Tobacco Industry Blocking Global Treaty On Smoking In Asean Countries

By D. Arul Rajoo BANGKOK, March 10 (Bernama) -- The tobacco industry in Southeast Asia is systematically obstructing implementation of a global treaty on curbing smoking and tobacco use, a regional advocacy network warned today.

Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (Seatca) said since it took effect in 2005, implementation of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) in the region has been undermined by insidious tactics of big tobacco companies.

It said abuses by tobacco corporations have ranged from attempting to write tobacco control laws and blocking the passage of key legislations in the Philippines, Laos and Cambodia, and using so-called "corporate social responsibility" to circumvent laws and regulations in Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia and the Philippines.

The region's governments have been vulnerable to interference through the industry's lobbying, public relations dealings and CSR activities, Seatca said in a statement.

In some cases, the industry sought to participate in the development of national and sub-national tobacco control policies while in some instances even proposing to draft the legislation for the government, the Bangkok-based Seatca said.

Seatca said its director Bungon Ritthiphakdee had told a panel discussion at the 14th World Conference on Tobacco or Health (WCToH) in Mumbai that tobacco industry interference has been the number one obstacle to the WHO FCTC implementation.

"Countries in Asean and its neighbours now see protections against this interference as the strongest factor of the treaty," he said.

Dr Mary Assunta, Seatca's Senior Policy Adviser, the tobacco industry has aggressively expanded its business in the Asean region.

"They have deliberately deterred, delayed and diluted tobacco control laws. With the WHO FCTC guidelines, advocates and public officials can finally put to a halt tobacco industry tactics and focus on implementing life-saving measures to protect their citizens," she said.

Seatca urged all parties to the convention to take strong measures to implement guidelines on Article 5.3 of the WHO FCTC to block tobacco industry interference in regional health policies.

"Governments must proceed from the premise that the tobacco industry is the problem and not a stakeholder in efforts to curb tobacco use and to protect the health of the public.

"Allowing tobacco corporations to influence tobacco control policy violates both the spirit and letter of the FCTC," it added.

-- BERNAMA

Aid has not helped Cambodia reform

Pacific Daily News
March 11, 2009

Learning is an essential part of life. Eighteenth-century English poet Alexander Pope writes, "Some people will never learn anything ... because they understand everything too soon."

A saying goes, "The greatest ignorance is to reject something you know nothing about." Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. lamented, "Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity."

And American futurist Alvin Toffler warns, "The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn."

But it's not enough just to learn, we must apply. That's how we develop and grow, avoid others' pitfalls, prepare and build a better future. In a globalized world, what occurs in one area will affect other areas, sooner or later, directly or indirectly.

So, when the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific posits, "Bad governance is being increasingly regarded as one of the root causes of all evil within our societies," it behooves all of us to take notice.

"Major donors and international financial institutions are increasingly basing their aid and loans on the condition that reforms that ensure 'good governance' are undertaken," ESCAP says, but the reality is "reforms" are lacking, though aid and loans continue to flow in.

The London-based environmental watchdog Global Witness charged in its report, "Country for Sale," for "more than a decade now" international donors gave the Cambodian regime over 50 percent of the country's national budget, and pledged nearly ($1 billion) in development aid for 2009, "yet (donors) failed to use this opportunity to demand new governance measures."

"Unless this is changed, there is a real risk that the opportunity to lift a whole generation out of poverty will be squandered," Global Witness says.

It quotes a statement by the U.N. Special Representative in Cambodia: "With aid-giving comes the responsibility to ensure that it helps the people. ... It is not sufficient to ... emphasize adherence to human rights treaties and protocols (useful as they are). Nor are new laws or suddenly created institutions the panacea, for the (Cambodian) government has disregarded laws, or through abuse, turned them to its own partisan advantage," the statement reads.

The Special Representative and Global Witness were booted out of Cambodia.

Hun Sen can be blamed for bad behavior and bad governance, which continue because there is no consequence. But enablers of bad behavior and bad governance are not excused from responsibilities for the situation.

Cambodia's current governance began as a result of the failure of the world community to implement the 1991 Paris Peace Accords that stipulate Cambodia's adherence to "the rights and freedoms embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other relevant international human rights instruments" -- which, in turn, are incorporated in Cambodia's constitution. Enablers conceded to Sen's demand for co-premiership, though he lost the election, and closed their eyes to unconstitutional power grabs that ended with the 1997 coup d'etat, in which many were killed.

Donors praised political stability -- attained through blatant grabs for power. Donors praised economic development -- attained through forced evictions of citizens, sale of natural resources, institution of a regime of kleptocracy.

Gone are what's necessary for good governance: the rule of law that requires the promotion of human rights and freedom; legal impartiality; separation of powers; checks and balances; the accountability (to the public and institutional stakeholders) that requires the existence of the rule of law and transparency; equity; inclusiveness; and responsiveness.

Asia Times Online's Bertil Lintner's "One big happy family in Cambodia" referenced the Phnom Penh Post's compilation of how "arranged marriages" produced "growing family ties (that) run all the way to the top of Cambodia's political pyramid. ... These new family ties between the children of (cabinet) ministers and top officials potentially set the stage for the (Cambodian People's Party's) grip on power to continue for generations."

It is a picture of grotesque concentration of powers, a family hall for distributing political and economic resources, a stadium for job seekers, a true Hun Sen Inc. within a larger People's Party Ltd.

Said to be a U.N. "success story," Cambodia is a story of bad governance, a sad story written with the help of international donors, apparently more impressed with the Monivong Boulevard's "gleaming new" Kentucky Fried Chicken, or the 27-story Canadia Bank Tower with health club and restaurant, than with the health and welfare of the people, 30 percent of whom, Sen says, live below the poverty level today.

Stanford journalism professor Joel Brinkley writes in the March-April Foreign Affairs Magazine's "Cambodia's Curse" that the 2004 and 2005 comprehensive studies funded by the U.S. embassy in Phnom Penh "showed in stunning detail that Cambodian government officials steal between $300 million and $500 million a year (most years, the state's annual budget is about $1 billion)."

The Special Representative and Global Witness were booted out of Cambodia.

Hun Sen can be blamed for bad behavior and bad governance, which continue because there is no consequence. But enablers of bad behavior and bad governance are not excused from responsibilities for the situation.

Cambodia's current governance began as a result of the failure of the world community to implement the 1991 Paris Peace Accords that stipulate Cambodia's adherence to "the rights and freedoms embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other relevant international human rights instruments" -- which, in turn, are incorporated in Cambodia's constitution. Enablers conceded to Sen's demand for co-premiership, though he lost the election, and closed their eyes to unconstitutional power grabs that ended with the 1997 coup d'etat, in which many were killed.

Donors praised political stability -- attained through blatant grabs for power. Donors praised economic development -- attained through forced evictions of citizens, sale of natural resources, institution of a regime of kleptocracy.

Gone are what's necessary for good governance: the rule of law that requires the promotion of human rights and freedom; legal impartiality; separation of powers; checks and balances; the accountability (to the public and institutional stakeholders) that requires the existence of the rule of law and transparency; equity; inclusiveness; and responsiveness.

Asia Times Online's Bertil Lintner's "One big happy family in Cambodia" referenced the Phnom Penh Post's compilation of how "arranged marriages" produced "growing family ties (that) run all the way to the top of Cambodia's political pyramid. ... These new family ties between the children of (cabinet) ministers and top officials potentially set the stage for the (Cambodian People's Party's) grip on power to continue for generations."

It is a picture of grotesque concentration of powers, a family hall for distributing political and economic resources, a stadium for job seekers, a true Hun Sen Inc. within a larger People's Party Ltd.

Said to be a U.N. "success story," Cambodia is a story of bad governance, a sad story written with the help of international donors, apparently more impressed with the Monivong Boulevard's "gleaming new" Kentucky Fried Chicken, or the 27-story Canadia Bank Tower with health club and restaurant, than with the health and welfare of the people, 30 percent of whom, Sen says, live below the poverty level today.

Stanford journalism professor Joel Brinkley writes in the March-April Foreign Affairs Magazine's "Cambodia's Curse" that the 2004 and 2005 comprehensive studies funded by the U.S. embassy in Phnom Penh "showed in stunning detail that Cambodian government officials steal between $300 million and $500 million a year (most years, the state's annual budget is about $1 billion)."

A. Gaffar Peang-Meth, Ph.D., is retired from the University of Guam, where he taught political science for 13 years.

Ceramic Water Filters Win IWA Award for Cambodia

Inhabitat

March 9, 2009

by Alexandra Kain

As populations in developing nations increase alongside global pollution and the spread of water-borne illnesses, the need for clean and efficient water filtration has never been more urgent. Recently, the International Water Association (IWA) awarded UNICEF and the Water and Sanitation Program with the 2008 Project Innovation Award Grand Prize for providing Cambodia with ceramic water filters. These water purification devices are made and distributed by Cambodian nationals, and have resulted in a 50 percent drop in diarrheal illnesses in the region since their implementation in 2002.

Developed in a joint effort between UNICEF and the WSP, these ceramic water filters rely upon porous ceramic (fired clay) to filter microbes or other contaminants from drinking water. The units feature a pore size that is small enough to remove virtually all bacteria and protozoa, and they work by gravity filtration, with flow rates of 1-3 liters per hour.

There are 3 active factories in Cambodia today producing 5500 ceramic water filters per month, which have been tested to reduce E.coli by 99.99 percent. The filters are distributed and marketed with the aid of a variety of NGOs and independent businesses in Cambodia. This trial program has proven successful and planned for expansion in the near future, with the hope of addressing the needs of two thirds of all Cambodians that don’t have access to clean drinking water.

+ Water and Sanitation Program
+ UNICEF
+ Field Report on Ceramic Filters in Cambodia [PDF]

Trial on trial

International Herald Tribune

By John A. Hall
Published: March 10, 2009

The latest revelations about alleged misconduct and corruption at the Khmer Rouge tribunal have startled even its most jaded critics. Indeed, the nature of this dirty laundry suggests that the UN-backed tribunal is so deeply flawed that its very existence needs to be reevaluated.

Corruption allegations are unfortunately nothing new at the Extraordinary Chambers of the Courts of Cambodia, or ECCC. Since 2006 there have been repeated calls by watchdog groups for an investigation into media reports that Cambodian staff and judges at the ECCC had to pay up to 30 percent of their salary to get and keep their job.

In 2008, several Cambodian whistle-blowers filed complaints with UN staff members alleging corruption at the tribunal. The UN carried out a review of these complaints, and in August 2008 sent a report directly to the Cambodian government. The UN has refused to make public the results of its review, and no details of the underlying allegations have been made public. The Cambodian government, predictably, dismissed the allegations out-of-hand as "unsubstantiated," and rejected the authority of the UN to investigate Cambodian nationals.

In January, the defense team representing Nuon Chea, "Brother No. 2," filed a complaint with the municipal court in Phnom Penh claiming that unresolved allegations of corruption violated their client's right to a fair trial. The complaint mentioned two senior Cambodian tribunal administrators - Keo Thyvuth, the former chief of personnel, and Sean Visoth, the head of administration. Predictably, the municipal court refused to act on the complaint.

The report of a delegation from the German Parliament that visited the tribunal in October 2008 raises serious new questions about the nature of the corruption, as well as what the UN knew and when.

In that report - available online at the Bundestag's Web site until apparently being removed on Feb. 25 - the delegates described a meeting with Knut Rosandhaug, deputy director of administration at the ECCC, during which he indicated that the UN had investigated Sean Visoth and "had come to the conclusion that he is guilty of corruption."

This is an extraordinary assertion, which, if true, goes to the very heart of the tribunal. Sean Visoth, director of the Office of Administration, is the most senior Cambodian administrator at the tribunal. In August 2008, he promised to resign if ever found guilty of corruption. He is currently on medical leave.

A presumption of innocence is a cornerstone of justice, and it would be inappropriate to rush to judgment on Sean and assume that the comments reportedly made by Rosandhaug - even if they were in fact made - are in fact accurate. The Bundestag report is hearsay and cannot be used as proof of the truth of the statements alleged to have been made by Rosandhaug.

Nevertheless, the allegations are extremely serious and must be addressed. To this point the Cambodian authorities have routinely dismissed as "unverified" all allegations of corruption that have been brought to their attention. But now the chief Cambodian administrator at the tribunal is implicated by name in the parliamentary report of a donor nation, and that requires clear, thorough and independent review by a competent investigative body.

One thing is clear: The recently agreed-upon mechanism to investigate corruption at the ECCC is woefully inadequate and falls far short of being the competent body required to instill confidence and adequately undertake this important task.

On Feb. 23, the UN and the Cambodian government announced that they had agreed upon parallel but autonomous national and international mechanisms to receive complaints regarding wrongdoing at the tribunal, which would apparently give the Cambodians power to veto any joint investigations of Cambodian staff or administrators.

A system where each side handles the complaints of its own staff has already been tried and has failed at the tribunal. The Open Society Justice Initiative, a nongovernmental organization, has criticized the new parallel mechanism as being merely a continuation of the failed current policy while doing "nothing to alter the de facto Cambodian government veto, which has stymied genuine investigations of corruption to date."

Can we trust Cambodian appointees to honestly investigate allegations of corrupt practices by senior Cambodian administrators? Surely not, given the perception of political influence and widespread corruption within the Cambodian judicial system.

What is urgently needed is a demonstrably trustworthy investigative mechanism - one free from possible manipulation by Cambodian appointees. Ideally such a mechanism should be independent, with judicial authority and with broad-ranging investigative powers. One option would be to hire an experienced auditing company to conduct a review, with a public report made to the tribunal's judges, containing recommendations for the filing of criminal charges in the municipal court if warranted.

The Bundestag report also suggests disturbing questions about what the UN knew and when, and raises the specter that the UN has once again been complicit in keeping secret the wrongdoings of senior Cambodian tribunal staff.

This would not be the first time that the UN has been accused of covering up evidence of Cambodian misdeeds at the ECCC. In 2007, the UN Development Program attempted, unsuccessfully, to keep secret the report of independent auditors that had found evidence of such serious flaws in the hiring practices at the tribunal that they recommended the wholesale firing of all Cambodian tribunal staff.

Given the history of allegations about corrupt practices at the tribunal and the level of skepticism and distrust evident amongst donors, civil society and monitors, surely a policy of full disclosure is called for? Leaked reports can seriously undermine credibility, and credibility is a commodity in short supply at the moment in Phnom Penh.

The problem is not so much the whiff of corruption but rather that the UN refuses to deal with it in a direct, transparent and credible way that enhances the credibility of the court.

John A. Hall, a professor at the Chapman University School of Law, in Orange, California, has carried out extensive human rights fieldwork in Cambodia.

Cambodia: Foreign aid continues during economic crisis

Global Voices Online
Tuesday, March 10th, 2009
by Chhunny Chhean

Reports of foreign aid to Cambodia continue despite the global economic crisis. CAAI News Media shares news that the United States will give Cambodia $21 million USD over four years in a program to alleviate poverty in rural parts of the country.

According to a story posted by Cambodian News, the U.S. provided a total of $5.6 million USD in aid in 2008.

On the issue of foreign aid, Socheata Vong posts an interview from the Phnom Penh Post with political commentator Lao Mong Hay where he says,

“…[F]oreign 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.
Mr. Semoun and Hort Sroeu post about South Korean investment into Cambodia. Sroeu's blog states:

In 2007, Cambodia became the 6th biggest host of South Korean investment after China, the U.S., China’s Hong Kong region, Vietnam and Malaysia, [South Korean ambassador to Cambodia Shin Hyun-suk] said…Initially, South Korean investment was concentrated on the garment manufacturing sector, he said, adding that banking, agro-industry, manufacturing, real estate development and IT sectors are the dominating fields of South Korean investment in Cambodia now.

However, the country must deal with projected decreases in garment exports and tourism. As Khmer Young reports,

Cambodia's economy [is predicted] to shrink 0.5 percent this year, the International Monetary Fund said on Friday. That is a big turnaround from the 4.8 percent growth the IMF had forecast in November.

The International Monetary Fund statement is available here.

Cambodia appoints permanent representative to ASEAN

March 10, 2009

PHNOM PENH (Xinhua) - Cambodia has appointed its Ambassador to Indonesia Kan Pharith as the kingdom's permanent representative to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ( ASEAN), said official news agency AKP today.

The credentials were received by Secretary General of ASEAN Surin Pitsuwan last week, added the Agence Kampuchea Presse.

Currently, only the permanent representatives of four ASEAN member countries, including Vietnam, Laos, Singapore and Cambodia, have presented their credentials to the ASEAN Secretariat.

Myanmar, the Philippines and Thailand are expected to appoint their representatives soon.
ASEAN altogether has 10 member countries, still including Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Cambodia: A Country Still In Turmoil

Scoop.co.nz (New Zealand)
Tuesday, 10 March 2009

Article: Alison M. Brown

Amidst the bustling streets, dusty roads, whistles, horns, and panic resulting from disorganized traffic lays the multifaceted city of Phnom Penh. The capital of Cambodia integrates an interesting combination of culture, tourism and poverty, along with a strange sense of western influence.

At first glimpse, it doesn’t seem that Cambodia escapes the stereotype of being just another backpacker friendly Southeast Asian country, but this facade is easily defeated after visiting the notorious Killing Fields or Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum that brings the grueling images of Cambodia’s recent past to the surface. Over the last thirty years, the country suffered immensely while battling unfathomable atrocities such as mass starvation, genocide, and war.

BRUTAL HISTORY REVISITED

During my short travel stint throughout the country, all of its problems were made very aware to me and it often felt as if I were on an emotional rollercoaster. I came to Cambodia with basic knowledge of the Khmer Rouge regime that devastated the country primarily from 1975 to 1979, though its influence can still be seen today.

This extremist government upheld ideals of Marxism that ravaged the nation with the goal of creating a total agrarian society that would be obedient and produce wealth by exporting substantial amounts of rice to China. The Khmer Rouge murdered and tortured millions of innocent people, mainly intellectuals and political dissenters, and caused thousands more to die of starvation and exhaustion in the rice fields.

The atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge during its reign have left scars that are still overwhelmingly apparent. Approximately thirty three percent of Cambodia’s current population is under the age of 15, many of which are orphaned or severely impoverished. Small children sprawl the streets day and night in hopes of finding a Westerner to buy their books and trinkets or to buy them food.

EFFORTS TO SAVE THE CHILDREN

Even though there are a number of Non-Government Organizations in Cambodia, it is difficult to see large scale improvement when there is so much work to be done. I spent five days volunteering at the Save Poor Children in Asia Organization (S.C.A.O.), located just ten kilometers outside Phnom Penh. The director, Sath Samith, helped found the organization only 16 short months ago.

The facility houses and cares for 17 children with the goal of sending each child to school ($300 per year for primary school and $470 for high school), raising them in a loving environment and enabling them to learn basic life skills such as hygiene, cooking food, or how to use a computer. Samith plans to start several other projects such as Motorcycle Apprenticeship and Farming Development Project that will teach the children basic knowledge of motorcycle and farming practices and provide them with trade skills for future professions. Unfortunately, S.C.A.O. has not been able to acquire steady funding and relies mainly on donations from passing travelers and volunteers.

WHAT CAN BE DONE
Why Cambodia has not received more international attention in regards to human rights is questionable. It can perhaps be attributed to the publicity surrounding Vietnam War. Since the unpopular war between America and Vietnam ended 1975, the same time the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia came into power, much interest was positioned on the Vietnamese frontier.

Unfortunately, the war in Vietnam did not only affect the Vietnamese. In fact, old landmines and unexploded ordinances scattered by American troops in attempt to weed out the Viet Cong are still one of the largest problems Cambodia faces. The country does not have the funds to resurrect all of these landmines and may take many decades to completely rid the country of them.

But despite all the trials and tribulations, there is also much to be appreciated. The marvelous lush countryside, the magical and ancient Angkor temples, and its kind people have instilled a sense of optimism in Cambodia. Though the Cambodian people remain hopeful, their struggles will forever remain embedded in the spirit of every citizen, both now and in the future. It is a country that is still in dire need of healing and it is essential that more attention is paid to this part of the world.

Through education, financial support, and continued support of volunteer’s world wide, Cambodia can be given the means to properly recover. If there is enough international awareness, the remedial processes can be expedited by pressuring those who have the power to enact change. Then, all the people of Cambodia will once again be given a chance to provide their children with a promising future.

For more information on how to help, please visit www.savechildreninasia.org Manager: Mr. Sath Samith Tel.012336501 E-mail: samith33@gmail.com or andre.spcao@gmail.com

Human Rights Watch Cambodia: Click Here

Honorable Monk Remember for Peace Efforts

By Nuch Sarita, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
10 March 2009

As the two-year funeral ceremony for revered monk Maha Ghosananda approaches, he is being remembered worldwide for his contributions to peace during Cambodia’s time of war.

Venerable monk Nhem Kim Teng, head of Prey Thlork pagaoda, in Svay Rieng province, who is currently doing his doctoral studies in Buddhism at Delhi University in India, recalled Maha Ghosanda’s book, “Step by Step.”

“Maha Ghosananda said we must make one step at a time,” Nhem Kim Teng said in a recent interview.

“The book is divided into two main parts,” he said. “The first part focuses on compassion and sympathy, and the second part focuses on wisdom, utilizing the wisdom each person has. He explained that compassion and wisdom can be compared to two feet, left foot and right foot. If we have only one foot, we can’t move forward properly and might be dangerous.”

A celebration will be held for Maha Ghosananda in an official second-year funeral ceremony at Trai Ratanaram, in North Chelmsford, Mass., March 12 through March 15.

Maha Ghosananda “prayed for all human beings to have wisdom within compassion, metaphorically speaking head in heart, or precious stone inside the lotus,” Nhem Kim Teng said.

“He wrote an article, ‘Peace bridge building,’ in which he suggested that all conflicting factions sit together and negotiate in a friendly manner to quest for peace, because peace cannot be made when we are distant,” Nhem Kim Teng said. “The most important characteristics of peacemakers are to disregard personal interests, the interests of one’s own parties, but to be concerned about the interests of human beings, of society as a whole, and to be honest.

“He said though we have four faces, we must have only one heart. During the Angkorian period, Prom Bayon was built with four faces with only heart. He called for four Cambodian conflicting factions in 1993 to have one heart, a Khmer heart.”

“He was a peaceful individual,” Nhem Kim Teng said. “He always advised everyone who went to see him to do everything in a peaceful manner. Use both wisdom and compassion. A peaceful manner is more powerful than violence.”

Matha Bauditho Rithipol, secretary-general of the Maha Ghosananda International Peace Foundation, said the honored monk “had an invaluable mission to promote Buddhism and peace for Cambodia.”

“He sponsored many Cambodian Buddhism monks from refugee camps in Thailand go to the United States to help promote Buddhism,” Matha Bauditho Rithipol said, “and he helped build many Buddhist temples in the United States in the 1980s.

“In international circles, he was the first Cambodian monk who was internationally recognized as an active individual, contributing to peace-building in the world as well as in Cambodia,” Matha Bauditho Rithipol said. “In 1983 he met with Pope John Paul II in Rome for the first time to discuss a religious basis for the world and Cambodian peace-building.

“In 1987, he led Buddhist monks to the United Nations to discuss a way to quest for peace. In 1988, he went to Jakarta, Indonesia, to meet with King Norodom Sihanouk and four other Khmer factions to discuss the peace process.

“In addition, he worked with the Dalai Lama of Tibet for the sake of peace-building in the world, in Cambodia and in Tibet. He used the concepts of truthfulness, forbearance and gratitude to educate Khmer leaders and political elites and Khmer Mass in Dhammayatras,” Matha Bauditho Rithipol said. “I myself participated in his Dhammayatra [peace walks] three times in Cambodia, in 1993, 1997 and 1998. He was an honorable and peaceful individual. I have never seen as great an individual as honorable Maha Ghosananda.”

As Khmer Rouge Trials Come, Center Looks Ahead

By Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
10 March 2009

A dream of the Cambodian people to have peace and happiness after the fall of the US-backed regime of Lon Nol turned to disappointment and pain in April 1975, as the Khmer Rouge came to power. No Cambodian family survived the tragedy without loss.

For some survivors, the tragic events are still fresh. For others, the memory is too painful to recall. For Youk Chhang and his team at the Documentation Center of Cambodia, the collection of records and documents covering the regime’s four years of power is a work in progress.

Created in January 1995, one of the center’s main missions was to advocate for an international tribunal to see former leaders of the regime face justice for the nearly 2 million lives lost under the Khmer Rouge.

“Ten years ago, our target was to push for a tribunal that could bring to trial those who committed atrocities during the regime of Democratic Kampuchea between 1975 and 1979,” Youk Chhang said in a recent phone interview with VOA Khmer. “Now there is a court in place.”

The UN-Cambodian hybrid tribunal, known officially as the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, came about after marathon negotiations between the government and the UN. The Khmer Rouge tribunal, as it is better known, received close to 1 million pages of documents on the Khmer Rouge, in hard copy and micro-film, from the Documentation Center in 2006.

But with that documentation being used by the courts, the center is looking forward.

The Documentation Center has now established a three-year strategy aimed at promoting memories of the regime and educating the younger generation on its atrocities.

The organization hopes to establish a permanent research center, the Sleuk Rith Institute, named for the dried leaves once used for record-keeping in Cambodia, which will also serve as a memorial, encouraging visitors to remember those who perished. It will be linked to other research institutes in Asia and the world, with construction slated to begin in 2010.

“This is a new turning point for the Documentation Centre of Cambodia, to move from a center that supported for the creation of a tribunal that will seek justice for Khmer Rouge victims to a permanent institute,” Youk Chhang said. “The institute is not just for people in Cambodia, but for the region, and will link to other institutes specializing in the studies of serious violations in the past.”

The institute will be built on top of a former Khmer Rouge prison on the campus of Boeung Trabek high school, not a coincidence, Youk Chhang said.

The Sleuk Rith Institute has received backing from Cambodia’s Ministry of Education.

“It is an institute with resources that enable us to do research, especially not just on the history of Democratic Kampuchea, but other documents related to Cambodia history,” Tun Sa Im, secretary of state for the ministry, told VOA by phone last week.

However, the Khmer Rouge tribunal is not yet ready to store its documents there after the trials are finished; it will be up to judges to decide which documents can go public.

“We welcome any initiative to collect information and documents [related to Khmer Rouge regime] for young people and future generations to have access to for their research,” a tribunal spokesman, Reach Sambath, told VOA by phone last week.

The tribunal is currently holding five former Khmer Rouge leaders for atrocity crimes: ideologue Nuon Chea, head of state Khieu Samphan, S-21 chief Kaing Kek Ieu, foreign minister Ieng Sary and his wife, Ieng Thirith, minister of social affairs.

The Documentation Center also included in its strategy the dissemination of a new book, “A History of Democratic Kampuchea,” written by Khamboly Dy, the first Cambodian author to write in detail on the regime.

The book, which Tun Sa Im called a detailed examination of daily life in the Khmer Rouge regime, will be used as a reference for school curriculum in late 2009.

“The history book has been approved by the ministry for use as a reference document. It is for teachers to refer to when they need to highlight certain aspects during the Khmer Rouge time, for example on how difficult lives were, so that students have a better understanding, as it is broader and more detailed than our current textbooks,” Tun Sa Im said.

As his center continues its work, Youk Chhang said only looking at the killings perpetrated by the regime was to miss many angles. Other aspects of the period include social issues, culture, art, economy, diplomacy and trade.

Still, the Documentation Center will compile and publish a book of names of all those known to have perished under the regime, which it will distribute to every commune in Cambodia. That book, together with other documents, will be digitized and put online.

Motive of Gambling Crackdown Questioned

Seng Theary, executive director of Center for Social Development.

By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Washington
10 March 2009

The jury is still out on whether a gambling crackdown ordered recently by Prime Minister Hun Sen was done for the good of the public or for personal gain, a civil society advocate said Monday.

“We need more explanation from the government on whether the closures are in favor of an individual or the public,” said Seng Theary, executive director of the Center for Social Development, as a guest on “Hello VOA.”

Hun Sen last month ordered the closure of the popular sports betting company CamboSix, a move that followed stricter measures against gambling machines in hotels.

While the move against gambling, which Seng Theary called a worm that corrupted morality and split families, was welcome, it should have been done through legal procedures, she said.

She also questioned why the largest casino, Naga, in Phnom Penh, wasn’t closed. “Why just close the small gambling sites?” she asked.

Massachusetts Cambodians To Get Honorary Consul

By Taing Sarada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
10 March 2009

The US government has green-lighted the establishment of a consulate for Cambodia in Lowell, Mass., home to around 35,000 Cambodians.

Ou Svoan, currently an adviser the Cambodian Embassy, will be named as honorary consul, Kouy Koung, a spokesman for the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told VOA Khmer.

“The opening of more Cambodian consulates, such as in Lowell, Massachusetts, demonstrates more strength and more solid cooperation in every field” with the US, he said. “This honorary consulate will not only help Cambodian interests over there [in Lowell], but it is also make a good bilateral relationship.”

An official, for East Asia Pacific Affairs at the US State Department, confirmed the consul decision, made at the request of the Cambodian government, calling it “an appropriate part” of a bilateral relationship.

Cambodia has a consulate in operation in Seattle, Washington, where around 15,000 Cambodians live. It had a second consulate Long Beach, Calif., home to the highest number of Cambodians in the US, around 50,000, which Kouy Koung said the government was considering opening again.

The opening of a consulate in Lowell should have happened “a long time ago,” Lowell resident and former city council member Oung Rithy told VOA Khmer. “There are so many Cambodians living in Lowell.”

The honorary consul in Lowell should be a person who is able to press for Cambodian interests in America, he added, and “should be a person who dares to speak, dares to question, dares to question and to challenge.”

Cambodians traditionally “soften” for foreigners in discussions or challenges, “so this even lets the foreigner look down on our Khmer people,” he said. “A person who comes to work in this position should know his or her duty clearly and should have good English as well.”

Cambodia to use karaoke to increase public awareness of bird flu+

PHNOM PENH, March 10 (AP) - (Kyodo)—Fearing further outbreaks of bird flu, Cambodia will use a karaoke video featuring a popular local singer as part of a U.N.- associated health program to raise public awareness of the disease that can prove fatal to humans.

In a joint statement released Tuesday, Cambodia's agriculture ministry and the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization said they will begin the awareness campaign next week to alert people to the risks associated with increased movement of poultry and people in the run-up to the Khmer New Year holiday in mid-April.

During the April 14-16 celebrations, there is huge demand for chickens and ducks as Cambodians traditionally serve poultry.

The 3-minute karaoke video, starring female singer Khat Sokhim, will show the benefit of raising backyard poultry with improved measures to prevent bird flu or contain it from spreading, according to Mak Chanthol, communications officer for the public awareness campaign.

Farmers will be encouraged to quarantine new and sick birds, wash their hands with soap, keep yards and poultry pens clean, wear protection when handling poultry, keep children away from poultry and separate ducks from chickens, he said.

The video also promotes reporting sick and dead poultry to the hotline and local authorities.

Mak Chanthol said community forums on bird flu will be organized with poultry farmers in the border provinces of Svay Rieng, Prey Veng, Takeo and Kampot.

The campaign will be complemented by nationwide TV and radio broadcasts of bird flu prevention measures to promote better public understanding of how the virus is transmitted from poultry to poultry and from poultry to humans and what people can do to prevent and control its spread, he said.

Cambodia has had 22 outbreaks of H5N1 strain bird flu in poultry since 2004 and seven human deaths, with the latest outbreak in poultry and in humans reported in April 2007.

Cambodian police probe foundation allegedly with ties to Tamil

Peaople's Daily Online
March 10, 2009

National police of Cambodia have opened an investigation into whether a U.S.-based charity allegedly with ties to Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers ever operated in the kingdom, national media said on Tuesday.

The probe was conducted following sanction against the group by the U.S. Treasury Department, said English-language daily newspaper the Phnom Penh Post.

"We are looking into the case" of the Tamil Foundation," national police spokesman Keat Chantarith told the paper.

On Feb. 26, the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation sent a letter to Interior Minister Sar Kheng, requesting him to investigate the actions of the foundation which allegedly supported the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

The foreign ministry sent the letter after receiving a diplomatic notice from the U.S. Embassy warning of the existence of the U.S.-based Tamil Foundation.

In July 2007, international security magazine the Jane's Intelligence Review reported that Cambodia was a significant source of weapons for the Tamil Tigers, but failed to mention its sources.

The Cambodian government denied it at the time, saying that Cambodia had destroyed many of its surplus arms and that the report referred to the situation before 1998.

Source:Xinhua

PM tells unemployed workers of Cambodian to return to agriculture

3/10/2009
Source：chinaview.cn

PHNOM PENH, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Unemployed factory workers can return to agriculture to guarantee better crops supply for the kingdom, national media on Tuesday quoted Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen as telling a recent meeting.

Closure of factories has led to mass unemployment, but workers can still find their livelihood in the rural areas as Cambodia is a country rooted in agriculture, Chinese-language newspaper the Sinchew Daily quoted him as saying.

"Unemployment hasn't caused very big crisis for our country," because people still have large fields to plant crops and fruit trees, he said.

If more people return to villages for plantation, Cambodia can have better crops supply, he said.

Meanwhile, Cambodia is also expecting EU, U.S., China, Japan and South Korea to revitalize their economies as soon as possible, thus becoming capable to help the kingdom develop itself, he added.

According to local reports, at least 80 garment factories have been closed in Cambodia since the global financial crisis occurred at the end of last year.

Some 19,000 people have lost their jobs in the garment sector so far and more are expected later this year, the International Labor Organization (ILO) said in February.

Garment is the kingdom's foremost pillar industry. Meanwhile, Cambodia is also a major rice exporter in the region beside the Mekong River.

How Cambodian NGOs try to deviate from the beaten track of funding

Phnom Penh (Cambodia), 08/03/2009. Fundraising lamp auction organised in support of education and living conditions of children and their mothers in Cambodian prisons. All donations will go to LICADHO’s Adopt-a Prison project. ©Vandy Rattana

Ka-set

By Anne-Laure Porée
09-03-2009

For NGOs working in Cambodia and functioning with institutional funds, funding applications are a recurring pain and invariably a source of stress. “Of course there are advantages in relying on institutional funding, especially when your activities do not make people cry”, a NGO director explains, anonymously. The drawbacks are all the procedures we have to respect – and they are quite heavy: accountancy, the need to follow actions which give some visibility to institutional partners. And then, we have to adapt to the particular way they speak and follow their line of argument, which varies depending on the trend: defending democracy and the rule of law, gender equality... Sometimes I think that if did all things perfectly, as I should, I wouldn’t have any time to establish the missions for which I tried to raise funds.” Parallel to this chameleon method, initiatives appear and generate modest funds and act as a safety valve for Cambodian NGOs. Here is a non-exhaustive review of some of them.

The doctor who plays the cello
Since 2000, Beat Richner, a paediatrician and cellist, has been giving concerts in Siem Reap twice a week. The goal is to raise money for the Kantha Bopha hospitals, for Cambodian children. In 2008, he directly raised USD200, 000 with his concerts. Indirectly, they generated donations made by tourists after their stay in Cambodia. “In the end, the spin-off is equivalent to 5 to 7 million dollars per year”, Beat Richner says. The artist Beatocello, the stage name chosen by the doctor, constitutes a rather important part of the annual budget for the functioning of the NGO (34 million dollars) on top of which come contributions made by Cambodia and Switzerland, each of them bringing in 2 million dollars. Kantha Bopha hospitals do not benefit from institutional funds but mainly depend on private donations, usually equivalent to less than USD500... This year, Beat Richner thinks ahead of the effects of the economic crisis through a support campaign launched among 90,000 reference donors: he is asking for 20 Swiss Francs (i.e. slightly more than 17 dollars) to ensure the functioning of hospitals. He is also preparing a series of concerts in his home country.

Selling bricks to buy walls
Apart from functioning problems, some NGOs are faced with nasty surprises. The organisation Mith Samlanh received a bad blow when in May 2006 the landlord announced that he intended to sell. The NGO, which looks after nearly 2,200 street children every day and tries to rehabilitate them in the state school system, in their own families or in society with a job, did not have any interest in leaving the premises, located in a tourist area where many street children live and work, and where the organisation’s restaurant welcomes customers (70% are tourists), and gives the NGO a large audience and good visibility. Their decision was made: they had to buy. But there’s the snag: finding 3 million dollars. ANZ bank surely gives out loans, but the interest rate, now as high as 10%, is prohibitive. Kerri Manika, who is in charge of communication for the organisation, had the idea of launching a campaign to sell bricks painted by the children of Mith Samlanh. In exchange for 50 dollars, payable via the Internet, donors see their names on the brick, which is then put on top of others, painted with the names of other supporters of the NGO. The result is a beautiful multicoloured wall. The campaign brought in some 25,000 dollars in 2008, according to land campaign fundraising manager Penny Tynan.

A thousand and one little initiatives launched by networks
At PSE Pour un Sourire d’Enfant , an NGO founded in 1993 by Christian and Marie-France des Pallières to help underprivileged children, the crisis has left its consequences. “Usually, we have 200 sponsorships to renew every year but in May 2008, we lost 500”, Pin Sarapich, director of PSE’s vocational training centre. The des Pallières couple, who drive all over France to find and encourage individual donations, had to double their efforts. Thanks to a method tested for years now, they managed to find strong back up from an organisation where many individual initiatives and unexpected donations come from. For example, Alex, an eleven-year old British boy, signed a contract with his parents, stipulating that he would receive a pound (1.4 dollar) every time he reads a book and sums it up for them. Between his reads and those of other students united in the project, Alex was able to gather up 11,000 pounds for PSE.

And there is also those who climb mountains in favour of the association, those who give the money they received as a wedding present… But initiatives also exist in Cambodia. While a Cambodian millionaire once offered a USD500 donation to PSE provided the moment was filmed on a camera, common people’s donations are more modest but are as efficient. PSE staff therefore decided to save some money every month for a year to help the NGO. Their efforts paid: they saved USD1, 200 every month. For their part, alumni organised evenings in aid of PSE. For the occasion, on April 10th this year, the Stung Meanchey PSE centre will turn into a massive night club and the money collected will fund the resettlement of families affected by the relocation of the municipal dump.

The trend is in auctions
In the wake of charity galas and concerts, auctions started appearing in Cambodia. The services of local and international artists are called upon and the money from their art works donated to an NGO. The Living Room Cafe, trying to stand out with its social role, was not a first-timer in that matter when on March 8th a cocktail party and an auction of artistic lamps were organised. Funds were donated to LICADHO in support of children living with their mothers in prison. The money will allow them to be in a safe place to receive education.

Different style but same good cause, SIPAR, an NGO which supports and encourages the creation of libraries in the country and develops the publishing of children’s books in Khmer, received nearly USD46,000 to open a big library and produce a documentary-book on the environment. The sum is the result of an internet auction. Indeed, IWC, the Swiss luxury watch-making company, has created with the collaboration of the Saint-Exupery Foundation, a series of watches to pay tribute to the works of author and pilot Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. A one-off luxury platinum edition is on auction and the money will then be donated to a project for children, selected by the Foundation for its good reputation. Limited editions of the watch will be sold to collectors and enthusiasts.

At the heart of all those initiatives, word of mouth is an essential part of NGOs’ work.

Women failing to gain rights

Photo by: TRACEY SHELTON
Female garment factory workers protest slashed wages at a factory in Takhmao in January.

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Khuon Leakhana
Tuesday, 10 March 2009

World economic crisis hurting gender equality at home, civil society groups say.

FOLLOWING the celebration of the 99th annual International Women's Day Sunday, civil society groups have lamented the lack of progress made by Cambodian women, saying their social and economic standing have been set back by the global economic downturn.

Chea Mony, president of the Free Trade Union of Cambodia, said that whenever factories have closed, many young female workers have been forced to look for jobs in restaurants, karaoke parlours and nightclubs.

"We have no idea what other jobs [these women] can find and where," he said.

According to a report by the Free Trade Union, the Kingdom's garment sector employed around 350,000 mostly female workers across 450 garment factories in 2007.

But in 2008, 20,000 workers lost their jobs due to factory closures and in the first two months of 2009, the union estimates a further 10,000 people faced unemployment.

He went on to say that although Women's Day is internationally recognised, women in Cambodia - especially jobless women - still lack basic rights and access.

"Women's rights in Cambodia are still low. As a result, jobless women will not be happy to participate in the discussions about women's rights this year," he said.

Chea Mony added that jobless women, especially, lack the knowledge to contribute to the economy.

"We think that the celebration of March 8 is just a routine event, but that in practice respect for women's rights has never been fulfilled."

Cambodian women facing job losses are also looking abroad for work opportunities in countries like Thailand, Malaysia and Korea.

According to an annual report issued by the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training last week, approximately 74,400 labourers went abroad to work during 2004-08, most of whom went to Thailand, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan.

Photo by: TRACEY SHELTON
Female workers protesting a wage cut at a Takhmao factory in January.

Ya Navuth, executive director for Coordination of Action Research on AIDS and Mobility, agreed that the loss of jobs would certainly impact women and that many would be exposed to exploitation working in the Kingdom's nightclubs or for employers abroad.

"Because they have no choice and no hope of finding new jobs, [some women] decide to work at nightclubs or karaoke parlours," he said.

He said also that women working overseas could be open to exploitation by their employers, and that the Cambodian government should take actions to ensure foreign investment and employment opportunities for women inside the country.

"The government should stop sending Cambodian labourers to other countries where their rights are not properly respected," he said.

Sy Define, a secretary of state at the Ministry of Women's Affairs, told the Post that this year's International Women's Day was centred around "women's participation in economic and social development", a suitable focus given the current economic crisis.

"We selected the theme in order to show the ability and efforts of women both in and out of the labour system, and to encourage them," she said.

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Every job has value so long as it doesn't involve stealing and cheating.
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"We also want to remind people of Cambodian women's rights and are working hard every day to extinguish violations of women's rights and freedoms."

She added that the ministry had promoted laws to protect victims, especially vulnerable women who face sexual harassment and rights violations in the informal sector.

"We want to tell jobless women, and those who have jobs in places like nightclubs and karaoke parlours, that every job has value so long as it does not involve stealing and cheating," she said.

Valuable contributions
But Oum Mean, a secretary of state at the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training, dismissed reports the factory layoffs had swollen the ranks of nightclub and karaoke workers.

"We are sure that some workers who have left garment factories returned home or tried to find a job in another factory, as they are already skilled, while others looked for work in the industrial sites that are Cambodia's main growth potential," he said.

He admitted that a number of workers did end up in informal service occupations, but said that whatever their occupation, women were contributing towards the development of the economy and were an important part of Cambodian society.

"It depends on the individuals themselves, and whether they value or devalue themselves," he said.

"Such work does not show whether a person is of value or not."

Oum Mean said that the government was promoting the involvement of women in government and making attempts to attract more foreign investment, and hence create more jobs.

"The Council for the Development of Cambodia is trying to contact foreign investors, including the European Union, which is looking for investment opportunities in Cambodia," he said, adding that Japan had also expressed interest in setting up a local car factory.

"So please don't get confused that only the garment sector can help develop Cambodia's economy."

Am Sam Ath, a technical supervisor for local rights group Licadho, said the government should find "better solutions" to the increasing factory closures, since women finding replacement jobs in bars and clubs were looked down upon by many Cambodians.

"Anybody who works in informal service positions is not considered in a good light by Cambodian society, which devalues the rights and morality of Cambodian women who take up these kind of jobs," he said, adding that the day's celebration should focus more on those women who are not participating rather than those who are.

"The topic for this year's event seems to be in contrast to the real situation in Cambodia. Instead, we should raise real problems women in Cambodia are facing rather than just talking about their participation in society."

Police nab four kidnap suspects

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Chrann Chamroeun
Tuesday, 10 March 2009

FOUR men have been arrested as suspects in the Siem Reap kidnapping of a high-ranking military policeman's daughter, according to the provincial governor, Sou Phirin.

The suspects are related and were found in three separate locations - Siem Reap, Phnom Penh and Battambang - on Sunday and Monday, he said.

Prak Chantoeun, the province's deputy military police chief, confirmed military police in Siem Reap had four suspects in custody for questioning but declined to comment further.

Morn Chakriya, the 16-year-old daughter of Siem Reap's military police chief, Morn Samon, was released after a group of men abducted the high school student from the street and sped off in a car last Friday afternoon, according to military police.

Sou Phirin said a ransom - including money and the release from custody of a man suspected to have been involved in the abduction - had been negotiated privately between the family and the kidnappers.

But he said the freed man was again seized along with his alleged co-conspirators.

"We re-arrested the mastermind who we had let go on Saturday to allow private talks between the kidnappers and the [victim's] family to begin," he said. "We will not allow them to go unpunished."

EU letter critisises housing rights

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Brendan Brady
Tuesday, 10 March 2009

A EUROPEAN Union human rights official last week issued a letter to Cambodia's ambassador to the body, criticising the government's record on housing rights.

Helene Flautre, chairperson of the EU Foreign Affair's Subcommittee on Human Rights, addressed the letter, dated March 3, to Cambodian ambassador Saphoeun Sun. In it, she said there was a lack of protections from evictions for Cambodians, especially for those living in poverty.

She pointed to Cambodia's legal obligation as a UN signatory to refrain from, and protect against, unjustifiable forced evictions.

"I would like to call on the Cambodian government to comply with international standards, to strengthen the legal framework and to protect and to guarantee due compensation to those affected," she said.

She cited the violent removal in January of residents from Phnom Penh's Dey Krahorm community as an example of the vulnerability of Cambodians to unregulated development.

More than 1,000 residents lived in Dey Krahorm before old community leaders signed away the 3.6-hectare property in exchange for relocation houses. Land rights groups challenged the legality of the original contract and accused the city and developer of using intimidation tactics to force residents to accept the compensation deals offered.

Last month, a UN housing rights expert, Raquel Rolnik, condemned the Dey Krahorm eviction, calling it a "grave breach" of human rights and highlighting the "harassment, intimidation and criminalisation" of NGOs and lawyers working on housing rights issues.

Police to probe Tamil ties

Photo by: AFP
This picture, released by Sri Lanka's Ministry of Defence last week, is said to be of Sri Lankan troops looking at the bodies of Tiger rebels.

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Brendan Brady and Cheang Sokha
Tuesday, 10 March 2009

US sanctions on Tamil charity prompts local investigation

NATIONAL police said Monday they have opened and investigation into whether a US-based charity with ties to Sri Lanka's separatist Tamil Tigers had ever operated in Cambodia, following sanctions against the group by the US Treasury Department.

Prompted by a US embassy notice that the Tamil Foundation had been identified as a terrorist group, the Foreign Affairs Ministry at the end of last month asked the Interior Ministry to monitor the presence of nongovernmental organisations in Cambodia. police spokesman Keat Chantarith said
"We are looking into the case" of the Tamil Foundation," he told the Post.

"But we don't have any information yet," he said, adding that it was not known whether the group was ever active in Cambodia.

In a news release posted last month on its website, the US Treasury Department designated the Tamil Foundation as a terrorist group and announced it had frozen the charity's assets.

Treasury official Adam Szubin said the Tigers have "relied on so-called charities to raise funds and advance its violent aims".

The statement said the Tamil Foundation has "mingled" funds with the Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation, which the US government says acts as a front to facilitate fund raising and procurement for the Tigers' resistance.

Foundation owner Nagaratnam A Ranjithan, a Sri Lankan immigrant to the US who has worked as a doctor for 32 years, denied the allegations.

"The Tamil Foundation has nothing to do with the Tigers," he told the Associated Press last month.

He described the foundation as a private charity dedicated to improving the lives of the Tamils, the mainly Hindu minority group of about three million in the nation of 19 million off India's southern tip.

US embassy officials in Phnom Penh could not be reached Monday.

History of ties to Cambodia
In 1996, the Bangkok-based Sri Lankan ambassador, Sarala Fernando, conveyed Colombo's alarm to the Cambodian government about the Tigers running armaments, munitions and explosives out of Phnom Penh, where weapons were so plentiful at that time that AK-47 assault rifles could be purchased at local markets.

In particular, reports surfaced from diplomats and journalists in Colombo that the Tamil Tigers were planning to buy anti-aircraft missiles from Cambodian arms dealers for their war effort against Sri Lanka's government.

There were also concerns that the Tigers had established a front in Phnom Penh. Sri Lankan expatriates living in Phnom Penh said at the time they believed Tiger operatives had set up a safe house in the capital, from where they bought arms with money raised from passport and visa forging, as well as heroin trading, according to news reports at the time.

In 2005, the Cambodian government admitted for the first time that arms had been smuggled out of the country to Tamil Tigers, as well as to guerrillas in the Philippines and Myanmar.

Prime Minister Hun Sen in 2006 vowed to the visiting Sri Lankan prime minister to end a long-running flow of weapons from Cambodia to the Tigers, and pledged to exchange intelligence to ensure that this was achieved.

For decades, the Tamil Tigers have waged a guerrilla war for an independent state in northern and eastern Sri Lanka that has been marked by bombings, assassinations and failed peace talks. But the group has now been cornered in a small patch of jungle following an aggressive military campaign.

TV must show traditional, not just modern songs: PM

Photo by: Sovann Philong
Traditional Cambodian dance is filmed at a performance. The PM has called for TV stations to focus more on traditional arts.

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Chhay Channyda
Tuesday, 10 March 2009

Hun Sen's comments aim to preserve traditional Cambodian culture; TV stations say they will comply with his suggestions.

TV stations across the country are looking to modify their entertainment output to include traditional songs following Prime Minister Hun Sen's recent comments on what he felt was a neglected genre among the youth.

Hun Sen on Friday urged TV stations to set up talent contests for young people that would include assessing how well they could perform traditional songs.

"I want to ask all TV stations - aside from having the modern song contests - is it possible to create a traditional song contest?" he asked in a speech ahead of the 99th Anniversary of International Women's Day. "This should be done.... Now the younger generation thinks it is easier to sing [modern songs]."

Hun Sen said he was not looking to force TV stations immediately to follow his suggestion - this was simply "a recommendation to promote our culture".

"If you really want to preserve tradition, you should include both subjects at the same time for each contestant: modern and classical," he advised, adding that it was up to the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Information to promote traditional songs through television.

Ministry in support
Khim Sarith, a secretary of state at the Culture Ministry, said he supported the prime minister's idea and would be happy to provide experts in traditional singing to assist the contestants.

"We always support television stations," he said. "Whenever they ask us for teachers, we always send them along to help with scoring contestants."

Khim Sarith added that the Ministry of Information was responsible for questions of content of TV programs but pointed out that his ministry held events each year to promote the country's traditional cultures such as a national traditional dance festival.

Reth Chetra, deputy director general of Bayon TV, which is run by Hun Sen's daughter Hun Mana, said the station would definitely follow the prime minister's recommendation when putting together its next talent contest.

"I consider the PM's suggestion to be a good idea to help promote and preserve our culture and tradition," he said. "We can see these days that young people generally don't like classical music, but if next time they want to enter a song contest, then they will need to know classical songs."

Reth Chetra said Bayon TV was a leader in promoting traditional Khmer culture and already had a number of programs of that type.

Another large TV station, the Cambodian Television Network (CTN), is about to start its own talent search program. Yok Chinda, a senior producer at CTN, said by phone Monday that the company's employees would soon meet to discuss how best to set up the program.

Yok Chinda said the producers at her station had not yet decided how to implement a contest for traditional songs along with a modern song contest, but she applauded Hun Sen's comments. "We must do that. This will test the abilities of contestants to sing our country's traditional songs."

Tribunal says UN to unfreeze funds if graft allegations addressed

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Georgia Wilkins
Tuesday, 10 March 2009

Near-bankrupt court claims it is in ‘discussions‘ with UNDP to lift funding freeze, in place since graft charges emerged last July.

THE Khmer Rouge tribunal says it is in discussions to try to unfreeze UN funds that were halted in the wake of corruption allegations last year, as the Cambodian side of the court struggles to keep financially afloat.

"People are working on this issue ... it is being discussed," court spokesperson Reach Sambath told the Post Sunday, referring to the eight-month-old fund freeze by the UN Development Program, which has managed more than US$7 million in court funds since 2006.

Judges at the tribunal announced last week that the Cambodian side of the court would not have enough money to pay March salaries.

"We are optimistic," said Reach Sambath, adding that "this is nothing new" for the perpetually-insolvent tribunal.

The UNDP said last week that it was continuing to discuss with donors the best way to resume funding the court. "Establishing stronger anticorruption mechanisms at the court and satisfactorily resolving the existing allegations of corruption are two steps that must first be addressed," Aimee Brown, a UNDP communications officer, told the Post via email last week.

Since allegations were levelled last year, Japan is the only donor to contribute funds to the Cambodian side, with other donors expressing concerns over accountability to their own taxpayers.

At a judge's plenary last week, international judge Silvia Cartwright stressed the link between transparency at the court and donor willingness to contribute more funding.

"The Defence Support Section welcomes the statement by the international judges affirming their concern about unresolved allegations of corruption within the ECCC. This ... will be a comfort to all those who fear that the administration of justice within the ECCC may fall prey to political compromise," said DSS chief Richard Rogers in a statement Monday.

Kickback accusations were first publicised in February 2007, and the UNDP froze funding last July in response to graft allegations by Cambodian court staffers against senior officials.

Cultural standards prevent progress on women's issues

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Tom Hunter
Tuesday, 10 March 2009

Despite the celebration of International Women's Day Sunday, double standards favouring men are still the norm in Cambodia, say advocates.

THE Khmer proverb that says "men are like gold and women are like cloth" is often used by Cambodian human rights advocates to demonstrate how cultural norms often collide with the rights of the individual.

The proverb, said Luke Bearup, the Children in Crisis regional coordinator for World Vision Asia Pacific, aptly describes the difficulties in advocating equality in the Kingdom.

"It is globally accepted that women face a one-in-three chance of domestic violence within their lifetime," Bearup said Sunday.

International Women's Day is historically an opportunity to reflect on gender issues in an attempt to advance equality and to promote the advancement of women worldwide.

But sexual inequality is so ingrained in Cambodian culture that most women are not aware of what their rights are, said Hung Nary, project manager at Gender and Development Cambodia.

Hung Nary, who spoke at a gathering of more than 500 people in Kampong Chhnang province over the weekend in an attempt to educate women about their rights, said residents were eager to pose questions to the district governor.

"The women were keen to talk about land titles, birth certificates and marriage certificates," she said.

"Men are not including women on land titles, or attaining birth and marriage certificates ... so when the man finds another wife, the women are left with nothing."

Hung Nary said women in the province had also urged authorities to take domestic violence more seriously, claiming that what she termed "police education" was only exacerbating the problem.

According to the villagers, reporting violence only inflamed men's tempers and ensured a continuing pattern of abuse.

Through his work on gender equality and sexual relationships, independent researcher Tong Soprach says the legal disparities that exist between the sexes remain the biggest obstacle to gender equality.

"Prostitutes are rounded up by police and made to pay a bribe," he said. "Why are the men not punished by the law?"

Double standards

In 2003, GAD/C surveyed 580 youths aged between 13 and 28 from 24 communes in Phnom Penh. When respondents were asked of their feelings on gang rape, or bauk, only 13 percent of those surveyed accepted that forceful sexual relations with a prostitute was in fact rape.

In a similar study conducted by Tong Soprach in January 2009, some 22.7 percent of respondents understood that bauk was rape while almost a third of respondents did not.

Alarmingly, the study also found that 10.8 percent of males aged 15 to 24 and not in a relationship had performed bauk with a sex worker in the three months prior to the survey.

Bearup said that in Cambodia, as in many countries, cultural double standards continued to favour men.

"Norms that condone men's right to engage in pre- and post-marital sexual experiences, but stigmatise women who are sexually active, ultimately foster a sociocultural environment that tolerates violence against women," he said.

Road project prompts Sen Sok protest

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Chhay Channyda
Tuesday, 10 March 2009

RESIDENTS of Phnom Penh Thmey and Toeuk Thla communes who stand to be affected by an ongoing road expansion project staged a protest Monday in Sen Sok (formerly Russey Keo) district to demand compensation from City Hall.

The protest came on the heels of a directive residents said had been signed Friday by Sen Sok district Governor Khoung Sreng notifying some of those living near the Cambodian-Vietnamese Friendship highway - more popularly known as Hanoi Road - that they had five days to move homes, fences and stalls to make room for its expansion.

Similar notices were issued last December and May by Khlaing Huot, the governor of Russey Keo district.

Khoung Sreng and Phnom Penh Deputy Governor Mann Chhoeun could not be reached for comment Monday.

But Kong Sambo, deputy chief of Phnom Penh Thmey commune, who also could not be reached for comment, said last month that current plans called for the road to be expanded to a width of 30 metres. He said officials had no plans to provide compensation for people affected by the expansion.

But Nhean Leng, an undersecretary of state at the Ministry of Economy and Finance and chairman of the Inter-Ministerial Resettlement Committee, said he believes City Hall should compensate affected residents.

Tey Narin, who said he will lose his house to the expansion, said Monday that he would have nowhere to live if the government did not compensate affected residents.

"We are not against the development, but there must be compensation or I will have no shelter," he said.

A 42-year-old woman who requested anonymity because she said she has relatives working for the local government said she would not leave her house before receiving compensation.

She said residents who had already left their houses had done so because "they are frightened".

Market vendors protest rental feesMarket vendors protest rental fees

Photo by: SOVANN PHILONG
Vendors at the Boeung Trabek market rally against high rents on Monday.

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by May Titthara
Tuesday, 10 March 2009

Boeung Trabek vendors say they are regularly forced to pay rent for days they do not work

NEARLY all of the 800 vendors at Boeung Trabek market confronted market chief Lay Kong Savuth Monday afternoon, saying that they have been forced to pay rent for days on which they did not set up shop.

"They are oppressing us," said vendor Yem Sambath. "If we don't come to do business one day, they will charge us double when we come back."

He said vendors pay 6,500 riels (US$1.57) each day for space in the market.

Lou Dina, another vendor, said the protesters would likely stage a demonstration in front of the Phnom Penh Municipality and take their case to Phnom Penh Governor Kep Chuktema if their concerns were not addressed.

Boeung Trabek market was formed late last year when officials cleared out vendors selling on the sidewalk near Tuol Tumpong market.

Vendor Srey Touch said the relocated vendors were promised free rent for three months but that they were forced to start paying rent after just one week.

"Now we would like to ask them not to charge us during our days off, especially when we go to visit our homeland during the Khmer New Year or P'chum Ben holidays," he said.

Kiri Roth, a representative of Lay Kong Savuth, dismissed the protest as insignificant, saying it had been orchestrated by "five or 10" agitators making false allegations.

"We have never charged them during a day off - not Khmer New Year, not Lunar New Year and not P'chum Ben," he said. He also said the vendors had not been asked to make rent payments during their first three months in the market. The market opened on November 30, 2008.

International parliamentarians gather to discuss peace-building

Photo by: HENG CHIVOAN
Senate and CPP President Chea Sim at a conference on Monday.

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Sam Rith
Tuesday, 10 March 2009

Opposition lawmaker Mu Sochua excluded from Monday's conference on the role of parliaments in building peaceful, stable societies.

A REGIONAL seminar to boost the role of parliaments in building peaceful and sustainable societies began Monday in Phnom Penh. The three-day seminar aims at strengthening the abilities of parliaments to resolve disputes and to promote peace and national reconciliation.

In his opening address, Chea Sim, president of the Cambodian Senate, said Cambodia's legislative bodies had actively contributed to the government's efforts to integrate into regional and international frameworks by ratifying treaties - particularly as a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the World Trade Organization and the UN.

"We cooperate ... to fulfil the obligations of our state in extensive regional and international cooperation in the age of globalisation, especially in the battles against drugs, cross-border crimes and terrorism," Chea Sim said.

The seminar includes members of parliaments from Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. Other participants include members of the Inter-Parliamentary Union [IPU] and representatives of the Cambodian government.

Ngo Anh Dzung, a member of the IPU and of Vietnam's National Assembly, said he was pleased the seminar offered a further opportunity to improve the IPU's cooperation with Cambodia's parliament.

Ngo told delegates that every post-conflict situation was different, but said: "In many instances, authorities came up against the same moral, social, economic and political problems once the weapons had been laid down".

"Peace negotiations and agreements are only the starting point for a long-term process to rebuild society," he said, adding that parliaments had great potential to bring people closer and could prove important as mediating bodies.

Opposition lawmaker Mu Sochua, who was prevented from entering the seminar by the head of security after organisers failed to provide a badge for her, said it was highly ironic that she had been shut out of a meeting that was billed as promoting dialogue and dispute resolution.

"I am disgusted by this. If I were from the Cambodian People's Party, I would have been allowed in," she said. "Do you think [ruling party MP] Cheam Yeap would have been barred for that? Of course not. They would have rolled out a red carpet for him. It is not equality before the law."

Chheang Vun, a member of the National Assembly, said no country or region would be happy living in a world where just a few nations lived in peace and prosperity while the majority remained victims of domestic strife or war.

"On behalf of the delegates of the National Assembly of Cambodia ... I am glad to be ... discussing and sharing experiences related to the issues we have faced, especially in relation to the issues of reconciliation and peace-building," he said.