Cambodia Khmer Rouge

Suomen Kuvalehti
Kuvaaja: Heng Sinith

Cambodian legs amputee Pov, 48, smokes marijuana at his home in Prey Tapork village, Kandal province, about 30 kilometers (18 miles) west of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Monday, March 2, 2009. Pov was amputee in 1994 while he was a soldier fighting with Khmer Rouge. Cambodia’s genocide tribunal is scheduled to hold its full trial on March 30, 2009, of Kaing Guek Eav alias Duch, over the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million people at the hands of the Khmer Rouge regime more than three decades ago.

Cambodian News Seen from Abroad - Sunday, 1.3.2009

Posted on 2 March 2009

The Mirror, Vol. 13, No. 601

This week’s reflection is written in Mexico at a meeting of ICANN. The fact that I had started the first Internet service in Cambodia in 1994 and created the country name for Internet addresses .kh led, after many steps in between, to my appointment to the Nominating Committee of the international Internet coordination – “ICANN” for short, for a somewhat technical name “Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers” - where we are now tasked to find, recruit, and appointing new members of the Board of Directors for ICANN, and for several other positions of leadership in ICANN. On the way to Mexico I had a chance to meet persons of Internet leadership in an Asia Pacific Internet conference of several hundred people in the Philippines.

Attending such conferences exposes me always to questions about Cambodia by people from different countries, who ask for comments and explanations about what they see on TV and hear on the radio, read in newspapers, or follow up further on the Internet. Those who ask have some level of information, based on their active interest. And they ask, because they want to understand better what they know.

This is often difficult – I cannot answer on behalf of any other person or institution. But I think it is still important that the public opinion in a country is aware of the public opinion outside of the country, that is why I share this experience.

This time, attending Internet related conferences, the question of recent restrictions of Internet access was of course addressed. It has been known that some countries, for political or other reasons, are restricting the free flow of information on the Internet. But as the censorship of the Internet is considered to be in contradiction, or maybe even in violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to which many countries including Cambodia have subscribed, such events are being observed internationally.

Paragraph 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights says:

Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

The following different cases are known:

The site http://reahu.net of a Cambodian artist cannot be accessed from Cambodia.

The site of the human rights organization LICADHO http://www.licadho.org is no longer accessible, since it published a report about the violent evictions in the Dey Krahom area of Phnom Penh.

The site of Global Witness http://www.globalwitness.org was not accessible for about two days after they had published a documentation about Cambodia under the title A Country for Sale. That the Cambodian Embassy in London called this documentation, the result of detailed research by the internationally respected organization Global Witness a Collection of Rubbish without taking up specific items in the documentation is considered as an evasive response to very specific problems documented.

While I could share information about the context of these three cases, I was not able to refer to texts of Cambodian law, which state the reasons for the interruptions of Internet access – obviously in three quite different cases. The Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia says in Article 31:

The Kingdom of Cambodia shall recognize and respect human rights as stipulated in the United Nations Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human rights, the covenants and conventions related to human rights, women’s and children’s rights.

Every Khmer citizens shall be equal before the law, enjoying the same rights, freedom and fulfilling the same obligations regardless of race, color, sex, language, religious belief, political tendency, birth origin, social status, wealth or other status. The exercise of personal rights and freedom by any individual shall not adversely affect the rights and freedom of others. The exercise of such rights and freedom shall be in accordance with the law.

Apart from these questions related to the field of communications, I was made aware how much the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia – the Khmer Rouge Trials – get international attention. This is a kind of next step beyond the usual connection of the name of the country Cambodia with Killing Fields and genocide. Reports about corruption and kickback allegations at the court, and the related inconclusive discussions, because United Nations investigative reports have not been published, have been in the media in many countries. And it is observed that the legal arrangements had required many years of negotiations, leading to results for the court set up which are very different from other international courts which deal with past events in Rwanda, Sierra Leone, or the former Yugoslavia.

Finally, I was at a loss to find an answer when faced with the question why Cambodia joined with the military dictatorship in Burma - which had taken power years ago, rejecting the legitimately elected representatives of the people - when the Cambodian Prime Minister threatened to disassociate himself from the majority of ASEAN leaders, by not accepting the civil society participation from Cambodia in the ASEAN discussion on how to create an ASEAN human rights body. I did not want to accept the interpretation and opinion that this seems to be the beginning of a new period of Cambodian international self-isolation.

But when I share these encounters, I do so in the hope that there will be more awareness of how Cambodia is seen from abroad – from the international community of nations. During the years after the UNTAC administration 1992/93, it had been a major goal of the Cambodian governments to regain a place in the fellowship of the countries in the region – especially in ASEAN – and to regain the seat in the United Nations, becoming again a normal member of the counties of the world, after the decades of internal conflicts and external interventions.

Judge: Cambodian genocide court faces funds crunch

By SOPHENG CHEANG
Associated Press Writer

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia – Funding for some operations of Cambodia's genocide tribunal, already tarnished by corruption allegations, may dry up by the end of the month and cause local staff to walk out, a judge said Monday.

The warning by Judge Kong Srim, president of the Supreme Court Chamber, raised the prospect of yet more disruption to the long-delayed U.N.-assisted tribunal, which is seeking justice for the estimated 1.7 million Cambodians who died during the brutal 1975-79 reign of the communist Khmer Rouge.

Political and procedural disputes between Cambodia and the United Nations have delayed the tribunal's launch . It has been 13 years since Cambodia asked the U.N. to help establish the special court, which still has not heard any testimony, and many fear the defendants — already old and infirm — could die before they face justice.

The judge's statement came as it was revealed that defense lawyers want to question the country's prime minister and former king, which could revive an uncomfortable debate about the roles each played during Cambodia's holocaust.

Kong Srim told reporters the tribunal would not have sufficient funds to pay Cambodian staff salaries this month.

"It hardly seems reasonable for judicial officers and staff to be expected to continue working without remuneration," Kong Srim said. He added, however, that Cambodian and U.N. officials "are confident that this problem will shortly be resolved." He did not explain how.

The U.N. Development Program, which manages the funds contributed by international donors for the Cambodian side of the court, froze disbursements last July pending an investigation into allegations that the Cambodian personnel were forced to pay kickbacks to obtain their positions,

Aid donors have warned they will reconsider their pledges if the allegations of corruption are not satisfactorily resolved.

The allegations, which were originally leveled two years ago by the Open Society Justice Initiative, a New York-based watchdog group monitoring the tribunal, have been publicly denied by Cambodian and most U.N. officials.

A report surfaced last week on the German legislature's Web site alleging that a top U.N. tribunal official had acknowledged the kickbacks and accused a senior Cambodian administrator of corruption.

The head of public affairs for the tribunal refused to comment on the report, which has been removed from the Web site.

"I can't comment on a document I haven't seen about a meeting I was not at," Helen Jarvis said Monday.

Legal maneuvering ahead of the trials meanwhile continued.

According to confidential documents obtained Monday, the defense team for Nuon Chea, the main Khmer Rouge ideologist, is seeking court permission to interview Prime Minister Hun Sen and former King Norodom Sihanouk.

The documents also request testimony from Senate President Chea Sim and Assembly President Heng Samrin. Both men, along with Hun Sen, were members of the Khmer Rouge but defected to Vietnam before the regime was ousted.

"They are likely in possession of much relevant information to the pending judicial investigation," one of the documents said. All have denied any role in atrocities.

The defense team said that the 86-year-old former King Sihanouk, who briefly served as a symbolic head of state after the regime took power, had "rare access to the Khmer Rouge leadership, their strategies and policies" and was "privy to a range of sensitive information."

Son Arun, Nuon Chea's Cambodian attorney, confirmed the authenticity of the documents but said he had not personally filed the request.

The tribunal's first trial, scheduled to begin March 30, is for 65-year-old Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Duch, who headed the Khmer Rouge's largest torture center. Later trials will be held for Khieu Samphan, the group's former head of state; Ieng Sary, its foreign minister; and his wife Ieng Thirith, who was minister for social affairs.

Cambodia's Ex-King Cites Progress Against His Cancer

PHNOM PENH (AFP)--Cambodia's former king Norodom Sihanouk says he is showing progress in his most recent fight against cancer, according to a royal letter posted on his Web site.

The 86-year-old, who left for Beijing in July last year to receive medical treatment for other illnesses, said in late December his Chinese doctors had found a new cancer in his body.

Sihanouk said in a letter dated Feb. 27 that after treatment, "today I went to hospital to have it checked with modern equipment (PET Scan) and saw that this cancer has shrunk."

However he added that he needed to prolong his stay in Beijing for further treatment.

Sihanouk was first diagnosed with B-cell lymphoma, a cancer affecting blood cells crucial to the immune system, in 1993.

The cancer began in his prostate and recurred in 2005 in his stomach.

Sihanouk has suffered from a number of other ailments including diabetes and hypertension.

Despite giving up his role as monarch, Sihanouk remains a prominent figure in Cambodia and often uses messages on his Web site to weigh in on matters affecting the country.

Some Remain Skeptical of Tribunal Corruption

By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
02 March 2009

Amid heavy allegations of corruption that are risking further funding for the joint UN-Cambodia Khmer Rouge tribunal, officials have now established a mechanism to tackle future charges. But in the eyes of some US observers, this procedure remains ambiguous and inadequate.

The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia have struggled under allegations that staff paid kickbacks to work at the tribunal, as well as mismanagement, in what worried observers claim could jeopardize justice for the victims of the Khmer Rouge.

It took two meetings between the UN’s assistant secretary-general for legal affairs, Peter Taksoe-Jensen, and Deputy Prime Minister Sok An, who is in charge of the tribunal, to establish two parallel complaints procedures—one international, one local—for handling further allegations. The UN and Cambodia will meet again before March 23 to finalize the agreement, officials said.

However, John Hall, an associate professor at Chapman University of Law, in Orange, Calif., said he was not encouraged by the new mechanism.

“The choice before the tribunal is quite clear: to proceed with the trials without adequately addressing the allegations of corruption and political influence risks tainting the entire process and casting a shadow over the trials,” he told VOA Khmer in a telephone interview. “The people of Cambodia deserve more; they deserve a court operating to international standards.”

Hall said it was “hard to say” say whether the new procedures would help the tribunal gain credibility.

“This may be the best that the UN is able to negotiate with the Cambodian government at this point, and donors will have to decide whether this new mechanism, however flawed, is adequate enough to justify greater funding,” Hall said. “I think the donors are eager for the tribunal to proceed, so will be looking for a justification to fund the trials. Should they, without a better complaints mechanism? Probably not.”

Although Cambodian officials at the Extraordinary Chambers have denied corruption exists and say the Cambodian side will not fall short on funding, donors have proven hesitant to forward money for a process perceived as flawed.

Hall made four suggestions for improving the tribunal’s credibility.

“First, limit opportunities for political interference in judicial decision-making, specifically, be open to the possibility of investigating additional suspects, not limit the number to the five defendants already named,” he said. “Second, create an independent investigation mechanism for accusations of wrongdoing. Third, ensure that human rights monitors, NGOs and reporters will be allowed to keep their whistleblower sources confidential. And fourth, ensure adequate whistleblower protections for those reporting wrongdoing.”

Only five aging leaders of the regime are so far in custody—Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan, Ieng Sary, Ieng Thirith and Kaing Kev Iev—30 years after the fall of the regime.

Peter Maguire, author of "Facing Death in Cambodia," who has taught law and the theory of war, told VOA Khmer by telephone that the courts are operating under a shadow of doubt, thanks to a lack of transparency and basic budgetary accountability.

Meanwhile, continued delays could lead to the deaths of regime leaders before they go through trial, much like Slobodan Milosevic, the ex-Serbian leader who died in detention of a war crimes tribunal in 2006.

“If this court doesn’t move with a bit more urgency, they run the risk of becoming the Milosevic case No. 2,” Maguire said. “What good is procedural perfection if the defendants don’t live to see their trials? Perhaps that’s [Prime Minister] Hun Sen’s objective. Only time will tell.”

Mounting costs are hampering the credibility of the courts, along with unanswered questions over corruption, he said.

“Those in charge of the Khmer Rouge tribunal have already blown giant holes in their budget, yet expect the international community to keep writing checks,” Maguire said. “Releasing the UN’s report on corruption would be a good start [to gaining credibility], but it is already too late. Corruption, nepotism and graft are common in Cambodia. Why should the Khmer Rouge tribunal be any different?”

Tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath declined to comment on the corruption issue, referring questions to Phay Siphan, spokesman for the Council of Ministers, headed by Sok An.

“There have been four or five times for national and international inspection, but no evidence of corruption found,” Phay Siphan said. He also said the new procedures agreed on late last month will not impact the process of the courts, and he denied political interference in court proceedings.

The senior UN legal affairs official, Taksoe-Jensen, speaking by phone from New York following negotiations in Cambodia over corruption reporting, said there had been some misconception and criticism over the new mechanism, but he said the goal was to address corruption and keep the process moving forward.

The “bottom line,” he told VOA Khmer, was “to create a mechanism whereby all the members of the staff can put forward the complaint about corruption” without fear of retaliation from the court. “It’s up to the donors to decide when the situation has been established whereby funds can be sent to the court again.”

Preparations Begin for April Border Meeting

By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
02 March 2009

Officials for Thai and Cambodian border committees opened a two-day meeting in Phnom Penh Monday to organize an agenda for dialogue between the two countries in April.

“We only prepared some documents for the border secretariat committee…meeting which will take place next month,” Neang Phat, secretary of state for the Ministry of Defense, told reporters after the meeting.

The meeting was closed to the press following brief opening remarks by officials early Monday.

The April meeting will include finding a joint compromise for the Preah Vihear standoff, following the meeting between both prime ministers last month, Neang Phat said. “We want to avoid clashes between the two militaries.”

Cambodian and Thailand each have soldiers deployed along the border near Preah Vihear temple, in a standoff that has led to several skirmishes and the deaths of at least four soldiers.

Last month, Cambodia lambasted Thailand for firing rockets over the border, in what Thai military officials said was an accident.

Tribunal Courts Hold Meeting on Rules

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
02 March 2009

Judges and prosecutors of the Khmer Rouge tribunal began discussions Monday over amendments to the internal rules of the courts, aiming improve the process for trying jailed leaders of the regime.

A weeklong “plenary” session is held by tribunal officials every six months, and a statement from the courts said this one, their fifth, would look at a “significant number of proposed amendments” to the rules.

“Many of these relate to pressing issues that need to be finalized to enable the court to fulfill its functions effectively,” Judge Kong Srim, president of the Supreme Court Chamber of the tribunal, said in opening remarks. “This plenary session is entrusted with a number of specific agenda items to discuss and decide as urgent matters.”

The rules were aimed at ensuring tribunal judges and prosecutors “extend justice fairly and skillfully,” Judge Silvia Cartwright, a Pre-Trial Chamber judge and deputy president of the plenary session, said in her remarks. They “will not allow corruption to interfere with the tribunal’s delivery of justice for the people of Cambodia.”

The plenary session opened amid media reports Monday that lawyers for Nuon Chea had requested the tribunal interview Prime Minister Hun Sen and former king Norodom Sihanouk, while requesting the testimony of Senate President Chea Sim and National Assembly President Heng Samrin for their service to the regime in the late 1970s.

Cambodian, Thai officials hold meeting on border issues

People's Daily Online
March 02, 2009

Officials of the secretariat of the General Border Committee (GBC) of Cambodia here on Monday held a meeting with their Thai counterparts to find a solution for the long-running border dispute.

"We pledged to solve our border issues with a bilateral and peaceful deal on basis of the exiting mechanism that both sides have already agreed with, and we also agreed to avoid armed clashes in the future," Neang Phat, secretary of state at the Cambodian Ministry of National Defense, told reporters during the break time of the meeting.

"We will report what we agreed with at the meeting to both defense ministers and they are going to have a meeting in April," he said, adding that the meeting on Monday will help facilitate the troops of both sides to keep restraint and lead to a latest bilateral deal on the border issues.

Meanwhile, Hor Namhong, Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, told reporters here on Sunday that Cambodia and Thailand have agreed to resolve their border dispute by using a memorandum of understanding signed in 2000.

"I think if Thailand has a clear stance and is willing to use the 2000 MoU, there will be no further difficulties in the future," he said upon his return from the 14 ASEAN Summit in Thailand.

The MoU states that the Joint Border Committee (JBC) of the two countries should use maps drafted in 1904 and 1907, which was ratified by Siam (as Thailand was then known) and France, Cambodia's former colonial power, to delineate the common border.

Tension between Thailand and Cambodia ratcheted higher in 2008,when troops from both countries clashed near the Preah Vihear temple at the border area and soldiers on both sides died in their fighting in October. An uneasy peace was restored days later.

Source: Xinhua

KRouge court cannot pay Cambodian staff

Khaleej Times Online

(AFP)
2 March 2009

PHNOM PENH - Cambodia's UN-backed Khmer Rouge court does not have enough money to pay its local staff this month, a leading judge said on Monday following corruption claims that have made donors wary.

Just as proceedings have started against leaders from the 1975-1979 regime, Kong Srim, who heads the Khmer Rouge tribunal's supreme court chamber, told a plenary session that donations have dried up for Cambodian staff salaries

It appears trials will still go ahead, but donors have hesitated to give cash to the Cambodian side of the court after claims of political interference and a scandal in which local staff were allegedly forced to pay kickbacks for their jobs.

Under a complicated hybrid tribunal agreement, Cambodian and international staff have separate budgets funded via pledges from countries including Japan, France, Australia, Germany and the United States.

"Unfortunately the national side of the court will not have sufficient funds for the staff salaries for this month," Kong Srim told local and international judicial officials in an opening speech.

"I see this as our most important challenge, as it hardly seems reasonable for judicial officers and staff to be expected to continue working without remuneration."

Kong Srim said he was confident the problem would be resolved soon, after recent meetings between the Cambodian government and the United Nations.

Tribunal judge Silvia Cartwright from New Zealand said international judges at the court encouraged the talks in an effort to crack down on corruption.

"As we all know, the problems mentioned by His Excellency Kong Srim concerning funding can be resolved once the international community is confident of a corruption-free environment in which to hold trials," she said.

"International judges have said clearly and repeatedly that they will not allow corruption to interfere with the tribunal's delivery of justice for the people of Cambodia," she added.

Local media meanwhile reported Monday that defence lawyers have asked the court to interview Prime Minister Hun Sen, former king Norodom Sihanouk and other current leaders about links with the 1975-1979 regime.

The English-language Cambodia Daily and Phnom Penh Post said the request was made by lawyers for former Khmer Rouge ideologue Nuon Chea, who is scheduled to be tried for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Confidential court documents leaked to the newspapers said they also asked for testimony from senate president Chea Sim and national assembly president Heng Samrin about their service to the regime in the late 1970s.

"The above-named individuals are likely in possession of documents and information relevant to the pending judicial investigation," the Phnom Penh Post reported, quoting the request.

All the leaders named in the document at one time played roles in the Khmer Rouge, but left the regime before it was ousted in 1979 and deny participation in atrocities which killed up to two million people.

The request was filed by Nuon Chea's Dutch co-defence lawyers, his Cambodian attorney Son Arun told AFP, adding they partners would file a complaint at the court to investigate "the leak of the documents."

Former "Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea is one of five Khmer Rouge leaders to be tried for killing up to a quarter of Cambodia's population through overwork, starvation and execution in a bid for a communist utopia.

The long-awaited first Khmer Rouge trial began last month when the regime's notorious prison chief, Kaing Guek Eav, better known by the alias Duch, went before the court.

Court monitors say the tribunal's independence will again be tested when judges rule whether to pursue more suspects, after the Cambodian co-prosecutor opposed opening investigations into several more former cadres.

Protectionism a dirty ASEAN word

Asia Times Online

Mar 3, 2009
By Charles McDermid

HUA HIN, Thailand - Southeast Asian leaders issued an economic rally cry for the region on Sunday, calling for greater coordination to ensure the free flow of goods and taking aim at the protectionist sentiment many of them fear is on the rise in countries such as the United States.

The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) [1] at its 14th summit also pledged to form a European Union-like economic bloc by 2015 and called for an overhaul of the international finance system to better serve and protect developing nations.

The summit meeting also endorsed a free-trade agreement with Australia and New Zealand and measures to expand a pre-existing emergency foreign exchange pool to bolster regional currencies that come under speculative assault.

"We want to send a strong signal that we are anti-protectionist," Thai Deputy Prime Minister Korbsak Sabhavasu told Asia Times Online. "We see what other countries are doing and we want to signal that while other countries are looking out for themselves - in ASEAN we are helping each other out."

"Regional cooperation becomes even more important as we seek to pursue joint approaches and pool our resources to cope with difficulties that we all face," Asian Development Bank president Haruhiko Kuroda told reporters on Sunday.

But even as ASEAN announced its raft of feel-good policies and delivered its unified mantra of anti-protectionism, economists were scratching their heads as to how the lofty proclamations of togetherness will actually help the fractious region's export-driven economies and shield its 570 million people from rising global economic turbulence.

While ASEAN's anti-protectionism line was clear, mixed messages were rife from individual countries. For instance, it was reported this month that Indonesian civil servants were ordered by the Trade Ministry to buy and use domestic products. Smaller economies such as Cambodia and Laos have long had "buy local" campaigns in place.

It was only a little over two years ago that Thailand imposed capital controls on foreign equity, currency and bond transactions, in a surprise market intervention aimed at curbing the appreciation of the local currency, the baht. In fact, ASEAN's much-touted new charter, ratified in December, includes no mechanisms to stop or punish member countries from implementing protectionist policies.

In an interview with local media last week, Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi said it was perfectly normal for countries to protect their domestic industries during an economic slowdown. Abdullah, however, modified his stance in the summit's press finale on Sunday, saying: "All of us are of the same mind: we are anti-protectionist. Countries that are saying 'buy us', countries that are engaging in protectionism - we want to engage with them."

"I think we have to pay a lot of attention, whatever measures we do, we do not give the impression that we are becoming protectionist, that we are turning inwards, because ASEAN depends on this global market," said Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

The Southeast Asian blitz against protectionism - defined as economic policies restraining trade between nations by way of tariffs and quotas - was seen by some as a thinly veiled challenge to the United States. In an interview with Asia Times Online, US ambassador for ASEAN Affairs Scot Marciel admitted that " ... in the region, there are some people who have put the blame on us".
As the largest importer of Southeast Asian goods, the US's recently approved stimulus package, bent on internal spending and including mandatory American purchases from trade partners, has sent shivers through the region's export-dependent economies.

ASEAN countries have been mired in an economic slowdown that has slashed demand for computer chips, autos and commodities. According to figures released by ASEAN, the region is almost twice as dependent on exports as the rest of the world.

Singapore, Southeast Asia's most trade-reliant economy, is now technically in recession, with two consecutive quarters of negative growth, including a -3.7% year-on-year contraction in the fourth quarter.

Thailand, where exports usually account for over 65% of gross domestic product (GDP), is widely expected to be the region's next recessionary domino. In US dollar terms, Thailand's goods export growth was down 26.5% year-on-year in January. Malaysia recorded its slowest growth in seven years in the fourth quarter while the Philippines saw its goods exports contract over 40% in December.

Still, the summit was bullish about its accomplishments. Attending finance ministers agreed to boost a regional foreign currency pool from US$80 billion to $120 billion. The 10 members of ASEAN plus Japan, China and South Korea - or ASEAN+3 - had arranged to pool bilateral currency swap pacts under the so-called Chiang Mai Initiative - providing a multilateral fund that could be tapped in emergencies.

Southeast Asian currencies have slid in recent months, diminishing the ability of countries hit with short-term liquidity shortages to borrow foreign reserves from other countries to absorb selling pressure on their currencies. "We have learned from previous experience that if we work together, the damage is less when we have a currency crisis," said Malaysian Premier Abdullah, referring to a special regional meeting to address the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

ASEAN heads of state, however, warned that any global economic recovery could take years. "The financial crisis is worldwide. Each ASEAN country, each one of us is affected," said Singapore's Lee. "You could easily be in for several more years of quite slow growth worldwide. And I think it's best that we prepare for that, and our people."

Whether committed to protectionism or free trade, ASEAN countries are in for rocky economic times.

Note
1. The 10 members of ASEAN are Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.

Charles McDermid is an Asia Times Online correspondent based in Thailand.

Southern Gold commences drilling for gold, base metals in Cambodia

Proactive Investors Australia

Southern Gold (ASX:SAU) has advised that the Company’s maiden reverse circulation (RC) drilling campaign has commenced on its Cambodian gold and base metals tenements.

The objective of Southern Gold’s first RC drilling program in Cambodia is to confirm the scale and grade of gold and base metal mineralisation identified at surface through work undertaken over the last few field seasons by Southern Gold. Additional drill targets are expected to be prioritised as results are received from current trenching exploration programs.

The RC drilling campaign on the joint venture tenements is fully funded by the Japanese Government‐backed JOGMEC pursuant to a Joint Venture agreement whereby JOGMEC can fully fund exploration activity to a total of US$4.5 (~A$7) million over 3 years to earn a 51% interest in three tenements – Phnum Khtong (Kratie North Project), and two adjoining blocks, Preak Khlong and O’Kthung (Kratie South Project), all to the northeast of Phnom Penh. Southern Gold will fund a small drill programme on its 100% owned Anchor Prospect.

Key targets of the current programme are summarised as follows:

Oh Tron Prospect – Kratie North JV

Six RC drillholes totalling 400m are following up trench gold intersections including 32m @ 2.7g/t gold, and also targeting multiple gold, arsenic and copper anomalies over a 1,000m x 3,000m area defined by detailed soil sampling. Additional trenching activity is currently underway on this prospect area which will further define drill targets.

Central Prospect ‐ Kratie North JV

Three RC drillholes totalling 320m are targeting zinc, nickel & copper soil anomalies over an area of 2,000m x 3,000m associated with a layered mafic intrusive identified by Southern Gold’s detailed airborne magnetic surveys in 2008.

Norfolk man working with Cambodia's poor

Robin Shorthose who is working for the New Hope Community Centre in Cambodia
TARA GREAVES

Norfolk Eastern Daily Press
02 March 2009

As tourists, Tony and Linda Shorthose enjoyed the sights of Cambodia but it was only when they made a return visit to see their son Robin, who is helping a charity, that they discovered the real country.

Here Tony, founder of Norwich-based marketing company Shorthose Russell, writes about their experience.

The journey from five-star hotels to poverty can be measured in minutes in Siem Reap, the jewel in Cambodia's cultural crown.

Reflecting the great Khmer civilisation between the ninth and 14th centuries, the stunning temples in the area include Angkor Wat, acknowledged as one of the great wonders of the world. But this small country in south-east Asia has fallen a long way from its glory days. Under the brutal regime of the Khmer Rouge in 1975-1979, an estimated two million people were murdered in Pol Pot's “killing fields” while starvation was endemic among those who survived.

While a few are now achieving prosperity and most are at least making progress, there are many who are terribly poor and in some cases starving.

Cambodia has no meaningful welfare system and has to rely on Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to fill the vacuum as best they can.

One of these is the New Hope Community Centre which is supported by the UK registered charity, Globalteer.

Through volunteers it is able to help with skills, pairs of hands and financial support - using the donations volunteers pay and contributions via the website - to sponsor individuals and families.

In autumn 2007 one of those was our son Robin, 36, from Norwich, who decided he needed a new challenge.

He chose to go to Cambodia initially for eight weeks but was sufficiently moved by the need he found to accept an offer to go back in January 2008 as a member of the small team looking after administration and planning.

Though Globalteer supports four other projects in the area, Robin has a particular interest in New Hope (the name was his suggestion) based in the village of Mondul 3 on the outskirts of Siem Reap.

It was founded by local man and ex-buddhist monk Kemsour Sot, the 27-year-old son of a village chief who had enjoyed a good education and moved to Mondul 3 to build a life with his wife and two young sons.

He soon recognised the community desperately needed help and financed the original grass hut base and work himself until Robin introduced Globalteer to the project and they agreed to support it.

Robin said: “The village is a highly impoverished community. Most of the people are remnants of army families, children with only one parent or being raised by a grandmother. Many of the fathers were killed serving in the army or died of illness and disease.

“Up to 400 girls live in the village as karaoke entertainers and prostitutes. These girls come to Siem Reap from rural areas to find jobs to support their families. Having no education or skills they quickly fall victim to the sex trade. Prevalent health problems in the village are chronic malnutrition, HIV, Hepatitis, Typhoid, Tuberculosis and Dengue Fever.

“The nearest primary school is more than 5kms away. Most families are too poor to provide the uniforms, resources and transport for their children to attend. So for many residents the education New Hope provides is all that is available to them.

“There are now more than 320 students being taught in English and the local Khmer language. In addition vocational skills in sewing, traditional carving, computers, beauty treatment and cooking help older children and adults find employment.

“There is no free medical care for adults so in the most extreme cases the poor simply die if they have no help. We have employed a resident doctor to see the sick and needy. He dispenses free medicines and arranges for those needing hospital care to be transported into Siem Reap where New Hope meets their costs.

“For reasons I can't understand, Cambodia's poverty is invisible in the UK. We rightly help those in Africa and India where we are familiar with the problems but no country has a more tragic recent history and places like Mondul 3 are in desperate need. There is a rice list of more than 100 undernourished families who once a month collect a bag of rice and local seasonings. Only those with absolutely nothing qualify but there are still more than we can afford to help. The families that get sponsored come off the list enabling new ones to be added. Only £25 monthly will feed a family, help with housing and provide medical care.”

Robin is quick to point out that his role is behind the scenes with the great day-to-day operational pressures being borne by 50-year-old Australian Kerry Huntly who arrived as a Globalteer volunteer in January 2008 with the intention to stay for three months.

Over a year later the centre has taken over her life. She lives on site surrounded by the seven children she has taken into guardianship in the new shelter opened last summer.

Kemsour's dream is to make New Hope self-sustainable and less reliant on donations as demand will always exceed available funds in the foreseeable future.

Today's children are the future of Cambodia. With nourishment and education they can break the cycle of poverty and avoid the traps their parents have fallen into.

Sponsorship today can lead to extraordinary, lasting changes in the lives of children and their communities.

To find out more or to help New Hope support the people of Mondul 3 see www.newhopecambodia.com or if you are interested in volunteering go to www.globalteer.co.uk.

Cambodia to open game hunting park: government

Daily Times
Monday, March 02, 2009

The Cambodian government has approved the establishment of a game park for well-heeled hunters in a remote jungle-covered northern province, officials said.

The cabinet passed a sub-decree for the creation a more than 100,000-hectare (247,105-acre) reserve for game hunting in Ratanakkiri province, a government statement said. The establishment of the reserve is for “investment, wildlife conservation and the sustainable development of wildlife hunting in order to serve the economy of the community”, the statement said. The reserve would help eradicate illegal wildlife poaching, it said.

The statement did not say when the park would open or who would operate it, but Madrid-based NSOK Safaris expressed an interest in December 2007. “First, we have to establish the area and the investment is the next step,” Chheang Dany, deputy director of the forestry administration’s wildlife protection office, said. afp

Resolution of border dispute near for Cambodia, Thailand

www.chinaview.cn

2009-03-02

PHNOM PENH, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia and Thailand have agreed to resolve their long-running border dispute by using a memorandum of understanding signed in 2000, said English-language daily newspaper the Phnom Penh Post on Monday.

Prime Minister Hun Sen and his Thai counterpart Abhisit Vejjajiva agreed to do so during their meeting on Friday, the paper quoted Hor Namhong, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, as saying here on Sunday upon his return from the 14 ASEAN Summit in Thailand.

"I think if Thailand has a clear stance and is willing to use the 2000 MoU, there will be no further difficulties in the future," he said, adding that "we decided to resolve the (border) issue peacefully."

The MoU states that the Joint Border Committee (JBC) of the two countries should use maps drafted in 1904 and 1907, which was ratified by Siam (as Thailand was then known) and France, Cambodia's former colonial power, to delineate the common border.

Tension between Thailand and Cambodia ratcheted higher in 2008, when troops from both countries clashed near the Preah Vihear temple at the border area and soldiers on both sides died in their fighting in October. An uneasy peace was restored days later.

Editor: Xiong Tong

Cambodia to host ASEAN-EU ministerial meeting in May

www.chinaview.cn

2009-03-02

PHNOM PENH, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia will host an ASEAN-EU foreign ministers' meeting from May 4 to 6 to push forward the cooperation between the two regional bodies, Chinese-language daily newspaper the Commercial News said on Monday.

Representatives from over 40 countries will join the meeting to be held in tourism province of Siem Reap to find ways to strengthen the friendly cooperative ties between the ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and the EU (European Union), the paper quoted Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh as saying here on Sunday upon his return from the 14 ASEAN Summit in Thailand.

The United States will also send delegates to the meeting, he added.

Meanwhile on the same occasion, Hor Namhong, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, told reporters that the ASEAN and the EU are now preparing to sign an agreement of friendly cooperation.

He didn't give details of the agreement.

Cambodia used to maintain good trade relationship with the EU, which was the second largest importer of its garment products.

Editor: Xiong Tong

U.S. helps Cambodia probe foiled bomb plots in Phnom Penh

www.chinaview.cn

2009-03-02

PHNOM PENH, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is working with Cambodia's national police to investigate the foiled bomb plots that occurred in Phnom Penh in January, said national media on Monday.

Police asked the FBI for assistance after it identified potential suspects overseas, English-Khmer language newspaper the Cambodia Daily quoted national police spokesman Kieth Chantharith as saying.

"We have requested assistance from the FBI to do some investigation on suspects abroad," he said, while declining to say in which foreign country police believed the suspect reside.

Calling it a "terrorist case," the spokesman said that it is normal for Cambodia to contact foreign police forces when their home country becomes relevant to the investigation.

Three explosive devices of very limited killing power were found on Jan. 2 near the Ministry of National Defense and the state-run No. 3 Television Station, but detonated by experts later in the day, without causing any casualty and damage.

At least 6 people have been arrested so far in connection with the case. All the suspects belonged to an anti-government organization called the Tiger Head Movement.

Editor: Xiong Tong

Only 4 parties to join local election of Cambodia in May

www.chinaview.cn

2009-03-02

PHNOM PENH, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Only 4 political parties became eligible to participate in the local election of Cambodia in May, as the registration process has come to its end, said English-language daily newspaper the Phnom Penh Post on Monday.

They are the major ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP), the major opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP), the co-ruling Funcinpec Party and the opposition Norodom Ranariddh Party (NRP), the paper quoted Tep Nytha, secretary general of the National Election Committee (NEC), as saying.

The 4 parties have registered themselves with NEC for the election in accordance with relevant regulations, while dozens of other small parties haven't responded yet, he added.

On May 17, Cambodia will hold the polling for positions of district, provincial and municipal councils as part of the government's drive to transfer more decision-making powers to the local level.

NEC has set altogether 193 temporary offices all over the country to serve the process, and the government plans to deploy 27,133 police force nationwide to guarantee safety and order.

Editor: Xiong Tong

22 attacks conducted against journalists in Cambodia

www.chinaview.cn

2009-03-02

PHNOM PENH, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Twenty-two cases of violence against journalists were recorded in the second half of 2008 and the first two months of 2009 in Cambodia, said English-language daily newspaper the Phnom Penh Post on Monday.

These included cases in which journalists were detained and cases in which threats or accusations were made against them "by individuals, groups, authorities and court institutions," the paper quoted a press release from the Club of Cambodian Journalists (CCJ) as saying.

Meanwhile, the CCJ decried unprofessional behavior on the part of some journalists, who accepted bribes or used unethical means to advance the aims of the groups that they supported.

The press release also urged the Ministry of Information to use more discretion in issuing press cards.

"Some media pass holders are not journalists," said CCJ secretary general Prach Sim.

Over 300 newspapers are registered with the ministry, but only 10 are publishing daily and 30 can get printed on regular basis.

Editor: Xiong Tong

Cambodia PM testimony sought at Khmer Rouge trial

By SOPHENG CHEANG

PHNOM PENH (AP) — Attorneys have asked the U.N.-backed Khmer Rouge genocide tribunal for permission to interview Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and former King Norodom Sihanouk, according to confidential documents obtained Monday.

The request was made by the defense team for Nuon Chea, the main ideologist of the regime whose 1975-1979 rule left an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians dead.

The long-delayed tribunal begins its first trial later this month, while the trial for Nuon Chea — charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity and facing life imprisonment — is expected to begin later this year.

The confidential court documents obtained by The Associated Press also request testimony from current senate president Chean Sim and assembly president Heng Samrin. Both men, along with Hun Sen, were members of the Khmer Rouge regime but defected to Vietnam before it was ousted.

"They are likely in possession of much relevant information to the pending judicial investigation," one of the documents said. All have denied any role in atrocities.

Hun Sen, who has ruled Cambodia for more than two decades, was a former Khmer Rouge soldier who fled to Vietnam in 1977 and became prime minister of a Vietnamese-installed communist government after the regime's fall.

Son Arun, Nuon Chea's Cambodian attorney, confirmed the authenticity of the documents but said he had not personally filed the request, an apparent effort to distance himself from the move to put Cambodia's strongman on the stand.

The defense team said that the 86-year-old former King Sihanouk, who briefly served as a symbolic head of state after the Khmer Rouge took power, had "rare access to the Khmer Rouge leadership, their strategies and policies" and was "privy to a range of sensitive information."

The tribunal's first trial, scheduled to begin March 30, is for 65-year-old Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Duch, who headed the Khmer Rouge's largest torture center. Later trials will be held for Khieu Samphan, the group's former head of state; Ieng Sary, its foreign minister; and his wife Ieng Thirith, who was minister for social affairs.

Activists barred at summit

Photo by: HENG CHIVOAN
Prime Minister Hun Sen at Phnom Penh International Airport after returning Sunday from the Asean summit in Cha-am, Thailand.

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Sebastian Strangio and Cheang Sokha
Monday, 02 March 2009

CAMBODIA joined Myanmar's military junta in blocking human rights activists from attending talks during the annual Aseansummit, detracting from a meeting that has been billed as a crucial step forward for human rights in the region.

Leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' 10 member states were set to hold rare talks Saturday with civil society representatives in the Thai beach resort of Cha-am, but Prime Minister Hun Sen and his Myanmar counterpart Thein Sein reportedly refused to attend if activists from their countries were present.

Pen Somony, a program coordinator for the Cambodia Volunteers for Civil Society, and Khin Ohmar, a rights activist from Myanmar, were both forced to sit out the meeting, instead holding talks with Thai Premier Abhisit Vejjajiva.

The planned Asean human rights body, set forth in the organisation's charter, was expected to be a focus of the talks, but Bridget Welsh, a Southeast Asian specialist at Johns Hopkins University, said the row over civil society participation was instead an indication of Asean's limitations.

"It is truly sad that an organisation known for ‘talk' won't even talk to those working to expand freedom in the region," she said.

"The pandering of Asean to its authoritarian members' demands over a simple dialogue with civil society groups shows how disingenuous the support of human rights is within the organisation."

But Ou Virak, executive director of the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights, said that the response of the Cambodian and Myanmar premiers made little sense as a collusive strategy, since he expected a full-scale attempt to undermine the proposed Asean rights body, which would include communist Vietnam and Laos - two of Asean's serial rights offenders.

He added that while the exclusion of civil society members was to be expected from military-ruled Myanmar, the Cambodian reaction could only be put down to Hun Sen's own attitudes towards civil society.

"It seems that recently [Hun Sen] has gone on the attack, with the proposed introduction of the NGO Law and references to NGOs and civil society as ‘crazy' and ‘deranged'," he said, adding also that a "certain lack of confidence" on the part of two leaders - forced to account for themselves internationally - could also have contributed to the barring of the delegates.

"In a way, they are being challenged by civil society intellectually, and in terms of policy," he said.

But Foreign Minister Hor Namhong said the two delegates were prevented from taking part in talks because they did not appear in a list of civil society organisations contained in the Asean Charter.

"I would like to clarify that Cambodia's delegation ... did not prevent Pen Somoly from entering the meeting," he told reporters on his return
from Thailand Sunday.

"The Thai organisers did not allow these two representatives to join after the government complained [that] the groups did not have names on the civil society list."

Indeed, Pen Somony appears to have a low profile, both locally and internationally. Neither Ou Virak nor Thun Saray, president of local rights group Adhoc, had heard of Pen Somony, and his organisation, Cambodia Volunteers for Civil Society, has no website. There are also few web references to either outside of events at the weekend's summit.

Ou Virak admitted the low profile of the activist could have contributed to his being barred, but said a "higher-profile" rights activist in the same position would also likely have been blocked.

Thun Saray said he could not comment on the specifics of the Pen Somony case, but said civil society involvement was vital if Asean's proposed rights body was to be anything more than a talking shop.

"The Asean Charter recognises the role of civil society to have dialogues with governments," he said.

"This is a crucial time for us to provide input to the draft of the [rights body] document and give recommendations."

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY AFP

Journalist ethics questioned

Photo by: TRACEY SHELTON
Phouk Sopheap, a newspaper stand owner on Phnom Penh's street 51, arranges her products.

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Chhay Channyda
Monday, 02 March 2009

Club of Cambodian Journalists report chastises unprofessional journalists and tallies 2008-09 attacks on the press.

THE Club of Cambodian Journalists (CCJ) said Thursday that 22 cases of violence against journalists were recorded in the second half of 2008 and the first two months of 2009. These included cases in which journalists were detained and cases in which threats or accusations were made against them "by individuals, groups, authorities and court institutions", according to a CCJ press release.

In addition to violence against journalists, the CCJ also decried unprofessional behaviour on the part of some journalists, namely those who accept bribes and those who use other unethical means to advance the aims of groups they support.

Attempts to bribe journalists amount to attempts to erode press freedom in the Kingdom, the press release states.

Press card abuse
The press release urges the Ministry of Information to use more discretion in issuing press cards.

Prach Sim, the secretary general of the CCJ, told the Post Thursday that he believes too many press cards have been issued, including some to people who have no interest in actually producing journalism in any form.

"Some media pass holders are not journalists," he said.

"And many journalists use media passes just to earn money."

Of more than 300 total newspapers that are registered with the Ministry, he said, only 10 are published daily. Yem Noy, director of the ministry's Information Department, also said that only 10 newspapers are published daily, though he said 30 of the 300 are published often enough to be considered active.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[many journalists in cambodia] use media passes just to earn money.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A report produced in May 2008 by the rights group Licadho states that the Ministry of Information has a list of 303 newspapers, not including international media.

"However, this is a cumulative total of years of registrations and does not reflect what actually appears on the newsstands," it states. "Several publications are listed more than once, and others exist only on paper, having gone bankrupt or their owner having died."

The report estimates that only between 15 and 20 papers are published "regularly".

Yem Noy said Thursday that the ministry was concerned about the CCJ statement, in particular about the reported abundance of press cards being used for purposes unrelated to journalism.

He said the ministry has "carefully issued media passes for journalists".

With regard to incidents of violence against journalists, he said these "mostly happen in the provinces" because journalists there "use their media to do other business besides running newspapers".

Lawyers seek PM's testimony

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Georgia Wilkins
Monday, 02 March 2009

Nuon Chea's attorneys ask that ECCC interviews Hun Sen

LAWYERS for the former Khmer Rouge chief ideologist Nuon Chea have requested judges at the Khmer Rouge tribunal interview Prime Minister Hun Sen and King Father Norodom Sihanouk as part of investigations into their client's role in the 1975-79 regime.

In a court document dated Tuesday and obtained by the Post Saturday, lawyers argued that the prime minister, along with National Assembly President Heng Samrin and Cambodian People's Party President Chea Sim should be under investigation in the case "given their former ranks within DK".

"The above-named individuals are likely in possession of documents and information relevant to the pending judicial investigation," it said.

It requested co-investigating judges to interview the individuals with respect to any previous interactions with Nuon Chea, and the existence of a "common plan of systematic persecution".

It is the tenth such request by the defence team, who have also called for the King Father, Norodom Sihanouk, and former allies of the Khmer Rouge to be investigated.

"Given [Sihanouk's] unique role in the DK government as well as his uncommon access to the Khmer Rouge inner circle, Sihanouk is singularly capable of providing information relevant to the [prosecutors'] allegations relating to the DK authority structure," states a separate request dated December 1 and also obtained by the Post Saturday.

Andrew Ianuzzi, legal consultant for Nuon Chea's lawyers, could not comment on the documents except to confirm that they had been filed and no responses had been received.

Minister for Information Khieu Kanarith told the Post Sunday he had not yet seen any formal request but refuted the value of such interviews.

"You have to ask the logical questions. If they were low-ranking officers, how could they know about the system? If Hun Sen did not clearly know who Nuon Chea was [during the regime], how could he be a witness?" he said.

"I have not yet seen any request from the defence lawyers yet, so I do not know if this is an official request," he added.

KR Tribunal hearing deferred

Photo by: AFP
Khieu Samphan in the courtroom during a pretrial chamber public hearing at the ECCC on Friday.

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Cheang Sokha and Georgia Wilkins
Monday, 02 March 2009

In the absence of his famous French lawyer Jacques Verges, a bail hearing for former Khmer Rouge head of state Khieu Samphan is postponed to April.

CAMBODIA'S UN-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal Friday adjourned a bail hearing for the former regime's head of state Khieu Samphan due to the absence of his famed international defence lawyer, Jacques Verges.

The 77-year-old Khieu Samphan, who faces charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, requested the court defer proceedings until his co-lawyer could attend.

"I would like to request that the pretrial chamber adjourn this meeting to a later date," he told judges from the dock.

Cambodian co-lawyer Sa Sovan told the court that Verges had been called to the bedside of a relative who had been in a serious traffic accident and was in a life-or-death situation.

Later in a press conference, however, he told reporters that it was an important colleague of Verges's who was in hospital.

History of delay tactics
Verges, whose previous clients include Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie and international terrorist Carlos the Jackal, has been accused of willfully delaying procedings with disruptive courtroom tactics.

"I cannot force myself to believe that all these explanations are true," civil party lawyer Ny Chandy told reporters at the press conference.

"If it happens next time, we civil parties will be forced to continue without him," he added.

However, Sa Sovan said Verge's absence was "unexpected".

"Frankly, we, the defence, do not really want to delay the proceeding because we made a request to release the charged person," he said.

"We would be happier if our client was released tomorrow, as I think this matter is more unintentional and unexpected."

Judge Prak Kimsan, president of the pretrial chamber, said that the hearing would be adjourned until April 3, as requested by Sa Sovan.

Khieu Samphan is one of the five Khmer Rouge leaders being held at the tribunal for their role in the regime.

Although the trial of Tuol Sleng prison chief Kaing Guek Eav began last month, many victims of the regime have feared that the other four suspects, now ageing and sick, could die before they are tried.

Japanese ships to arrive in S'ville

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Robbie Corey-Boulet
Monday, 02 March 2009

THREE Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force ships are scheduled to arrive at Sihanoukville Autonomous Port this morning, marking the beginning of a five-day visit that will allow 110 cadet school graduates to study the Kingdom and its military system, according to a press release issued last week by the Japanese embassy.

Captain Miwa Kazumasa, who is heading the visit, plans to pay courtesy calls on leaders at the Ministry of National Defence, the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces and the Cambodian navy.

The visit is part of an effort to strengthen ties between Japan and Mekong region countries.

Sam Rainsy seeks restoration of immunity after paying fine

Photo by: HENG CHIVOAN
Sam Rainsy, who had his parliamentary immunity lifted to force him to pay an NEC fine, speaks at a press conference last month.

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Meas Sokchea
Monday, 02 March 2009

Opposition leader pays 10m riels after months of disputing NEC action, which led to loss of parliamentary protection.

SAM Rainsy, president of the Sam Rainsy Party, has written to the chairman of the National Assembly requesting that his parliamentary immunity be reinstated.

The opposition leader wrote his letter to National Assembly Chairman Heng Samrin on Friday, the day after he was stripped of his immunity by the assembly's parliamentary permanent committee for refusing to pay a fine related to last year's national election.

"I would like Samdech [Heng Samrin] to undertake the legal steps to reinstate my parliamentary immunity, as I am a parliamentarian," the letter reads.

The opposition leader had refused to pay a 10 million riel (US$2,400) fine levied by the National Election Committee (NEC) for comments he made about leaders of the ruling Cambodian People's Party during last year's general election.

Both the NEC and the Constitutional Council have ruled against Sam Rainsy, who has called the decisions illegitimate, saying the matter was a penal one and should be ruled on by the courts.

Last week, Prime Minister Hun Sen announced that he would ensure Sam Rainsy would be stripped of his parliamentary immunity if he did not pay the fine.

On the day Sam Rainsy lost his immunity, he paid the fine - a step that NEC Secretary General Tep Nytha said led the election body to withdraw its complaint against the opposition leader. Tep Nytha said the money would be placed in the national budget.

Sam Rainsy said Sunday that he had emailed a complaint to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), an international grouping of parliaments based in Switzerland.

"The IPU knows me well because I have filed complaints with them before," he said. "I have paid the fine so that I don't fall into [the government's] trap - but I am fighting back. This action is to show that the court is not independent and is putting pressure on the opposition and violating the constitution."

CPP lawmaker Sman Teath, who sits on the parliamentary permanent committee, said the committee would consider reinstating his immunity because he had acted in accordance with the law. But he said the matter was not pressing.

Paedophile roundup

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Chrann Chamroeun
Monday, 02 March 2009

Police say they've arrested two foreigners on paedophile charges in separate cases; rights group hopes for full penalty.

PREAH Sihanouk's provincial court last Friday charged a French national with committing "indecent acts" with two underage girls and has placed him in pretrial detention while police investigate the case, according to a court prosecutor.

A man identified by police only as Jean Claude, 64, was arrested Thursday at a guesthouse where he was found with a 10-year-old and 13-year-old girl, Mak Khieng said.

"Our police took many photographs of the suspect playing in the ocean and at the beach with the two girls as evidence before the arrest," he said. "Both girls told me the suspect bathed them and touched their vaginas."

The suspect denied the allegations and said he had taken the girls to his guesthouse to treat them for an illness, he said.

Suon Sophan, deputy chief of the province's Anti-human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection Department, told the Post that police raided the suspect's room based on a tip from the anti-paedophile NGO Action Pour Les Enfants.

Samleang Seila, APLE's country director, said the man was believed to have known the girls and their mother for several years, and officials from his NGO became suspicious after they saw him leading the two girls into his guesthouse. He said the two girls temporarily have been put in the care of the NGO World Hope.

He said the suspect used a method typical of paedophiles of using gifts of money to lure children to their residences - an act that amounts to purchasing sex from a minor, and must be distinguished from the minor crime of indecent acts, he said. Under the anti-trafficking law passed last year, purchasing sex from a minor - someone under the age of 15 - requires a prison sentence of seven to 15 years, while the crime of indecent acts carries a jail term of one to three years.

Further hearings, arrests
On Friday, Phnom Penh Municipal Court postponed the trial of US national Jason Todd Baumbach, 40, who was arrested in September last year on charges of purchasing sex from a 13-year-old girl.

Last Tuesday, another American man was arrested in Siem Reap on charges of purchasing sex with two boys, ages 13 and 14, according to Bith Kimhong, director of the Anti-human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection Department. The man, identified by police as a 41-year-old named Peter Erik Leonardus, is being held in Phnom Penh's Prey Sar prison, he added.

ILO series nears completion

Photo by: PHOTO SUPPLIED
Actresses on location in Phnom Penh filming the ILO's soap opera. The educational series aims to teach workers about their rights.

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Chhay Channyda
Monday, 02 March 2009

Educational series dramatises some of the challenges faced by Cambodia's garment workers and educates them about their rights and responsibilities.

FILMING wrapped last month for the final two episodes of the soap opera At the Factory Gates, produced by the International Labour Organisation to shed light on issues in the garment industry and, in particular, the plight of garment workers.

The episodes feature appearances by Cambodian actors Nhem Sokun and Pov Kisan. In the first episode, titled "Overtime", gangsters set workers up with factory jobs in exchange for a share of their overtime payments before factory managers and union representatives step in to warn the workers about the perils of associating with "middlemen".

In the second, titled "Life Skills", female garment workers are tricked by the same gangsters to work in karaoke bars.

Previous episodes in the eight-part series have dealt with issues such as occupational safety and health, working mothers and breast-feeding, and how to handle workplace grievances.

The first two episodes were funded by the American clothing company Gap Inc, and the next four were funded by the United States Agency for International Development. Agence Francaise de Developpement provided funding for the final two.

Minna Maaskola, a consultant for the ILO's Better Factories Cambodia, said the soap opera had proved to be a particularly effective educational tool, in part because the literacy rate among garment workers is low.

The episodes, she said via e-mail, give garment workers "an easy way to learn about their roles and responsibilities".

"While viewing the films, workers can link their own working experience to the issues in the video," she said.

The drama and humour written into each episode as well as the use of well-known Cambodian actors had appealed to audiences so far, she added.

An educational experience
For the actors themselves, the process of filming the episodes made them more knowledgeable about the garment industry, they said.

Movie actor Pov Kisan plays a villain named Kosal who serves as the leader of a protest who agitates only for the sake of agitating and has little interest in resolving conflicts with his employers. As a result, Kosal is put in jail for one year. After his release, he is more willing to negotiate and ultimately receives an award from the Ministry of Interior for his cooperation with police and other authorities.

Pov Kisan, who has been playing villains for more than two decades, said he enjoyed playing a multifaceted character.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WORKERS CAN LINK THEIR OWN WORKING EXPERIENCE TO THE ISSUES IN THE VIDEO.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I cry in the film, and I have never had to act like that before," he said. "This is a great story, and the film crew pushed me to express new feelings."

He added, "Among the educational films I have done, I like this ILO series the most."

Nhem Sokun plays Dara, a union president who urges workers to resolve disputes with their employers. In the first two episodes of the series, he explains to workers which forms of protest are legal and which are not.

"It is hard for me to act in this kind of film because I have to remember key terminology for the labour sector, which I have never used before," he said.

"It is not easy to act in the series. This kind of character is knowledgeable about the labour law. He pursues justice and helps garment workers who are in trouble."

He said he believes the series is "balanced" in that it is sympathetic to the positions of employers as well as frustrated workers.

"It is an educational film that everyone - but especially garment workers - should view because it will help them find solutions to disputes in their working life," he said.

The producer of the series, Nick Wood, said it was demanding to write episodes that would appeal to all sides of the typical labour dispute - workers, government officials and unions.

"The hardest thing was writing a film that was believable, entertaining, informative and dramatic and that would appeal to" these various parties, he said.

"The easiest thing was working with motivated, committed and talented Khmer actors and a great production team."

Minna Maaskola said production of the final two episodes would take about one month to complete and that she was not sure when they would air on television.

DECENTRALISATION: May election registration closing

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Neth Pheaktra
Monday, 02 March 2009

DECENTRALISATION

THE ruling Cambodian People's Party, the royalist Funcinpec and Norodom Ranariddh parties, and the opposition Sam Rainsy Party will be the only parties represented in the May council elections, Tep Nytha, secretary general of the National Election Committee (NEC), told the Post Sunday.

May's council election will see the country's commune councillors vote to determine the representation of their respective parties at the higher-level district council and the municipal and provincial councils. 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. Parties have had a five-day window, between last Thursday and today, to list their candidates. Some 11,353 commune councilors will vote to elect 3,235 representatives.

The CPP holds 7,993 seats in the Commune Council, with the SRP sitting on 2,660 seats. Funcinpec and NRP, which hold 274 and 424 seats, respectively, have formed a coalition to pool their weak bases for the May election.

The Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia (Comfrel) has predicted the CPP will sweep 2,436, or more than 75 percent, of the seats, with the SRP carrying 689 seats and NRP and Funcinpec taking 60 and 44 seats, respectively.

The election watchdog group last week issued a report criticising the upcoming election, 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.

Sedge mat industry thinks global

Photo by: PHOTO SUPPLIED
Minister of Women's Affairs, Ieng Kantha Phavi, inspects sedge products Thursday.

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Khouth Sophak Chakrya
Monday, 02 March 2009

Association's recent award shows industry's capacity for empowering women in Kandal province

THE Cambodian Sedge Mats Business Association (CSMA) is looking to capitalise on the publicity stemming from a recent award to expand the global customer base for sedge mats, said Minister of Women's Affairs Ing Kantha Phavi during a ceremony Thursday marking the opening of two training centres for sedge mat weavers in Kandal province.

GTZ, a German-based enterprise promoting sustainable development, announced last December that a project promoting the production of sedge mats in Kandal province was among five recipients of its "New ideas for more employment" award. The prize for the award, according to the GTZ website, takes the form of "professional presentation of the projects for media purposes and international publicity for them".

The sedge mat industry currently employs an estimated 10,000 women throughout Cambodia, according to a GTZ release announcing the award. There are more than 1,000 sedge farmers and 4,000 women weavers in Kandal province alone.

Previously, sedge mat products only attracted local customers, Ing Kantha Phavi said. But in recent years, she said, sedge mats have been purchased by an increasing number of customers in other Asian countries, Europe and the United States for use in homes and offices.

The CSMA website states that the traditional method of weaving sedge mats, once common in Southeast and East Asia, "has vanished in most parts of Asia".

"In Cambodia's Kandal province, however, the technique has been preserved," the site states.

Training for rural women
In her remarks Thursday, Ing Kantha Phavi urged farmers in the area to increase sedge mat production. She also called for CSMA and GTZ to increase technical training provided to women weavers.

She said the growth of this and other industries in rural areas would reduce the number of women who migrate to Phnom Penh in search of job opportunities.

Peter Bolster, who works as part of GTZ's program to promote private-sector development in rural areas, said the innovation demonstrated by those currently working in the sedge mat industry was on par with those involved in the other winning projects, including one promoting the reintegration of unemployed Chinese women into the workforce and one promoting the socioeconomic reintegration of youth and ex-combatants in Ivory Coast.

Eco-toilets bound for Angkor Wat temples

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by May Kunmakara
Monday, 02 March 2009

A JAPANESE nonprofit group, Groundwork Mashima, has offered to donate two ecologically friendly toilets for use at Angkor Wat, according to Cambodian officials.

Produced in Japan, the toilets use bacteria-laced cedar chips that break down waste into nitrogen and water. The "biotoilets", which have been installed in Japan's iconic hiking destination, Mount Fuji, need a small amount of electricity to function and do not require emptying.

Khuon Khun Neay, deputy director of Apsara, the government authority charged with running the World Heritage site, said he would meet with officials from the Japanese group later this month to finalise the terms of the donation. The biotoilets would "help keep the Angkor Wat temple complex's fresh atmosphere for tourists", he added.

Ho Vandy, an official with the Cambodian Association of Travel Agents, said he hoped the Japanese group would provide additional biotoilets for Cambodia's other prominent tourist destinations. But Khuon Khun Neay said additional units would need to be purchased for over $10,000 each.

Toyohiro Wantanabe, executive director of Groundwork Mashima, was quoted as saying in the Japanese Mainichi Daily News that his group wanted to contribute "toward the protection of the ruins".

While over a million tourists visit the Angkorian temples near Siem Reap every year, the complex includes only 11 public restrooms.

A visionary behind the scenes

Photo by: SEBASTIAN STRANGIO
Lao Mong Hay has been working on Cambodian human rights issues since the 1980s.

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Neth Pheaktra and Sebastian Strangio
Monday, 02 March 2009

From nationalist rebel to commentator with the Asian Human Rights Commission, Lao Mong Hay keeps his critical edge.

Having been the head of the Khmer People's National Liberation Front's (KPNLF) Human Rights Unit during the 1980s, how do you see the human rights situation in Cambodia today? Have there been improvements?

With the movement from communism to a more liberal regime, restrictions such as movement inside and outside the country no longer need prior authorisation. Economic freedom is not complete, but largely free: If you have a skill or capital and you want to invest it, you can do it. But there is still largely a lack of freedom of expression. Who is in charge of the newspapers? Mostly people who are affiliated with the ruling party - so the papers are largely pro-government. Audiovisual media are controlled by the authorities, and there is no free editorial policy.

You spent time working as KPNLF president Son Sann's aide during the late 1980s and early 1990s. What do you recall about him?

We were instrumental in getting all the Cambodian factions to agree to accept the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and then later on to agree to the human rights clauses in the Paris Peace Agreements. But since Son Sann was not successful in contesting the 1993 elections, those successes were kept at a low profile.

Son Sann was forward-looking for his age: When I got to the border, he initiated a number of programs to prepare people for repatriation and for rebuilding the country. He initiated the creation of a technical school, where refugees were trained in a number of technical skills, and an institute of public administration to train district leaders and officials in public administration, economics and law. There were hundreds of graduates from that school.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Who can be sure our leader will not appoint his descendants, like kim il sung and kim jong il have?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The KPNLF was in nominal alliance with the Khmer Rouge during this period. Did this worry you? How did it influence your human rights perspective?

When I joined the KPNLF in the field to work with the fighters, I told Son Sann and my senior colleagues that I would not have the letters CGDK [Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea] on my namecard. I would only have the KPNLF. When I came to work closely with the KPNLF and the people, we brought to the Cambodian communities on the border - and later, inside the country - the concepts of human rights, the rule of law and democracy. Later on when people were repatriated from the border, the seeds of human rights and democracy were created inside the country. But unfortunately, because Son Sann was not successful at the elections, we could not translate the ideas that we cherished into concrete actions.

What is the most pressing human rights issue in Cambodia right now?

Freedom of expression. Freedom of expression means ideas, which can be critical of the government. But our rulers do not accept freedom of expression or ideas that are not compatible with their own. That's the definition of dictatorship.

Is it dangerous for democracy that the Human Rights Party is not allowed to speak in the National Assembly?

This is part of the curb on freedom of expression. That rule is unconstitutional. The affected party and all MPs should check the Constitution and should ask the Constitutional Council to remove that clause.

How do you view the growing influence of the Chinese government in Cambodia? Will it set back human rights?

Not directly. Being a communist country whose government is not responsive to the people, we can't expect China to do otherwise. And China is like any big power in the past. It is solely concerned with its own strategic or economic interests, and foreign aid basically serves foreign policy. Look at the American government. So long as recipient countries pursue policies in conformity with American foreign policy, they will give aid. There's a double standard: America can support dictatorships as well as democracies.

Following your work with Yash Ghai, do you think that Cambodia can benefit from hosting a UN special rapporteur for human rights?

Cambodia can swing like a pendulum from one extreme to another, and a third party can help restrain us. We agreed already, when we signed the Paris Peace Agreements, that there should be a special rapporteur in the form of the UN representative. But through hostility towards the field office of the UN's High Commissioner on Human Rights, and through hostility to the special representative, Cambodia showed that it is not sincere in its pledges to the Paris Peace Agreements. When we pledge something in front of the international community, we should honour it.

Is the current period of CPP dominance an indication of democracy functioning successfully or a slide back into one-party rule?

The last election was a bad turn for Cambodia. Look at how the elections were controlled, right down to the grassroots. All institutions of the country are controlled by the ruling party: our King, our Constitutional Council, our courts, our parliament, our civil service, our army and police force. They should be politically neutral. To correct this flaw, we must pass a law preventing any members of these institutions from being members of any political party. And it needs to be enforced.

What do you think about the new alliance between the SRP and HRP?

I don't think the two parties could work very well together. There are clashes of personality. There are no clear ideas or policies. This sort of alliance comes and goes, and they'll need to work hard to consolidate their unity.

What do you think caused the royalists' decline in politics?

Authoritarianism. When leaders are so autocratic, their subordinates lose their creativity. I have met some of them. At the beginning, they were very bright, but after one or two years there were no more ideas because they were not allowed to think.

There are some princes that have continued to be in politics, for instance Sisowath Sirirath. The nation might be in crisis later on, and we might need the royalists as we did in the 1980s and 1990s. And who can be sure our ruler will not appoint his descendants, like Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il have? He could become King under a new name.

How do the old political leaders - like Son Sann - compare with new leaders, like Sam Rainsy or Kem Sokha?

Some of those old leaders started off with work experience as government officials and then, when the French left, they became leaders. For the time that the French had been in Cambodia, they left behind a reasonable working system of government: the basic institutions of the Cambodian state, and the rule of law. So we were more conscious about rules. Compare this to leaders now. How long was Sam Rainsy in government? Two years, and at the top. And Kem Sokha: What work experience in public administration does he have?

Recently, the Khmer Rouge tribunal has been beset by disagreements over whether prosecutions should be broadened to include other prominent KR figures.

In principle, I agree with the UN experts of the late 1990s. The creation of that court has defined one legal principle already: All those who are suspected of committing any crimes should be held accountable and should be tried. Look at the statement of our Cambodian co-prosecutor. She mentioned the political instability that might be caused by that sort of prosecution. As a prosecutor, she should not bother about that. If somebody has been accused of a crime, it is the government's responsibility to ensure stability, not the court's.

Interview by Neth Pheaktra and Sebastian Strangio

Casinos adapt to survive gaming ban

Photo by: SOVANN PHILONG
Casino workers in Bavet on the border with Vietnam in Svay Rieng province.

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Kay Kimsong
Monday, 02 March 2009

MANY of the capital's gambling clubs are now operating as restaurants or coffee shops following the government's outright ban on all venues offering slot machines and electronic gaming machines.

The Ministry of Economy and Finance issued its directive on Wednesday following an order from Prime Minister Hun Sen. All valid gaming licences to operate betting machines were ruled invalid from that date, ostensibly to protect public morals.

An official at the ministry said the directive had led to the closure of 60 gambling clubs in the past week. He said the industry contributed more than US$20 million annually, of which US$1 million came from Cambo Six.

The manager of one former gambling club, the Golden Tower, said his company had laid off 1,000 staff.

"In order to save some of the jobs we've changed our club to a restaurant," said a manager who identified himself only as Sophal. He said each worker had earned a monthly wage of around US$100.

Most gambling clubs had enforceable contracts with their landlords, who insisted on clubs meeting their monthly rental payments, he added.

"We can't cancel the contract with our landlord - we had agreed to pay them rent for the club space," said Sophal. "For that reason we have had to create another business rather than completely close down."

The manager of another club, the Atlantic, said his business would now look at serving food. He said the ministry's decision had cost thousands of people their jobs.

Tax revenue lost
"We have to pay rent every month, so we have to do something - and this is better than doing nothing," said the manager, who requested anonymity. "We thought we were protected by our business licence, but in fact we're not."

He added that his club contributed US$7,000 in taxes each month to the treasury, spent US$10,000 on wages, US$5,000 on under-the-table payments to the local authorities and US$20,000 for its business licence.

But the clampdown has not affected all gambling outlets. CPP Senator Phu Kok An, the owner of Golden Crown Casinos, told the Post Sunday that the government directive did not affect slot machines in legal casinos along the border with Thailand and Vietnam.

He said that it also did not affect the NagaWorld casino located on the same block as Parliament in Phnom Penh. The Post ascertained Saturday that slot machines are still operating at NagaWorld.

"As long as we can ban Khmer people from gambling, slot machines in casinos will not be affected," he said.
Cambodian nationals are banned from entering licensed casinos to gamble.

Phu Kok An agreed that several thousand people had lost their jobs in the clampdown. But, he said, the spread of gambling had created social problems that outweighed the benefits. He said those investors who already had a licence would not be able to start their businesses, but although they might be disappointed, they ought to follow government policy.

"I think that those places offering slot machines should change and become restaurants or coffee shops," he said.