the council for the development in Cambodia already, but there is no approval yet," said Sun, declining to reveal the investment cost, the location and when construction will begin.

"I received the investment proposal for [Hyundai's assembly plant]," Sok Chenda, secretary general for the Council for the Development of Cambodia, said Thursday. He declined to reveal the details of the proposal.

Tough market
Around 300 Hyundai vehicles are currently sold each year in Cambodia, but the company is entering a tough market, with all car companies reporting weak sales on the economic slowdown.

Kong Nuon, president of TTHK Co Ltd, Cambodia's only Toyota distributor, forecast that auto sales would drop 40 percent within the next two years due to the economic crisis and the real estate downturn.

He added that 2,800 new cars were typically sold in Cambodia each year, and about 20,000 secondhand automobiles changed hands. Sales of new cars were shared between around six automobile importers: Toyota, Ford, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Mercedes and Ssangyong, he said.

In a related development, the local partner in a joint venture Yamaha motorcycle manufacturing facility in Phnom Penh told the Post Monday that construction had also been delayed as a result of the global economic crisis.

Kong Nuon, who is also president of Kong Nuon Import & Export, added that planned capacity had been scaled back between 30 and 40 percent from 30,000 motorcycles in the first year.

Globally, Hyundai has fared better than other car companies. Bloomberg reported the Seoul-based company saw US sales jump 14 percent from a year earlier in January, while industry-wide sales fell 37 percent.

Korea's answer to pizza a hit at Bi-Ryong restaurant

Photo by: Sovann Philong
Phnom Penh's Bi-Ryong restaurant has a varied menu of Chinese and Korean dishes, but the Korean black noodles, pictured at left, is by far the house favourite.

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Nora Lindstrom
Friday, 27 February 2009

The Korean-owned eatery serves up an unusual array of Chinese and Korean cuisine including the house specialty - black noodles, the quintessential Korean comfort food.

Located deep in Korea Town just off Monivong Boulevard on Street 334, Bi-Ryong restaurant serves up an unusual array of traditional Korean and Chinese treats. Though the restaurant brandishes itself as Chinese, it is Korean-run and the menu features popular dishes from both countries catering to a variety of tastes.

However, it is the noodles with black bean sauce that Bi-Ryong is famous for. Appearing on the menu under its Chinese name zhajiang mien, this big bowl of food is called jajangmyeon in Korean, and Bi-Ryong restaurant chefs prepare the dish according to the traditional Korean recipe.

The dish, featuring thick noodles made from wheat flour, as well as onion, zucchini and meat or seafood in a black sauce made from roasted soybeans, is in fact considered by many to be Korea's answer to pizza.

As the sauce is difficult to prepare at home, a delivery industry similar to that of pizza in Western countries has developed around the dish in Korea, Yoonjung Garu Kim, a Korean NGO worker in Phnom Penh, told The Post last week.

The jajangmyeon is served in two bowls: a larger one with the noodles, and a smaller one with the sauce. While the sauce does not look particularly appetising, with its black colour and somewhat gelatinous consistency, once mixed in with the green-tinged noodles the whole appears more enticing.

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As the sauce is difficult to prepare ... a delivery industry has developed around the dish in Korea.
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It is once you tuck in, however, that you realise what the Koreans are going nuts for. Zhajiang mien, or jajangmyeon, whichever you think it is, is incredibly tasty. The sauce is sweet but not overpoweringly so, while the noodles are reminiscent of spaghetti.

The few bits of seafood or meat in the bowl can be difficult to find among the vast amounts of fried onion, but ultimately that matters little, as the sauce and noodles make for an unexpectedly yummy treat.

Similarly to its Western counterpart, pizza, the nutritional value of the dish is low, but it is filling and satisfying in exactly the same way.

At US$4 to $6, jajangmyeon is easily the most affordable item on the menu.

The rest of the Bi-Ryong menu is extensive and expensive. It features various dishes of sea cucumber in the $35 to $50 range, as well as unappetisingly sounding cold jellyfish for $20.

As is traditional in Korean restaurants, side dishes, or banchan, are served with every meal. However, merely a few of these were served at Bi-Ryong. Accompanying the meal were only small portions of kimchi, pickled radish, black bean paste and sweet onion.

The ambience
In true modern Asian style, Bi-Ryong restaurant is lit by fluorescent lights and the air-conditioning is on full blast.

In the main room, the TV shows a Korean soap with English subtitles, suggesting the place is more of an eatery than a restaurant. However, the restaurant also offers a number of private rooms for those in search of an escape from the communal atmosphere.

The global recession has driven many Koreans to leave Cambodia for their homeland, or alternatively, to eat at more affordable restaurants than those run by their compatriots.

Bi-Ryong restaurant, and others like it, are thus significantly quieter these days, which is unfortunate as this subtracts from the atmosphere and allows the TV to take over.

That said, the owner at Bi-Ryong was so pleased to see a foreign customer that he wished to welcome me in person, while several of the Korean patrons complimented me on my choice of the Korean dish jajangmyeon.

Bi-Ryong (or Chinese Restaurant, as stated on its sign board) is open daily from 11:30am to 9:30pm.

The Phnom Penh Post News In Brief

In Brief: Asean summit opens

Written by Cheng Sokha
Friday, 27 February 2009

The 14th Asean Summit is set to begin today in Cha-am, Thailand, near the resort town of Hua Hin. Prime Minister Hun Sen is expected to hold sideline talks with his Thai counterpart, Abhisit Vejjajiva, to discuss the dispute over territory along their shared border that has dragged on for more than seven months and included a fatal clash.


In Brief: Officials deny king's meddling

Written by Neth Pheaktra
Friday, 27 February 2009

In a posting on its website, the Foreign Affairs Ministry on Thursday refuted claims that King Norodom Sihamoni had lobbied for the election of Algeria's former foreign affairs minister for the top post at the United Nation's cultural arm, Unesco. The posting came after a recent article in the Algerian newspaper El Khara, which said Sihamoni had been in contact with Mohammed Bedjaoui to support him in a bid to replace current Unesco general director, Koichiro Matsuura, of Japan.


In Brief: Anti-malarial resistant parasites

Written by Robbie corey-Boulet
Friday, 27 February 2009

New studies provide evidence that malaria parasites resistant to the anti-malarial drug artemisinin have emerged along the Thai-Cambodian border, the World Health Organisation said Wednesday. The parasites could "seriously undermine" progress made in controlling the disease, which has been aided by increased use of artemisinin-based combination therapies. "If we do not put a stop to the drug-resistant malaria situation that has been documented in the Thai-Cambodia border, it could spread rapidly to neighbouring countries and threaten our efforts to control this deadly disease," said Hiroki Nakatani, the WHO's assistant director general.


Quarterfinals kickoff

Written by Dan Riley
Friday, 27 February 2009

PHNOM PENH - The quaterfinals of the top domestic football competition, the Samdech Hun Sen Cup, begin Saturday with Build Bright University - who scraped through the last round against Kiriong Sok Sen Chey on penalties - against defending champions Phnom Penh Crown in the 2pm kickoff slot at Olympic Stadium. The day's later fixture kicking off at 4:15pm sees last year's runners up Preah Khan Reach take on Post Tel Club who have already scored ten goals in the competition thanks to a demolition of Battambang Province in the previous round. Admission to the stadium is free and games are broadcast on TVK.

Protests Erupt in Thailand

NTDTV

Thousands of red-shirted protesters carried banners saying "Hijack the Prime Minister" outside Bangkok's Government House, amid tightened security.

The United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship is putting pressure on the current Thai prime minister to sack his foreign minister. Thats because the minister is a key supporter for a group called the Peoples Alliance for Democracy or PAD. The PAD organized months of protest outside the Thai government compound calling for new elections.

United Front for Democracy supporters also want the government to call a snap election.

[Bualuang Tangthong, UDD Supporter]:
"I'm here to ask for justice. I'm not biased and not really on the side of Thaksin. I just want justice. I want the law to not be biased. If anyone does anything wrong, they should be in jail."

The rally is expected to last three days in the lead-up to the ASEAN summit hosted at the seaside resort of Hua Hin.

Thailand postponed the ASEAN summit last December after PAD protesters occupied Government House, shut down the capital's two airports and forced the then-prime minister to resign.

Thai separatists say no end to struggle - 27 Feb 09

AlJazeeraEnglish

Muslim separatist fighters in southern Thailand have told Al Jazeera that they will keep fighting for independence, despite efforts by Indonesia to broker a peace deal.

In the second part of an exclusive report, our correspondent Step Vaessen travelled through the three provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat to meet the fighters.

Former Khmer Rouge leader and head of state Khieu Samphan sits in the dock during his 4th pre-trial chamber public hearing at ECCC

A vehicle transports Khieu Samphan, a former Khmer Rouge leader and head of state, from his cell to his 4th pre-trial chamber public hearing at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) on the outskirts of Phnom Penh February 27, 2009. Kieu Samphan is charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity.REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea (CAMBODIA)

Foreigner and Cambodian pre-trial chamber judges, Prak Kimsan of Cambodia, rear left, and Katinka Lahuis of the Netherlands, rear right, listen to an unidentified representative during before a hearing of Ieng Sary, a former Khmer Rouge foreign minister, at the UN-backed genocide tribunal in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Thursday, Feb. 26, 2009. Judges at Cambodia's genocide tribunal have delayed a hearing into the continued detention of former Khmer Rouge foreign minister, citing his failing health. The tribunal's head judge Prak Kimsan has announced the postponement until April 2, following appeals from Ieng Sary's attorneys.(AP Photo/Tang Chhin Sothy, Pool)

A Cambodian Buddhist monk arrives to attend the pre-trial chamber public hearing of former Khmer Rouge leader and head of state Khieu Samphan at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia on the outskirts of Phnom Penh February 27, 2009. Khieu Samphan is charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity.REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea (CAMBODIA)

Former Khmer Rouge leader and head of state Khieu Samphan sits in the dock during his 4th pre-trial chamber public hearing at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia on the outskirts of Phnom Penh February 27, 2009. Kieu Samphan is charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity.REUTERS/Tang Chhin Sothy/Pool (CAMBODIA)

Former Khmer Rouge leader and head of state Khieu Samphan sits in the dock during his 4th pre-trial chamber public hearing at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia on the outskirts of Phnom Penh February 27, 2009. Kieu Samphan is charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity.REUTERS/Tang Chhin Sothy/Pool (CAMBODIA)

Khieu Samphan, a former Khmer Rouge head of state, is seen during a hearing at the U.N.-backed genocide tribunal in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, Feb. 27, 2009. The U.N.-backed genocide tribunal has adjourned his appeal Friday for pre-trial detention to April 3, 2009.(AP Photo/Tang Chhin Sothy, Pool)

Judges stand at the start of a pre-trial chamber public hearing of former Khmer Rouge leader and head of state Khieu Samphan at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia on the outskirts of Phnom Penh February 27, 2009. Kieu Samphan is charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity.REUTERS/Tang Chhin Sothy/Pool (CAMBODIA)

Former Khmer Rouge leader and head of state Khieu Samphan sits in the dock during his 4th pre-trial chamber public hearing at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia on the outskirts of Phnom Penh February 27, 2009. Kieu Samphan is charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity.REUTERS/Tang Chhin Sothy/Pool (CAMBODIA)

Former Khmer Rouge leader and head of state Khieu Samphan sits in the dock during his 4th pre-trial chamber public hearing at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia on the outskirts of Phnom Penh February 27, 2009. Kieu Samphan is charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity.REUTERS/Tang Chhin Sothy/Pool (CAMBODIA)

ASEAN Summit at Hua Hin, Thailand February 27, 2009

A policeman directs traffic outside the Hua Hin airport as state leaders arrive for the 14th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in the Thai resort city of Hua Hin, about 200 km (125 miles) south of Bangkok February 27, 2009.REUTERS/Chaiwat Subprasom (THAILAND)

Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen (R) is greeted as he arrives for the 14th Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in the Thai resort city Hua Hin about 200 km (125 miles) south of Bangkok February 27, 2009.REUTERS/Chaiwat Subprasom (THAILAND)

Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen gets out of his plane upon his arrival for the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit at Hua Hin airport February 27, 2009. The upcoming 14th ASEAN summit is scheduled to be held at the seaside resort town of Hua Hin from February 27 to March 1, 2009.REUTERS/Nicolas Asfouri/Pool (THAILAND)

Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen (L) is greeted by supporters after arriving for the 14th Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in the Thai resort city Hua Hin about 200 km (125 miles) south of Bangkok February 27, 2009.REUTERS/Chaiwat Subprasom (THAILAND)

Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen (L) is greeted by Thai Minister of Culture Teera Slukpetch (R) upon his arrival for the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit at the Hua Hin airport February 27, 2009. The upcoming 14th ASEAN summit is scheduled to be held at the seaside resort town of Hua Hin from February 27 to March 1, 2009.REUTERS/Nicolas Asfouri/Pool (THAILAND)

Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen waves to supporters after arriving for the 14th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in the Thai resort city Hua Hin about 200 km (125 miles) south of Bangkok February 27, 2009.REUTERS/Chaiwat Subprasom (THAILAND)

Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen (L) waves upon his arrival for the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit at Hua Hin airport February 27, 2009. The upcoming 14th ASEAN summit is scheduled to be held at the seaside resort town of Hua Hin from February 27 to March 1, 2009.REUTERS/Nicolas Asfouri/Pool (THAILAND)

Foreign Ministers line-up for a group photo ahead of a meeting during the 14th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in the Thai resort city Hua Hin, about 200 km (125 miles) south of Bangkok February 26, 2009. Standing from left to right, Indonesia's Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda, Malaysia's Foreign Minister Rais Yatim, Singapore's Foreign Minister George Yeo, Cambodia's Foreign Minister Hor Namhong, Thailand's Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya, Vietnam's Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem, Myanmar's Foreign Minister Nyan Win, Laos' Foreign Minister Thongloun Sisoulith and ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan.REUTERS/Chaiwat Subprasom (THAILAND)

Indonesia's Trade Minister Mari Pangestu (R) smiles at Cambodia's Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh during a signing ceremony of ASEAN Economic Agreements in the seaside resort town of Hua Hin, some 200km (125 miles) south of Bangkok, February 26, 2009. The 14th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit is scheduled in Thailand's Prachuap Khiri Khan province from February 27 to March 1, 2009.REUTERS/Vivek Prakash (THAILAND)

International justice is a farce

Irish Independent
Friday February 27 2009

The fact that the first trial of a Khmer Rouge official is taking place 30 years after they committed their initial crimes is a damning indictment of the international community's ability to bring tyrants to justice.

Comrade Duch was by no means alone in his actions, yet so far he is the only member of this disgraceful horde to see the inside of a courtroom.

In 1998 Pol Pot, the architect of the atrocities was allowed to die comfortably in his bed, escaping the punishment he so richly deserved.

While there are a number of other trials planned for the surviving members of the regime, the fact is that most of the principal actors in the Cambodian tragedy have already passed away, leaving survivors without the closure they deserve.

In 1979, shortly after the liberation of Cambodia by Vietnamese troops, GOAL was one of the first relief agencies to enter the beleaguered country.

The situation we found was devastating -- thousands lay dying in the hastily assembled refugee camps, not because of any natural disaster but because of the regime's complete disregard for the suffering of its own people.

Naively, I believed that it would only be a matter of weeks before the international community forced these monsters to face the consequences of their actions.

Instead, the start of the judicial process has taken over three decades to materialise.

Having responded to almost every major man-made disaster since the Cambodian genocide, GOAL has witnessed tyrant after tyrant escape justice.

Idi Amin of Uganda died in a private villa in Saudi Arabia; Mobuto Sese Seko spent 32 years pillaging the DRC before dying in exile in Morocco; while Ethiopia's Mengistu Haile Mariam remains to this day in Zimbabwe, ignoring an Ethiopian court ruling that he should spend the rest of his days in prison.

Again and again, the international community has let despots off the hook for the destruction of their countries and exploitation of their people.

This is nothing short of farce, for which the international community should hang its head in shame.

John O'Shea
GOAL
PO Box 19, Dun Laoghaire

Security tight as leaders arrive

Bangkok Post

By: BangkokPost.com
Published: 27/02/2009

Almost 6,000 police were deployed in Cha-am district of Phetchaburi province as the three-day 14th Asean summit began there on Friday.

Prime Minister Hun Sen was the first Asean leader to arrive in Cha-am, at 10am. Leaders from Malaysia, Burma, Brunei. Laos and Indonesia were expected to arrive later.

Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban arrived at the Dusit Thani Hua Hin on Thursday evening. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva was scheduled to arrive on Friday.

Hun Sen was scheduled to meet Mr Abhisit at 4.35pm on Friday for bilateral talks. Topics were expected to include the territorial conflict around Cambodia's ancient Preah Vihear temple, which borders on Thailand's Si Sa Ket province.

A spokesman said about 5,700 police were deployed.

Man jailed for child pornography, neglect of daughter

Christchurch Court News (New Zealand)
February 27, 2009

By David Clarkson — See also the report below

A judge was left wondering whether a man’s long hours on his computers collecting child pornography was why he neglected the care of his 11-year-old daughter.

The girl was found with her hair lice-infested, clothes unkempt, and living in bad conditions at his home when the police raided the property and seized the man’s computers.

Judge Colin Doherty said: “The saddest part of your conduct to you has been the loss of your child. The saddest part to her is maybe the loss of her childhood, and her need to be rehabilitated.”

The man pleaded guilty to 12 charges of possessing objectionable images, and was found guilty at a Christchurch District Court jury trial on a charge of cruelty by neglecting his daughter.

He was jailed today for a total of one year nine months after Judge Doherty said, “I don’t think this is an appropriate case for consideration of home detention at all.”

He suppressed the 55-year-old man’s name, but only so that there would be no different or detrimental treatment of the daughter by people who knew her. “It’s not for your benefit but for hers.”

Judge Doherty also took the unusual step – with the consent of the crown and the police – of releasing one of the victim impact statements to the media at court.

In this case, one of the child victims depicted in the pornographic images had been traced by investigators and the police were able to provide a report on her. It was made available to the Court News website reporter after all references to her name and the name of her Cambodian village had been blocked out.

The images of the girl – among 1000 images of child abuse or torture found on the man’s computer – had been made by a Canadian offender who went to the village and conducted the activity there. He had since been caught and dealt with by the overseas authorities.

Judge Doherty described the girl’s victim impact statement as “chilling”.

Parliament had increased the available sentences to prevent and avoid the degradation and exploitation of young people. “It is often said that if people like you who want to view it were not about, perhaps the exploitation would not take place.”

The judge had not seen the images that the man had been viewing, but he cited some of the descriptions:

- A female school student being raped by her teacher.
- A pre-pubescent girl being raped by an adult male.
- A child being forced to perform oral sex on an adult male.
- Children being forced to perform indecent acts on other children.
- An image showing the torture of an adult woman who was tied up.

“The descriptions give me a sense of the degradation that each of the victims have undergone,” he said.

Defence counsel Colin Eason said the man explained that he had become involved with the pornography in an “insidious” way. It had started slowly but built up over time. “He doesn’t dispute that it was appalling behaviour on his part.”

Prosecutor Ruth Thomas said the crown disputed the man’s claim that he had inadvertently initially come upon the material, and more had arrived by accident when he tried to block it. She questioned his degree of acceptance and remorse for the offending.

Judge Doherty had received reports on the man’s daughter from Child, Youth, and Family and from the family now caring for the girl.

“She was in a parlous physical state. She had infestations of head lice, very unhealthy hair and skin, clothes in poor condition, and her living conditions were not the best to put it mildly.

“I expect her emotional development has been truncated by the way in which she was living with you.”

There was no suggestion that the man, whose marriage ended in 1999, had physically ill-treated his daughter. “You knew what was required but you didn’t care. You were reckless as to her welfare needs.

“I wonder whether your activity on the computer was something to do with that. I recall evidence that you seemed to spend large amounts of time on your computers in the evenings. It may be that immersing yourself in some of the stuff that was objectionable has inured you to her needs. I’m not sure.”

Rescued child abuse victim tells of her life

Christchurch Court News (New Zealand)
Courtnews.co.nz
February 27, 2009

A 12-year-old Cambodian girl has not been told that images of her being sexually abused were found on the computer of a Christchurch man whose home was raided in December 2007.

Staff at the foster home where she now lives say that telling her about the images would only add to her shame, embarrassment and insecurity five years after she was rescued from child prostitution.

She had been abused by a Canadian offender who travelled to her village north of Phnom Penh. He has since been caught and dealt with but the photographs he took as he carried out the abuse are apparently still in circulation.

When the Christchurch man was sentenced today – he went to jail for one year nine months on a series of charges – Christchurch District Court Judge Colin Doherty got the approval of the crown and police for the release of the Cambodian girl’s victim impact report to the Court News website reporter.

It was a very rare case where child pornography investigators had been able to identify and trace one of the children in the images, he said.

The released version of the report has the names of the girl and her village blocked out, as well as the name of the detective who made the connection, who was working undercover for the International Justice Mission while he was on leave from the New Zealand Police.

In January 2003, the girl was one of more than 50 children in the village between five and 12 years old who were “sold on a daily basis to Western paedophiles for sexual exploitation”, the report states.

“[The girl, then aged seven] worked in the brothels near her home for a year before she was rescued. During this time she was expected to perform sexual acts with the ‘guests’ who visited every day. In return, her parents received small amounts of money. There were many times she was photographed by guests.”

One guest was the Canadian whose crimes are described as brutal, violent, and degrading in the report. His young victims were verbally abused and repeatedly forced to perform oral sex while he videoed and photographed them.

He was arrested in 2004 and became the first Canadian to be convicted using extra-territorial legislation covering offences against children overseas.

The girl was rescued in 2003 and lived in a shelter before she moved two years later to another organisation, Hagar International, that provides long term care and rehabilitation.

“Following the rescue operation, those involved in debriefing [the girl] stated that they had never participated in a case involving such savagery against children so young,” the report states.

The girl still finds it distressing to talk about the abuse. She described her time in the village as “a big, black hole and sometimes I am scared I will fall back into it”. She experiences flash backs to that time.

The report describes her as a quiet girl with few friends. Through her art work she has described feeling “broken-hearted and hopeless”.

“Below the surface she is a hurt little girl afraid of the memories that still haunt her,” the report says.

In court today, Judge Doherty described the report as “chilling”.

Phnom Penh wants an end to border row

Bangkok Post
Deputy PM calls for troops to withdraw
By: WASANA NANUAM

Published: 27/02/2009

Differences between Bangkok and Phnom Penh over the Preah Vihear temple need to be settled by the incumbent governments, says Cambodia's Deputy Prime Minister Tea Banh.

"I want both governments to seriously discuss this issue as it has been a prolonged problem," said Gen Tea Banh, who doubles as national defence minister.

"Soldiers from the two countries are facing each other. I want both countries to withdraw their troops from the area. We should settle our negotiations during our [Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's] terms. We shouldn't let the problem go on any longer."

Gen Tea Banh said Thailand and Cambodia needed to negotiate through existing committees to foster a positive relationship.

The minister said he had talked to Thai Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon about the possibility of the two countries withdrawing their troops from the Preah Vihear area to end the military stand-off.

The two agreed that Preah Vihear should be settled bilaterally as the countries had a good relationship. There was no need for other countries to be involved, he said.

The minister said Thailand and Cambodia shared information on terrorist threats, particularly on the Jemaah Islamiyah group.

Gen Tea Banh attended the 3rd Asean Defence Ministers Meeting (ADMM) in Pattaya this week along with fellow ministers from the 10 Asean member countries.

Gen Prawit and the other ministers signed the Joint Declaration on Strengthening Asean Defence Establishments to Meet the Challenges of Non-Traditional Security Threats at the meeting.

The declaration underlines the defence ministers' commitment to peace and stability in the region, as well as supporting the establishment of an Asean Political-Security Community in 2015.

The declaration also obliges Asean members to strengthen the ADMM as an instrument to counter security threats.

About 200 supporters of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) rallied yesterday at the Pattaya hotel where the meeting was being held to demand that Gen Prawit withdraw 3,000 troops protecting Government House.

They also called on the defence minister to resign, claiming he had dragged the military into politics by helping the formation of the Abhisit government.

WHO warns over new malaria strain

Despite treatment and medical advances, malaria still kills more than a million people every year [Reuters]

Al Jazeera English
Thursday, February 26, 2009

The World Health Organisation has said there is evidence that a highly resistant strain of malaria could have emerged in the border region of Thailand and Cambodia.

The organisation said on Wednesday that studies in the area suggest that the most powerful anti-malaria treatment is ineffective against a new strain of parasite.

Artemisinin, a compound extracted from a Chinese herb, is viewed as the best drug against malaria and is recommended for use in combination with other medicines to stop resistance.

But the WHO said there was evidence that parasites resistant to artemisinin had emerged along the border between Cambodia and Thailand, where workers walk for miles every day to clear forests.

"If we do not put a stop to the drug-resistant malaria situation that has been documented in the Thai-Cambodia border, it could spread rapidly to neighbouring countries and threaten our efforts to control this deadly disease," Hiroki Nakatani, the WHO assistant director-general, said in a statement.

Deadly disease

The prevalence of malaria has been reduced over the past 50 years, but the disease continues to kill more than a million people every year.

Resistance along the Thai-Cambodia border started with chloroquine, followed by resistance to sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine and mefloquine, drugs that have been used to treat malaria for several years.

The risk of resistance to any drug increases when it is used on its own. The WHO has therefore recommended the use of artemisinin combination therapies.

An opening in cyberspace closes

Asia Times Online

By Shawn W Crispin

BANGKOK - When a state-linked Cambodian Internet service provider (ISP) blocked access this month to a critical non-governmental organization report detailing the government's alleged mismanagement of natural and energy resources, the censorship closed the loop on the region's fast-closing cyberspace.

The Cambodian government has prioritized improving its Internet controls and legislation, despite the fact less than 0.3% of the population is online, one of the lowest Internet penetration rates in the world. The recent bust of an alleged terror plot against the government revealed that authorities had capability to hack into suspects' - and perhaps perceived other adversaries' - e-mail accounts.

It wasn't long ago that Asia's Internet was being heralded as an inexorable force for democratic change across the predominantly authoritarian-run region. Rising Internet penetration rates and the proliferation of websites that provided alternative news and critical views, particularly in countries where the state had long dominated information flows, marked substantial democratic gains.

Across the world, governments are now bidding to claw back those gains and assert tighter control over the Internet through improved surveillance and censorship capabilities. Meanwhile, new laws are granting state authorities in many countries new powers to block and censor online content, often in the arbitrary name of maintaining social order or national security.

The battle for Internet freedom is particularly pitched in Southeast Asia, where even nominally democratic governments are now cracking down on journalists, bloggers and ordinary Internet users. China has emerged as the region's Internet censorship role model, with its successful use of sophisticated filtering and surveillance technologies, widely known as Beijing's "Great Firewall".

Those capabilities have been widened through a new government-run computer monitoring information system, known as the "Golden Shield Project". Of the 28 journalists now imprisoned in China, as tallied by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), 24 of them were charged and sentenced for articles and commentaries they posted online.

In its recently released "Attacks on the Press" compendium, CPJ contends that a growing number of Southeast Asian governments have moved to emulate China's cyber-censorship techniques. The advocacy group argues that as Western nations have moved to engage China's authoritarian regime, several Southeast Asian governments no longer feel obliged to follow through on the democratic reforms - including commitments to Internet freedom - the West had once pressured them to adopt.

Those pressures are expected to diminish further as the US looks towards China to help bail-out its bankrupt financial and banking systems through the continued purchase of US treasury bonds. The US's collapsing demand for regional exports and flagging outward investments is expected to eventually translate into reduced diplomatic clout in Southeast Asia, a retrenchment that will likely enhance China's already rising regional influence.

Long-time US ally Thailand stands as a case in point. The Thai government has launched one of the most aggressive crackdowns on Internet freedom seen anywhere in the world - so far without a peep of dissent from Bangkok's US embassy. The crackdown was presaged by the passage of the 2007 Computer Crime Act, which among other measures made the use of proxy servers to circumvent government blocks on websites an offense punishable by imprisonment.

The Information Technology and Communication Ministry has since earmarked millions of dollars to develop and deploy improved firewall technologies and the ministry now maintains an Internet "war room" where officials conduct surveillance over Internet content. The ministry said in early January that it had closed down 2,300 websites for posting materials deemed critical of the Thai royal family.

The Justice Ministry has since indicated it will seek a court order to block another 3,000 to 4,000 sites for the same reason. At least one Thai Internet user is currently in prison for posting materials deemed offensive to the royal crown, and two bloggers were temporarily detained but not formally charged on similar charges in 2007.

Cyber-backslider
Nominally democratic Malaysia is another prominent backslider. The government pledged in 1996 not to censor the Internet to lure foreign funds to the Multimedia Super Corridor project, an ambitious state gambit that aimed to incubate Malaysia's own version of the US's Silicon Valley. The no-censorship policy allowed online news providers and bloggers to report and comment on news that the state-controlled mainstream media either neglected or was instructed from above to ignore.

That commitment was symbolically dropped last year when the government ordered local ISPs to block access to prominent blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin's Malaysia Today news site, which has a larger readership than several established state-influenced newspapers. He has been charged and detained under both the Sedition and Internal Security Acts for online writings which were critical of the government.

According to the CPJ, it's still unclear whether Malaysian authorities have deployed the same type of filtering and monitoring technologies seen in China, but the government is known to monitor Internet content through three different state agencies, including the Prime Minister's Office. According to e-mail correspondence shared with this correspondent, Raja Petra, now temporarily released on Internal Security Act charges, is under family pressure to flee the country rather than stand trial in Malaysia's politically compromised courts.

The situation is worsening in less democratic countries. Vietnam, known to maintain some of Asia's most extensive Internet controls outside of China, has in recent months moved to introduce more stringent regulations governing bloggers and their postings. Singapore authorities recently harassed an Asia Times Online contributor for a November story that detailed the island state's mounting financial troubles.

Police claimed that the article had been sent with added malicious comments to the head of state, opposition politicians and newspapers from the reporter's e-mail account. The reporter denied the charge and police officials later indicated that an unidentified hacker had sent the message from her account. Either way, the reporter has been put on official notice that her online writings and e-mail activities are under surveillance.

Meanwhile, countries as repressive as Myanmar are dedicating significant resources to Internet censorship. The country's technological failure to control the Internet was apparent for all to see when undercover journalists sent footage and reports of the 2007 Saffron Revolution street protests to outside news organizations, forcing the regime to unplug the Internet altogether before its fatal, final crackdown. Still, it's unclear how many undercover journalists the authorities have been identified and jailed as part of their wider crackdown on dissent.

There are indications that Myanmar authorities have since received censorship training from Russian and Chinese officials. Some contend that this explains the mysterious distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks on a number of exile media groups' websites last year. Soe Myint, editor of the New Delhi-based Mizzima News, said during a recent presentation in Chiang Mai that the cost to effectively protect his website from future DDoS attacks is beyond his news organization's financial means.

Despite these growing attacks, there is some cause for hope. Human rights organizations, investors and several prominent US Internet companies, including Yahoo!, Google and Microsoft, agreed in a joint initiative last October to follow guidelines to protect online expression and privacy when faced with repressive government requests for user identities or assistance in blocking targeted websites.

Meanwhile, some regional media groups have received foreign assistance to locate their servers anonymously and remotely in second countries to guard against future DDoS attacks. And ever-evolving proxy server and other roundabout firewall technologies continue to put Internet users in countries as isolated as Myanmar a step ahead of government censors.

Yet even with those agreements and technologies, Asia's Internet is a substantially more dangerous space than it was previously. Southeast Asian governments are now responding with bigger budgets and heavier hands to the technological and political challenge presented by online expression. Under that mounting assault, previous high hopes for the medium's democracy-promoting potential have in large measure faded.

Shawn W Crispin is Asia Times Online's Southeast Asia Editor and Asia Program Consultant to the Committee to Protect Journalists. He may be reached at swcrispin@atimes.com.