kiletters
Founded by a former sex slave, The Somaly Mam Foundation was set up to rescue and rehabilitate victims of human trafficking. Somaly Mam blames organised crime networks, and corrupt officials, for Cambodia huge trafficking problem.
Sunday, 24 May 2009
Rescued Sex Workers Find Refuge
UN Chief Tours Sri Lanka War Devastation
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon flew over Sri Lanka's last battlefield and urged the government to let more aid reach displaced Tamils complaining of hunger and separation from their families. (May 23)
Fake drugs and resistance to bug could unleash a malaria disaster
Business Report & Independent Online
May 24, 2009
By Simeon Bennett
Saron Samnith, 14, slouches in the doorway of his family's thatched hut off a dusty track near Pailin, a city in western Cambodia. He has chills, diarrhoea and a three-day-old headache - signs of malaria.
The bout of the mosquito-borne disease, for which he tested positive, is his second in a month. The first left him comatose and close to death, before medicines curbed the attack. Coursing through Saron's veins may be the strain so dangerous that health officials - and the billionaire Bill Gates - are racing to stop it from spreading before it kills millions.
In Pailin, a flood of counterfeit pills from China and elsewhere is helping to breed a superbug that resists even the most-effective medicine. The development threatens to unleash a global malaria "disaster" and undo decades of work to reduce illness, destitution and death, said Arjen Dondorp, a Thailand-based researcher.
"It's a time bomb," said Dondorp, the deputy director of the Wellcome Trust-Mahidol University Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Programme, with headquarters in Bangkok.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) plans to defuse the bomb with a screening and treatment programme to contain and eliminate the resistant strain in and near Pailin. The effort may begin next month. The programme is backed by $23 million (R192m) from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, based in Seattle.
"There's more money put into baldness drugs than is put into malaria," Gates said in February. "Because the disease is only in the poor countries, it doesn't get much investment. You can't get the economies in these areas going, because it just holds things back so much."
The risk of failure raises what Dorndop calls a "doom scenario". In that sequence of events, migrant workers would first carry the bug to Thailand, Myanmar and India. Later, the strain would spread to Africa, which already has most of the world's malaria cases.
"We rang the warning bell in 2005 and nobody believed us," said Pascal Ringwald, the Geneva-based WHO's leading specialist in the malaria parasite's ability to resist drugs.
The doom scenario may be a decade away from materialising, giving the world time to prevent it, said Charles Delacollette, the head of WHO's Mekong Malaria Programme, which covers Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and part of China.
"We don't have many alternatives to the antimalarial drug artemisinin, to which the parasite is becoming resistant in western Cambodia, Delacollette said. "That drug should be protected."
Interpol, the international police organisation based in Lyon, France, traced counterfeit drugs in Southeast Asia to China in 2006 as part of an investigation called Operation Jupiter.
Last year, under Operation Storm, Interpol arrested 27 people in raids across Asia and seized more than 16 million fake pills valued at almost $7 million (R58.5m).
Chemical analysis of pills bought in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam found several other pharmaceutical ingredients, charcoal, and a precursor of the illicit drug ecstasy, according to an account of Operation Jupiter published in the journal Public Library of Science Medicine. Also present were spores and pollen from trees common in southern China, suggesting that at least some of the drugs were made there, the authors said.
Interpol's actions hardly dented the global market for counterfeit pharmaceuticals, which may reach $75 billion in 2010, an increase of more than 90 percent from 2005, according to estimates by the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest, a nonprofit organisation based in New York.
WHO says that fakes, typically cheaper than real drugs, may account for as much as 30 percent of all medicines in developing nations.
"We're talking about sophisticated, big syndicates, people who are very well organised," said Aline Plancon, the Interpol officer who co-ordinated the operations.
"It's just insane. They're making too much money, they're betting too much on the health of people. We will do it again and again."
Malaria strikes about 250 million people each year and kills more than 880 000, making it the world's most lethal mosquito-borne disease, according to WHO.
The malady is caused by a microscopic parasite called Plasmodium, which is carried in the saliva of female mosquitoes. When an infected insect bites a person, the parasites multiply in the liver before entering the bloodstream.
There they invade red cells, causing fever, chills, nausea and diarrhoea. Unchecked, the bugs cause red cells to stick to the walls of capillaries, slowing blood flow. Without treatment, sufferers can die from organ failure.
While Cambodia accounts for only about 0.4 percent of the world's malaria cases, the country is a breeding ground for strains that withstand medicines. Since the 1970s, at least three once-potent malaria drugs have failed in western Cambodia before becoming useless elsewhere in the world, according to WHO: first chloroquine and Roche Holding AG's Fansidar, then mefloquine.
Now Dondorp and other researchers say the same thing is happening to artemisinin. In a study carried out last year and yet to be published, artesunate failed to clear malaria parasites within two days from the blood of about 70 percent of patients in Pailin compared with 7 percent in western Thailand.
For now, the drugs still clear the parasites, only more slowly - a sign resistance to artemisinin-based treatments is building. While Novartis AG, GlaxoSmithKlinePLC, Genzyme Corp and Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd are developing new drugs and vaccines against malaria, those products are in the early stages of development and won't be available for years.
"If we lose the artemisinins at this stage, just now when we dare to mention the word 'eradication' again, it would be a disaster for malaria control," said Dondorp, who led the study. "It would cause millions of deaths, without exaggeration."
Fake pharmaceuticals abound in Pailin, but a bigger contributor to drug resistance than counterfeiters is patients who don't take medicines properly, according to WHO scientists.
Saron's mother, Bot Yom, has lost faith in Western pharmaceuticals. She plans to rub a coin against her son's skin until it becomes red. If the disease renders artemisinin-based drugs as useless as their predecessors, the folk remedy might be just as effective.
By Simeon Bennett
Saron Samnith, 14, slouches in the doorway of his family's thatched hut off a dusty track near Pailin, a city in western Cambodia. He has chills, diarrhoea and a three-day-old headache - signs of malaria.
The bout of the mosquito-borne disease, for which he tested positive, is his second in a month. The first left him comatose and close to death, before medicines curbed the attack. Coursing through Saron's veins may be the strain so dangerous that health officials - and the billionaire Bill Gates - are racing to stop it from spreading before it kills millions.
In Pailin, a flood of counterfeit pills from China and elsewhere is helping to breed a superbug that resists even the most-effective medicine. The development threatens to unleash a global malaria "disaster" and undo decades of work to reduce illness, destitution and death, said Arjen Dondorp, a Thailand-based researcher.
"It's a time bomb," said Dondorp, the deputy director of the Wellcome Trust-Mahidol University Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Programme, with headquarters in Bangkok.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) plans to defuse the bomb with a screening and treatment programme to contain and eliminate the resistant strain in and near Pailin. The effort may begin next month. The programme is backed by $23 million (R192m) from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, based in Seattle.
"There's more money put into baldness drugs than is put into malaria," Gates said in February. "Because the disease is only in the poor countries, it doesn't get much investment. You can't get the economies in these areas going, because it just holds things back so much."
The risk of failure raises what Dorndop calls a "doom scenario". In that sequence of events, migrant workers would first carry the bug to Thailand, Myanmar and India. Later, the strain would spread to Africa, which already has most of the world's malaria cases.
"We rang the warning bell in 2005 and nobody believed us," said Pascal Ringwald, the Geneva-based WHO's leading specialist in the malaria parasite's ability to resist drugs.
The doom scenario may be a decade away from materialising, giving the world time to prevent it, said Charles Delacollette, the head of WHO's Mekong Malaria Programme, which covers Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and part of China.
"We don't have many alternatives to the antimalarial drug artemisinin, to which the parasite is becoming resistant in western Cambodia, Delacollette said. "That drug should be protected."
Interpol, the international police organisation based in Lyon, France, traced counterfeit drugs in Southeast Asia to China in 2006 as part of an investigation called Operation Jupiter.
Last year, under Operation Storm, Interpol arrested 27 people in raids across Asia and seized more than 16 million fake pills valued at almost $7 million (R58.5m).
Chemical analysis of pills bought in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam found several other pharmaceutical ingredients, charcoal, and a precursor of the illicit drug ecstasy, according to an account of Operation Jupiter published in the journal Public Library of Science Medicine. Also present were spores and pollen from trees common in southern China, suggesting that at least some of the drugs were made there, the authors said.
Interpol's actions hardly dented the global market for counterfeit pharmaceuticals, which may reach $75 billion in 2010, an increase of more than 90 percent from 2005, according to estimates by the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest, a nonprofit organisation based in New York.
WHO says that fakes, typically cheaper than real drugs, may account for as much as 30 percent of all medicines in developing nations.
"We're talking about sophisticated, big syndicates, people who are very well organised," said Aline Plancon, the Interpol officer who co-ordinated the operations.
"It's just insane. They're making too much money, they're betting too much on the health of people. We will do it again and again."
Malaria strikes about 250 million people each year and kills more than 880 000, making it the world's most lethal mosquito-borne disease, according to WHO.
The malady is caused by a microscopic parasite called Plasmodium, which is carried in the saliva of female mosquitoes. When an infected insect bites a person, the parasites multiply in the liver before entering the bloodstream.
There they invade red cells, causing fever, chills, nausea and diarrhoea. Unchecked, the bugs cause red cells to stick to the walls of capillaries, slowing blood flow. Without treatment, sufferers can die from organ failure.
While Cambodia accounts for only about 0.4 percent of the world's malaria cases, the country is a breeding ground for strains that withstand medicines. Since the 1970s, at least three once-potent malaria drugs have failed in western Cambodia before becoming useless elsewhere in the world, according to WHO: first chloroquine and Roche Holding AG's Fansidar, then mefloquine.
Now Dondorp and other researchers say the same thing is happening to artemisinin. In a study carried out last year and yet to be published, artesunate failed to clear malaria parasites within two days from the blood of about 70 percent of patients in Pailin compared with 7 percent in western Thailand.
For now, the drugs still clear the parasites, only more slowly - a sign resistance to artemisinin-based treatments is building. While Novartis AG, GlaxoSmithKlinePLC, Genzyme Corp and Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd are developing new drugs and vaccines against malaria, those products are in the early stages of development and won't be available for years.
"If we lose the artemisinins at this stage, just now when we dare to mention the word 'eradication' again, it would be a disaster for malaria control," said Dondorp, who led the study. "It would cause millions of deaths, without exaggeration."
Fake pharmaceuticals abound in Pailin, but a bigger contributor to drug resistance than counterfeiters is patients who don't take medicines properly, according to WHO scientists.
Saron's mother, Bot Yom, has lost faith in Western pharmaceuticals. She plans to rub a coin against her son's skin until it becomes red. If the disease renders artemisinin-based drugs as useless as their predecessors, the folk remedy might be just as effective.
Cambodian Rice Encounters Problems Competing at International Markets because of Price Problems – Friday, 22.5.2009
Posted on 24 May 2009
The Mirror, Vol. 13, No. 613
http://cambodiamirror.wordpress.com/
The Mirror, Vol. 13, No. 613
http://cambodiamirror.wordpress.com/
“Phnom Penh: The president of the National Rice Millers Association of Cambodia said that the market for Cambodia rice is facing a crisis competing with neighboring countries, because the price of rice from other countries is cheaper than that from Cambodia.
“The president of the National Rice Millers Association of Cambodia, Mr. Tes Etda, said on 20 May 2009 that so far, the price of Cambodian rice is much higher than that of neighboring countries, especially of Vietnam.
“He said, ‘At international markets, the price of rice from Vietnam is much better than that from Cambodia.’
“Thus far, the price of normal quality rice that Vietnam sells is only US$390 per tonne, while Cambodian companies cannot sell their rice unless the price is over US$440. This high price is not because of its higher quality. The different prices for sale of both countries are due to internal affairs of each country.
“Mr. Etda went on to say that rice with the same quality, but with different prices, is a significant obstacle for Cambodia on international markets. But this is because the prices of local products are always high, and to be able to export, there are many legal steps to follow, a lot of kickbacks have to be paid, and moreover, our exporters seem not to agree with each other.
“He emphasized, ‘If we cannot first lower the price, exports from Cambodia will have market problems in the future.’
“The fact that the export of rice from Cambodia is facing a crisis like this has some negative consequences for farmers who have asked for loans from different micro-finance institutions to improve their farming, regarding the repayment of loans to those institutions, while the price of their agricultural products declines continually as the export encounters problems.
“An association in Prek Kunlong village, Kompong Tralach commune, Kompong Chhnang, told Radio Free Asia on 19 May 2009 that in the association, many villagers face demands from staff of six or seven micro-finance institutions and private banks, who urge them to sell their property in order to repay the loan that they had asked for from those institutions to invest in agriculture, when, unfortunately, now they cannot sell their agricultural products, or the prices of their products drop.
“They said that last year a bag of fertilizer of 50 kg was below Riel 120,000 [approx. US$30] and a kilogram of paddy rice was sold for Riel 1,200 [approx. US$0.30], but this year, the chemical fertilizer is cheaper, only Riel 1,000 per bag, but the price of paddy rice is 40 to 50 percent cheaper than last year.
“Regarding this problem, the president of Cambodian Microfinance Association, Mr. Huot Eng Tong, told Rasmei Kampuchea by telephone in the evening of Wednesday that what they claimed is not true.
“He recognized that recently, customers of different micro-finance institutions in Cambodia are late in repaying, but their percentage is very small, and those institutions do not order their staff to demand money from villagers as it is said above. Moreover, among more than one million costumers of micro-finance institutions, only 20% ask for loans to invest in agriculture.
“He emphasized, ‘Out of 100 costumers, we receive late repayments from one or two costumers only.’”
Rasmei Kampuchea, Vol.17, #4900, 22.5.2009
Newspapers Appearing on the Newsstand:
Friday, 22 May 2009
Asia govts hold key to Aung San Suu Kyi release: France
A Myanmar activist holds a portrait of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi during protest outside the United Nations offices in Bangkok. Asian powers hold the key to persuading Myanmar's ruling junta to release opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, France's human rights minister has said ahead of key meetings in Asia this week.(AFP/Pornchai Kittiwongsakul)PARIS (AFP) – Asian powers hold the key to persuading Myanmar's ruling junta to release opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, France's human rights minister said Sunday ahead of key meetings in Asia this week.
France and Europe have done everything that they can and it is now up to Asian governments to turn up the pressure on Yangon, said Rama Yade who is to meet with ministers from Myanmar's neighbours in Vietnam and Cambodia.
"It is obvious that the key is in Asia," Yade told TV5 Monde in an interview. "I fundamentally believe that our Asian partners can incite the junta to evolve."
Yade will represent France at the ASEM (Asia-Europe) ministerial meeting on Thursday in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi and the European Union meeting with the Association of South East Asian Nations Saturday in the Cambodian capital Phnom Pen.
The junior minister said she has asked to meet with Myanmar's foreign minister to discuss the plight of Aung San Suu Kyi, who went on trial this month for violating the terms of her house arrest.
"I will meet various Asian authorities who are the only ones capable of influencing the junta because we have done everything we can," said Yade.
EU nations have condemned the 63-year-old opposition leader's arrest and are considering tighter sanctions against the regime, but Myanmar's partners in ASEAN have not gone beyond expressing concern over the situation.
Aung San Suu Kyi pleaded innocent on Friday at the court in Yangon's Insein prison to the charges levelled against her after an American man swam to her lakeside home.
Yade described her arrest as a "pretext to throw her in prison and stage a mock trial" and accused the junta of seeking to exclude her from elections next year.
"If we were to lose her, it would be on our conscience," warned the minister.
The junta, headed by reclusive Senior General Than Shwe, has kept Aung San Suu Kyi in detention for a total of 13 years since 1990, when it refused to recognise her party's landslide victory in Myanmar's last elections.
Cambodia's Three Passengers Traveling with A/H1N1 Virus Patient Tested Negative
http://english.cri.cn
2009-05-24
Xinhua
Web Editor: LiuDonghui
The three passengers who arrived in Phnom Penh on the same flight with a woman who was later confirmed to have A/H1N1, were tested negative, a health official said on Sunday.
Their samples sent to the Pasteur Institute in Phnom Penh for A/ H1N1 virus test turned out to be negative, according to the test results got later Saturday, Sok Touch, director of the epidemic disease department at the Ministry of Health, told the reporter by phone.
The three, all Cambodian-Americans, arrived in Phnom Penh from the United States via South Korea on May 17. A Vietnamese woman traveling with them on the same flight felt unwell and was hospitalized at the Incheon, South Korea, and later she was confirmed of the disease.
The Cambodian health authorities made efforts to seek for the three, and one of the old man was found in Battambang province while the two others, a father and his daughter, in Kampot province. The three passengers did not display influenza symptoms at the time of their arrival in Cambodia.
Sok Touch said Saturday that the Health Ministry has not taken isolation measures to them, but asked them to have a self- isolation, and not to visit relatives, neither to go to public places in the next seven days. Cambodia has no confirmed cases of Influenza A/H1N1 virus so far, according to Sok Touch.
2009-05-24
Xinhua
Web Editor: LiuDonghui
The three passengers who arrived in Phnom Penh on the same flight with a woman who was later confirmed to have A/H1N1, were tested negative, a health official said on Sunday.
Their samples sent to the Pasteur Institute in Phnom Penh for A/ H1N1 virus test turned out to be negative, according to the test results got later Saturday, Sok Touch, director of the epidemic disease department at the Ministry of Health, told the reporter by phone.
The three, all Cambodian-Americans, arrived in Phnom Penh from the United States via South Korea on May 17. A Vietnamese woman traveling with them on the same flight felt unwell and was hospitalized at the Incheon, South Korea, and later she was confirmed of the disease.
The Cambodian health authorities made efforts to seek for the three, and one of the old man was found in Battambang province while the two others, a father and his daughter, in Kampot province. The three passengers did not display influenza symptoms at the time of their arrival in Cambodia.
Sok Touch said Saturday that the Health Ministry has not taken isolation measures to them, but asked them to have a self- isolation, and not to visit relatives, neither to go to public places in the next seven days. Cambodia has no confirmed cases of Influenza A/H1N1 virus so far, according to Sok Touch.
Aso, Hun Sen offer condolences
Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso on Saturday expressed surprise at the death of former South Korean president Roh Moo-hyun and offered his condolences to the neighboring country.
"I was quite surprised," Aso told reporters after hearing about Roh's death, according to Jiji Press. "I would like to offer my condolences and pray for the repose of his soul," Aso said.
Yukio Hatoyama, head of the nation's main opposition Democratic Party of Japan, said in a statement: "I would like to give my sincere condolences to the bereaved family and Korean people."
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen also offered his condolences following the death of Roh who he said made large contributions to the improvement of ties between Korea and Southeast Asia.
"I don't know how to express my sadness. I express sincere, deep condolences," the prime minister told a group of South Korean reporters visiting here. "I didn't hear yet about the exact reason for his death, but I can't contain my sadness over the news."
He noted that Roh had given much aid and support to Cambodia during his presidency from 2003-2008, recalling Roh's visits to Phnom Penh and Siem Riep, home of the Angkor temple complex.
(From news reports)
2009.05.23
Former Thaksin legal adviser: UAE won't extradite ex-PM
MCOT English Newshttp://enews.mcot.net/
BANGKOK, May 23 (TNA) - Noppadol Pattama, a former legal adviser to Thailand's fugitive, ousted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, on Saturday said it was untrue that the ex-premier had asked the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to broker sending him to fight court cases in Thailand.
Mr. Noppadol said the Abhisit government is tryin to extradite Mr. Thaksin, and sent Deputy Commerce Minister Alongkorn Ponlaboot to convince the UAE to not shelter the fugitive.
But the UAE is a sovereign government, and Thailand must respect its decision.
The UAE “realises that Mr. Thaksin was topped from power in a military coup which is against democratic principles,” Mr. Noppadol said.
Ousted in a coup in September 2006, Mr. Thaksin lives in self-imposed exile, believed to be in the UAE.
The ex-PM Thaksin was convicted and sentenced to two years jail in absentia for manipulative involvement in a Ratchadapisek land deal conducted by his then wife.
The ex-premier is said to have spent most of his exile in Dubai after his visa was revoked by Britain.
Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs had revoked both his diplomatic and ordinary passports in an attempt to capture him.
Puea Thai MP Chalerm Yoobamrung, a recent visitor to Dubai, said the fugitive ex-PM has six to eight foreign passports. (TNA)
Thaksin exploiting UAE, Foreign Ministry says
Bangkok Post
Published: 24/05/2009
The Office of the Attorney-General yesterday called on the Foreign Ministry to remind the United Arab Emirates that ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was exploiting the country for his own political ends. The fugitive ex-premier was using the UAE as a political base, said Sirisak Tiyaphan, executive director for foreign litigation at the OAG.
Puea Thai party-list MP Chalerm Yubamrung has told the media he had visited Thaksin in Dubai for consultations as the party was looking for a new leader, he said.
This goes to show that Thaksin had violated UAE's terms and conditions for abode which do not allow him to use the Gulf nation to pursue any political activities, said Mr Sirisak.
Thailand is trying to sign an extradition treaty with Hong Kong, a country which Thaksin was frequently visiting after fleeing Thailand to escape a jail sentence last year.
Mr Sirisak said the OAG and the ministry were planning to send officials to Hong Kong to conduct another round of negotiations on the issue. After learning about the planned treaty with Hong Kong, Thaksin decided not to enter the former British colony to avoid causing diplomatic problems between Thailand and China, which rules Hong Kong.
Published: 24/05/2009
The Office of the Attorney-General yesterday called on the Foreign Ministry to remind the United Arab Emirates that ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was exploiting the country for his own political ends. The fugitive ex-premier was using the UAE as a political base, said Sirisak Tiyaphan, executive director for foreign litigation at the OAG.
Puea Thai party-list MP Chalerm Yubamrung has told the media he had visited Thaksin in Dubai for consultations as the party was looking for a new leader, he said.
This goes to show that Thaksin had violated UAE's terms and conditions for abode which do not allow him to use the Gulf nation to pursue any political activities, said Mr Sirisak.
Thailand is trying to sign an extradition treaty with Hong Kong, a country which Thaksin was frequently visiting after fleeing Thailand to escape a jail sentence last year.
Mr Sirisak said the OAG and the ministry were planning to send officials to Hong Kong to conduct another round of negotiations on the issue. After learning about the planned treaty with Hong Kong, Thaksin decided not to enter the former British colony to avoid causing diplomatic problems between Thailand and China, which rules Hong Kong.
US Chevron Company Wants to Suspend Oil Exploration at the Khmer Sea Bottom because of the Global Economic Crisis – Thursday, 21.5.2009
Posted on 24 May 2009
The Mirror, Vol. 13, No. 613
http://cambodiamirror.wordpress.com/
The Mirror, Vol. 13, No. 613
http://cambodiamirror.wordpress.com/
“The global financial crisis affects the exploration of oil and other natural deposits at the Cambodian sea bottom, and this serious crisis causes the US biggest oil company to encounter difficulties for the exploration and exploitation of oil in Block “A” and to demand the Khmer government to sign a deal to postpone the exploration license at an area of the sea 150 km from the Sihanoukville port.
“Chevron’s Asia-Pacific media adviser based in Singapore, Mr. Gareth Johnstone, said that negotiations should be continued, even though the previous deal expired in April. He added that Chevron’s deal has not yet been concluded because of the economic crisis which is affecting the oil exploration in Block “A.” But he said that Chevron is discussing with the Khmer government to postpone the license deal for Block “A.”
“The chairperson of the National Assembly’s Commission on Economy, Finance, Banking and Audit, Cheam Yeap, said that the US oil exploration company Chevron is conducting exploration on six drilling sites in Block “A” within an area of 278 km2 located in the Gulf of Thailand in the Khmer sea territory. The economic crisis causes the oil exploration to be suspend for a short period only, and things will turn to be normal soon.
“The vice president of Chevron International Exploration and Production South Asia, Mr. Joe Geagea, told a newspaper in Bangkok that a license has not been given. But Cambodia and Chevron still maintain the hope that resources extracted from the Cambodian sea bottom will be brought to the market, though the oil price is low at present and the economy is declining.
“Mr. Joe Geagea said, ‘The problem is: What can be done in order to benefit us [Chevron] and Cambodia. Therefore, we want to continue negotiating with Cambodia.’
“Before, Chevron had said that the declining oil price is the reason that motivates US based Chevron to consider suspending drilling and oil exploration in Block “A” until the market of oil improves again. But so far, the oil market has not recovered so that Chevron could continue its activities at the Khmer sea. Another problem is that there is not yet a tax agreement with the Khmer government over the income from oil if the exploitation succeeds.
“It should be noted that regarding the signing of any agreements of private companies or of foreign investors, they have to pay the government millions of dollars for new licenses or to prolong expired licenses. Therefore, there have to be intensive negotiations to request new licenses.
“Mr. Gareth Johnstone said, ‘Because of commercial reasons and of the contract agreements, we cannot give any information about the discussions.’
“Cheam Yeap tries to conceal any problem which might block the process of the oil and natural gas exploration at the Khmer sea bottom. He said that he plans to ask the government to draft three laws relative to energy resources of the Kingdom of Cambodia, like the monitoring of oil, oil taxes, and the benefits of the energy sector, as an effort to better organize the use of national resources.
“Cheam Yeap added that the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative based in London is invited to Cambodia to hold four workshops aiming to share experiences in organizing energy resources.
“Mr. Cheam Yeap said, ‘We want Cambodia to be blessed by its oil resources and not to be cursed by its oil resources like Nigeria, Chad, Venezuela, Panama, and some African countries which were poor before, and after they found oil they are still poor after they gained some benefits from natural oil.’ Cambodia still hopes that oil can be extracted from its sea bottom starting between 2011 and 2013.
“Cheam Yeap boasted that besides Chevron of the United States, there are also companies from other countries that are interested in the natural oil treasures of Cambodia, like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Indonesia, and other neighboring countries in Southeast Asia. Cheam Yeap admitted that there are some obstacles for the oil exploration at the Cambodian sea bottom, because the sea border has not been demarcated at disputed areas with Siam [Thailand].
“At present, Cambodia has already given licenses for 37,000 km2 of its sea territory, and the remaining area of 27,000 km2 is disputed with Siam [Thailand].
“It should be noted also that Chevron has already paid US$20 million to the Khmer government in exchange for the license for oil and natural gas exploration in Block “A,” the block with the most oil deposit. But this US$200,000 license [above, it said US$20 million] expired in April. Therefore, Chevron has to negotiate with the Cambodian National Petroleum Authority, with Deputy Prime Minister Sok An as the president and Te Duong Dara as the secretary general, in order to continue to get an exploration license in Block “A.”
“On Wednesday, it was not known yet whether the Hun Sen government, notorious for corruption by receiving kickbacks, requires Chevron to pay additional tax so that it can continue its license to explore oil in Block “A.” But the government seemed to be not much interested with this and just demanded Chevron to negotiate again. The negotiations simply focused on paying money to request a new license, which made Chevron release some information, which surprised journalists in Bangkok.”
Moneaksekar Khmer, Vol.16, #3763, 21.5.2009
Newspapers Appearing on the Newsstand:
Thursday, 21 May 2009
UN study advises caution over dams
The Guardian.
http://www.guardian.co.uk
http://www.guardian.co.uk
AP foreign, Saturday May 23 2009 MICHAEL CASEY
AP Environmental Writer= BANGKOK (AP) — A dam-building spree in China poses the greatest threat to the future of the already beleaguered Mekong, one of the world's major rivers and a key source of water for the region, a U.N. report said Thursday.
China is constructing a series of eight dams on the upper half of the Mekong as it passes through high gorges of Yunnan Province, including the recently completed Xiowan Dam, which — at 958 feet (292 meters) high — is the world's tallest. Its storage capacity is equal to all the Southeast Asia reservoirs combined, the U.N. report said.
Laos, meanwhile, has started construction on 23 dams expected to be finished by 2010 on the Mekong and its tributaries, the U.N. said, as a means to spur development and lift the country from poverty. Cambodia and Vietnam also have ambitious dam-building plans.
"China's extremely ambitious plan to build a massive cascade of eight dams on the upper half of the Mekong River, as it tumbles through the high gorges of Yunnan Province, may pose the single greatest threat to the river," the report said.
The report went onto to say that the impacts of the proposed dam development include "changes in river flow volume and timing, water quality deterioration and loss of biodiversity."
China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said in a regular briefing the government pays equal attention to the development of the Mekong and its protection. The Mekong is known as the Lancang river in China.
"I would like to point out that the Chinese government attaches great importance to the exploration and the protection of cross-border rivers and conducts the policy of equal attention to development and protection," Ma said.
The proposed dams would add further pressure to the Mekong, which runs through China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. The 307,000-square-mile (795,000-square-kilometer) river network is home to dozens of rare bird and marine species, including the Mekong giant catfish, and is a source of food and jobs for the 65 million people who live in the river basin.
The river and its vast tributary network already face threats from pollution, climate change and the effects of earlier dams that were built in China and have caused water levels to drop sharply on the upper Mekong.
Still, the U.N. report said for the time being, the Mekong's pollution levels were not at "alarming levels" while water shortages and conflicts over water on the Mekong have so far not emerged.
"The Mekong is in good condition at this time and can take more pressure such as irrigation development or industrial development," said Mukand S. Babel, one of the reports' authors.
The report, however, found several river basins in the Mekong that are under threat, including the Tonle Sap in Cambodia, Nam Khan in Laos and Sekong-Sesan Srepok in Vietnam and Cambodia due to increasing development and demand for water.
It called for countries bordering the Mekong to work more closely together to ensure that the region's growing population and expected economic development doesn't further strain the capacity of the delta.
"The time to tackle these challenges is now, otherwise the projected growth and development may impact on the basin's ability to meet future water needs," said Young-Woo Park, a U.N. regional director.
The world is a classroom for Brown medical student from North Providence
Providence Journalhttp://www.projo.com
Saturday, May 23, 2009
By Richard C. Dujardin
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE –– Along with many receiving diplomas this graduation season, Mark Brady has his sights on making a difference in the world.
But Brady, who took a year off from his studies at Brown University’s medical school a while back to get a master’s degree in public health from Harvard, and who is set to receive both a master’s and a medical degree from Brown this Sunday, sees that difference more in terms of improving the lives of millions of people, not just a few.
After graduating from Providence College seven years ago, Brady not only did some personal things, such as hike the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine, but also went twice to Cambodia, where he volunteered for six months at a hospital for children and taught courses in statistics to doctors.
His pursuits also brought him to Thailand, where he and a doctor studying at Brown addressed an international conference on HIV/AIDS, to South Africa, where he and a professor researched what patients themselves had to say about how best to allocate anti-AIDS medicines, and to Peru and Bolivia, to study better ways to diagnose tuberculosis and combat Chagas disease.
And he did all that while working toward three degrees from Harvard and Brown.
Maybe because his mother, Alice Brady, has long been an elementary school nurse in his hometown of North Providence, Brady, 29, has always had a deep interest in medicine. It’s one reason, he says, that he majored in biology at PC.
But after finishing up at the school in 2002, Brady saw a need to take a year off to travel. Cambodia seemed like a good place to start, since he had once taken a course on Cambodian history and knew a Rhode Islander who directs a children’s hospital there.
Besides, he explained in a recent interview, “Cambodia is as far away from Rhode Island as you can get. I always wanted to work in the developing world. It was one of the reasons I wanted to go into medicine.”
It turned into a worthwhile trip, turning his interest in working in the developing world into a passion.
“I realized I could make a disproportionate impact working overseas.”
For instance, even though he had only minored in math, he discovered that the physicians in Cambodia knew less than he did when it came to that subject, and he was able to help by teaching a course in statistics.
He also went on to create a computer server to help the hospital store all of its medical records, the first of its kind in the country.
But it was the overall experience that convinced Brady he should concentrate on emergency medicine — since it’s one specialty needed in hospitals all over the world.
In working toward both a medical degree and a master’s degree in medical science from Brown, Brady did orthopedic research into knee construction and “dabbled” in a number of other projects, including research in the treatment of HIV-infected children.
On his way back to Cambodia the following summer, Brady and the doctor went to the international AIDS conference in Bangkok, where they presented evidence that anti-HIV/AIDS drugs can be as effective in treating children in “resource-poor” areas such as Cambodia as in wealthier nations, provided they are administered in a timely and consistent fashion.
While cost of the HIV drugs has sometimes been seen as a deterrent to treatment, Brady said two-tier pricing by the drug companies, and the presence of less costly generic drugs made in Brazil, India and Thailand, has reduced the problem. But even more important, Brady believes, is having someone go to children’s homes every day to make sure they don’t forget to take their medicine.
Brady had already been going to Brown for three years before deciding to take a year off and attend Harvard University on a scholarship to get a master’s in public health. There, he did “a lot of number crunching” and traveled to South Africa with a professor from Harvard to try to figure out whether to spend more money on first-line anti-HIV/AIDS medicines for as many as possible, or to hold back some money in order to buy more expensive drugs for those for whom the first-line drugs don’t work.
The two decided that one way to solve the quandary was to ask AIDS patients themselves. The answer came back loud and clear — the patients felt it more important to provide the front-line drugs across the board. “Even though many of the patients aren’t literate, we shouldn’t just assume that we know better what they want.”
Before returning to Brown, Brady also went to Peru under a grant from the National Institutes of Health to research ways to diagnose tuberculosis and, in Bolivia, to combat Chagas disease, which is caused by parasites.
“I really do want to go into epidemiology because there is that opportunity to help millions of people,” Brady said while preparing for his residency at Yale-New Haven Hospital, with an emphasis on emergency medicine, which begins a week after graduation.
Cambodia finds three passengers traveling with A/H1N1 virus patient
www.chinaview.cn
Editor: Xiong Tong
2009-05-23
PHNOM PENH, May 23 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian health authorities have found the three passengers who arrived here on the same flight with a woman who was later confirmed to have A/H1N1 virus, a health official here said on Saturday.
PHNOM PENH, May 23 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian health authorities have found the three passengers who arrived here on the same flight with a woman who was later confirmed to have A/H1N1 virus, a health official here said on Saturday.
The three, all Cambodian-Americans, were found Friday, and one of the old man now stays in Battambang province while the two others, a father and his daughter, in Kampot province, according to Sok Touch, director of the epidemic disease department at the Ministry of Health.
"We have got their samples and sent to the Pasteur Institute in Phnom Penh for testing A/H1N1 virus. The results would be available later today," he told reporters, adding that "the three's health are normal with no influenza symptoms now."
Sok Touch said that the Health Ministry has not took isolation measure to them, but asked them to have a self-isolation, and not to visit relatives as well as go to the public places in the next seven days.
The three arrived in Phnom Penh from the United States via South Korean on May 17. A Vietnamese woman traveled with them on the same flight feel unwell and hospitalized at Incheon, South Korea, and later she was confirmed of the disease.
Editor: Xiong Tong
California sex offender faces new charges in Cambodia
The Cambrian
Formerly a patient at Atascadero State Hospital, he is suspected of molesting four young boys
Sam Stanton - The Sacramento Bee
Jack Louis Sporich was living an idyllic retirement, splitting his time between a luxury condo in Sedona, Ariz., and a sprawling home he was having built in a tourist mecca in Cambodia.
The 74-year-old retired engineer appeared to have escaped his past, which included his classification as one of California’s most dangerous sex offenders, one who authorities suspect may have molested more than 500 young boys over the years.
Now, officials say Sporich, who won his release from Atascadero State Hospital in May 2004 without spending a single day in treatment, may have reoffended.
He has been charged in Cambodia with indecent acts against minors in a case involving four young Cambodian boys, according to an official in Phnom Penh whose organization helped investigate Sporich.
Cambodian news accounts of his arrest indicate Sporich denied the allegations, which included the claim he lured the children — ages 9 to 13 — to his home with toys and candies. The Cambodia Daily reported he also attracted youngsters by dropping dollar bills in the street.
He was arrested Feb. 2 and remains in custody in the tourist town of Siem Reap, according to Seila Samleang, executive director of Action Pour Les Enfants-Cambodia.
APLE-Cambodia is a nongovernmental organization that works closely with Cambodian police to target foreign pedophiles who exploit youngsters in that country, and Sporich had been under investigation by the group.
Samleang said in an e-mail to The Sacramento Bee the charges are misdemeanors punishable by a prison sentence of one to three years.
Sexual exploitation of children has been a problem in Cambodia for years, where the age of consent is 15.
Todd Melnik, the defense attorney who won Sporich’s release from Atascadero, said he knew nothing of the Cambodia charges. An e-mail to Sporich this week seeking comment did not receive a response.
Troubling history
Sporich is no stranger to charges of sex with kids.
He spent nine years in prison after his conviction in Ventura County on seven counts of lewd acts upon children under 14. Then, he was committed to Atascadero State Hospital as a “sexually violent predator” deemed too dangerous to be released upon completion of his sentence.
David Lehr, a Ventura County defense attorney who originally prosecuted Sporich, said he may have had as many as 500 victims, and he typically befriended boys through their parents and offered to take them on camping trips.
The parents frequently would pay Sporich for gas and the time he spent on the trips, Lehr said last week.
“If I had to pick from a list of former and current SVPs, he would be, by far, the first one I would be most concerned about,” Lehr said in an interview for a 2006 series of stories in The Sacramento Bee about sexually violent predators.
Sporich was released from Atascadero in May 2004, after two juries were unable to agree on whether he would reoffend, and he immediately moved to Arizona, where the only requirement he faced was that he register as a sex offender once a year.
He is not listed on the current sex offender registry maintained by the Arizona Department of Public Safety.
Sporich’s case was highlighted in The Sacramento Bee’s series, which revealed it was far easier for offenders to win release from Atascadero by refusing treatment than by undergoing the lengthy treatment program designed to prevent them from reoffending.
After The Sacramento Bee’s series, lawmakers introduced a number of proposed improvements to the system and voters later that year overwhelmingly approved Proposition 83.
That measure increased prison sentences for habitual and violent offenders and did away with the requirement that sexually violent predators be allowed a trial every two years. Instead, they now can petition annually for a hearing, but the burden of proof is on them to convince a court they no longer pose a threat.
Sam Stanton - The Sacramento Bee
Jack Louis Sporich was living an idyllic retirement, splitting his time between a luxury condo in Sedona, Ariz., and a sprawling home he was having built in a tourist mecca in Cambodia.
The 74-year-old retired engineer appeared to have escaped his past, which included his classification as one of California’s most dangerous sex offenders, one who authorities suspect may have molested more than 500 young boys over the years.
Now, officials say Sporich, who won his release from Atascadero State Hospital in May 2004 without spending a single day in treatment, may have reoffended.
He has been charged in Cambodia with indecent acts against minors in a case involving four young Cambodian boys, according to an official in Phnom Penh whose organization helped investigate Sporich.
Cambodian news accounts of his arrest indicate Sporich denied the allegations, which included the claim he lured the children — ages 9 to 13 — to his home with toys and candies. The Cambodia Daily reported he also attracted youngsters by dropping dollar bills in the street.
He was arrested Feb. 2 and remains in custody in the tourist town of Siem Reap, according to Seila Samleang, executive director of Action Pour Les Enfants-Cambodia.
APLE-Cambodia is a nongovernmental organization that works closely with Cambodian police to target foreign pedophiles who exploit youngsters in that country, and Sporich had been under investigation by the group.
Samleang said in an e-mail to The Sacramento Bee the charges are misdemeanors punishable by a prison sentence of one to three years.
Sexual exploitation of children has been a problem in Cambodia for years, where the age of consent is 15.
Todd Melnik, the defense attorney who won Sporich’s release from Atascadero, said he knew nothing of the Cambodia charges. An e-mail to Sporich this week seeking comment did not receive a response.
Troubling history
Sporich is no stranger to charges of sex with kids.
He spent nine years in prison after his conviction in Ventura County on seven counts of lewd acts upon children under 14. Then, he was committed to Atascadero State Hospital as a “sexually violent predator” deemed too dangerous to be released upon completion of his sentence.
David Lehr, a Ventura County defense attorney who originally prosecuted Sporich, said he may have had as many as 500 victims, and he typically befriended boys through their parents and offered to take them on camping trips.
The parents frequently would pay Sporich for gas and the time he spent on the trips, Lehr said last week.
“If I had to pick from a list of former and current SVPs, he would be, by far, the first one I would be most concerned about,” Lehr said in an interview for a 2006 series of stories in The Sacramento Bee about sexually violent predators.
Sporich was released from Atascadero in May 2004, after two juries were unable to agree on whether he would reoffend, and he immediately moved to Arizona, where the only requirement he faced was that he register as a sex offender once a year.
He is not listed on the current sex offender registry maintained by the Arizona Department of Public Safety.
Sporich’s case was highlighted in The Sacramento Bee’s series, which revealed it was far easier for offenders to win release from Atascadero by refusing treatment than by undergoing the lengthy treatment program designed to prevent them from reoffending.
After The Sacramento Bee’s series, lawmakers introduced a number of proposed improvements to the system and voters later that year overwhelmingly approved Proposition 83.
That measure increased prison sentences for habitual and violent offenders and did away with the requirement that sexually violent predators be allowed a trial every two years. Instead, they now can petition annually for a hearing, but the burden of proof is on them to convince a court they no longer pose a threat.
Thai intelligence probes new Cambodian army unit in Poipet
MCOT English News
http://enews.mcot.net/
http://enews.mcot.net/
SA KAEO, May 23 (TNA) - Thai intelligence officres are investigating reports that some 200 Cambodian soldiers have moved to Poipet on the Thai-Cambodian border some two kilometres from the border crossing and casinos at the frontier.
A former Cambodian soldier, now a trader in Poipet, opposite the key Thai border district of Aranyaprathet, said some 200 fully armed Cambodian soldiers had moved to Poipet and built tents behind the airport since Tuesday.
The Cambodian soldiers visit Poipet market areas at night, causing fear among local Cambodians that fresh fighting with Thailand could erupt after the Thai government had kept silent regarding the Cambodian demand for over US$2 million compensation for damage allegedly caused by heavy Thai army gunfire during the April 3 border clash near the ancient Preah Vihear temple, affecting some 300 Cambodian households.
The Cambodian Foreign Ministry earlier sent a diplomatic note to Thailand, asking for the compensation. It said that Thai artillery had destroyed 264 market stalls in front of Preah Vihear temple, affecting 319 Cambodian households.
However, Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has reaffirmed that the area in question belongs to Thailand.
Cambodian intelligence reports said that army unit was assigned had come into the area as a senior military commander planned to visit there in order to map out a new military restructuring plan.
Thai military intelligence is assessing the movements of the Cambodian unit, claiming that the practice violates an agreement made between the two countries barring additional troops of either country from being posted to areas adjacent to the border. (TNA)
Saturday, 23 May 2009
Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi
Myanmarese monks living in Thailand pray during a rally calling for Aung San Suu Kyi's release, outside the U.N. office in Bangkok, May 22, 2009. The trial of Myanmar's pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi continues for its fifth day, with Myanmar saying on Friday that the U.S. citizen who sneaked into the detained opposition leader's home may be part of a plot by "anti-government elements" to intensify international pressure on the military regime.REUTERS/Sukree Sukplang 
REFILE - CORRECTING LOCATION Insein Prison Compound in Yangon, where Myanmar's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is being detained, is pictured in this video frame grab released May 20, 2009. Army-ruled Myanmar opened the trial of opposition leader Suu Kyi on Wednesday in an apparent bid to calm growing international outrage at the regime and its latest crackdown on the Nobel Peace laureate. REUTERS/Reuters TV/MRTV
Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, rignt shakes hands with a diplomat in this image taken from TV in Yangon Myanmar Wednesday May 20, 2009. Myanmar's military regime opened Aung San Suu Kyi's trial Wednesday to reporters and diplomats, but the unexpected access did not stem criticism that the hearing is a political ploy to keep the pro-democracy leader behind bars through next year's election.(AP Photo/MRTV, via APTN)
This frame grab shows Myanmar's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi (R) walking to the third day of her trial at Yangon's Insein Prison, after the junta allowed diplomats and media to observe the trial, May 20, 2009. Army-ruled Myanmar opened the trial of opposition leader Suu Kyi on Wednesday in an apparent bid to calm growing international outrage at the regime and its latest crackdown on the Nobel Peace laureate. REUTERS/Reuters TV/MRTV
This frame grab shows Myanmar's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi (2nd R) with diplomats and journalists on the third day of her trial at a prison guesthouse in Yangon, after the junta allowed diplomats and media to observe the trial, May 20, 2009. Army-ruled Myanmar opened the trial of opposition leader Suu Kyi on Wednesday in an apparent bid to calm growing international outrage at the regime and its latest crackdown on the Nobel Peace laureate. REUTERS/Reuters TV/MRTV
This frame grab shows Myanmar's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi (C) with diplomats and journalists on the third day of her trial at a prison guesthouse in Yangon, after the junta allowed diplomats and media to observe the trial, May 20, 2009. REUTERS/Reuters TV/MRTV
This frame grab shows Myanmar's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi (R) talking with diplomats and journalists on the third day of her trial at a prison guesthouse in Yangon, after the junta allowed diplomats and media to observe the trial, May 20, 2009. Army-ruled Myanmar opened the trial of opposition leader Suu Kyi on Wednesday in an apparent bid to calm growing international outrage at the regime and its latest crackdown on the Nobel Peace laureate. REUTERS/Reuters TV/MRTV The world must help to FREE Aung San Suu Kyi for democracy
A portrait of Aung San Suu Kyi is carried during a rally calling for her release, outside the Myanmar Embassy in Kathmandu May 22, 2009. The trial of Myanmar's pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi continues for its fifth day, with Myanmar saying on Friday that the U.S. citizen who sneaked into the detained opposition leader's home may be part of a plot by "anti-government elements" to intensify international pressure on the military regime. REUTERS/Deepa Shrestha
This frame grab shows Myanmar's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi (C) being escorted to a car on the third day of her trial at Yangon's Insein Prison, after the junta allowed diplomats and media to observe the trial, May 20, 2009. REUTERS/Reuters TV/MRTV
Security forces let a car through a checkpoint, near Insein prison where the trial of Aung San Suu Kyi is going on for the fifth day, in Yangon May 22, 2009. BEST QUALITY AVAILABLE. REUTERS/Democratic Voice of Burma 
People gather to find out more information on the trial of Aung San Suu Kyi, which is going on for the fifth day, at a checkpoint near Insein prison, in Yangon May 22, 2009. REUTERS/Democratic Voice of Burma/Handout 
Buddhist monks chant slogans during a protest outside the United Nations offices in Bangkok. Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has proclaimed her innocence in front of a prison tribunal as the prosecution wrapped up its case on the fifth day of her trial.(AFP/Pornchai Kittiwongsakul)
A Myanmar activist holds a portrait of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi during protest outside the United Nations offices in Bangkok. Suu Kyi has proclaimed her innocence in front of a prison tribunal as the prosecution wrapped up its case on the fifth day of her trial.(AFP/Pornchai Kittiwongsakul)
Nepalese activists stage a protest outside the Myanmar embassy in Kathmandu. Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has proclaimed her innocence in front of a prison tribunal as the prosecution wrapped up its case on the fifth day of her trial.(AFP/Prakash Mathema)
Members from the Hong Kong Coalition for a Free Burma, joined with Amnesty International, urge passers-bys in Hong Kong to sign signatures to demand the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners in Myanmar May 22, 2009. The trial of Myanmar's pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi continues for its fifth day, with Myanmar saying on Friday that the U.S. citizen who sneaked into the detained opposition leader's home may be part of a plot by "anti-government elements" to intensify international pressure on the military regime. REUTERS/Bobby YipASIA: Burma Gives ASEAN a Black Eye with Suu Kyi Case
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK, May 23 (IPS) - By pushing ahead with a sham trial to prosecute the country’s pro-democracy icon, Burma’s military regime appears set to shatter the credibility of the new, rules-based Southeast Asian regional bloc, of which it is a member.
The trial of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, which began May 18, goes against the language of the charter of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), adopted in the Indonesian capital Jakarta last December.
Under the ASEAN charter, the bloc’s 10 members agreed to strengthen democracy, the rule of law, and to promote human rights as part of their commitment to give the 42-year-old alliance a much-needed makeover - transforming it into a unified legal entity that resembles, in some ways, the European Union.
Yet barely six months into its new incarnation a major test looms for ASEAN - which includes Brunei, Burma (or Myanmar), Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
The concern within ASEAN over its international standing is conveyed in a statement released on the second day of Suu Kyi’s trial by Thailand, the current chairman of the regional body. "With the eyes of the international community on Myanmar at present, the honour and the credibility of the Government of the Union of Myanmar are at stake," noted the strongly- worded statement, departing from the usual diplomatic niceties that often pepper such official declarations.
"In this connection, the Government of the Union of Myanmar is reminded that the ASEAN Leaders had called for the immediate release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi," the statement from Bangkok added. "Furthermore, the Government of the Union of Myanmar, as a responsible member of ASEAN, has the responsibility to protect and promote human rights."
Suu Kyi’s latest troubles with Burma’s oppressive regime stem from the intrusion of John William Yettaw, a U.S. citizen, into her home on the banks of the Inya Lake in Rangoon, where the 63-year-old opposition leader has been under house arrest for over 13 years. Yettaw entered the compound as an uninvited guest earlier this month by swimming across the lake in Burma’s former capital.
The charges that Suu Kyi faces in this trial, held all week, could lead to a five-year sentence. She is accused of breaking a 1975 law - that she violated the terms of her detention - even though she has been kept a captive and isolated from the world by the security cordon around her house.
Two of Suu Kyi’s female housekeepers were charged also last week by the judge presiding over the trial taking place in a court within the compound of the notorious Insein prison, in northern Rangoon. The 53-year-old U.S. national is also facing charges in this court, renowned for its secret trials.
The trial comes days before Suu Kyi’s current period of house arrest was to end, on May 27. A ruling against her - which many Burma analysts expect - will prevent her playing a pivotal role in the run up to a 2010 general elections, which the regime has promised as part of its "roadmap to democracy."
Outrage is building among many Burmese and others in the international community. To thwart any angry outbursts in Rangoon, the military regime has strengthened security around the prison and in other key locations across the city that could attract protesters - such as the landmark Shwedagon Pagoda.
Truckloads of police have been placed near the west and north gates of the pagoda, near the city hall, the courthouse, a popular market, and a hotel that has offices for U.N. staff, a Rangoon resident told IPS. "In the Insein suburb there are many police, police trucks and police checkpoints."
"People on the streets are now - in most cases - angry with the American and with the authorities for pushing this case," added the resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "Much information is coming through over exile radio in the evenings so people are more aware."
The statements of outrage that have come from ASEAN, Western governments and even the U.N. human rights envoy to Burma have failed to impress human rights and pro-democracy activists. "Just issuing statements are not enough. This is the time for international action to free Daw Aung Suu Kyi and the over 2,100 other political prisoners," says Bo Kyi, head of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners in Burma, a group of former Burmese political prisoners based in Mae Sot, along the Thai-Burma border.
"She is a national leader who should be free, not a prisoner," Bo Kyi added in a telephone interview. "Her current case is further proof that there is no rule of law in Burma. She did not commit a crime."
This latest embarrassment to ASEAN is part of a pattern that the junta has stuck to over the years. In May 2008, following the devastating Cyclone Nargis that crashed through the Irrawaddy Delta, killing some 140,000 people, the regime refused to open the country to humanitarian agencies until international outrage forced it to concede some ground.
The previous year, in September 2007, Burmese troops opened fire on peaceful pro-democracy protesters led by thousands of Buddhist monks. That drew an angry response from ASEAN, which expressed its "revulsion" at such brutality, sharing the mood of disgust echoed by Western governments.
Yet, angry words by the regional bloc barely produced palpable change, convincing ASEAN watchers that Burma’s over 10-year presence in the grouping will only continue to earn it more disrespect.
The limits of the regional bloc to reform the pariah in its midst was confirmed during the 14th ASEAN Summit held in Thailand early this year. The region’s leaders declared that the U.N. - not ASEAN - would take the lead in prodding Burma towards political reform after over 47 years under military rule.
"This is the third time in recent years that the regime has misbehaved so dramatically and embarrassed ASEAN," says Debbie Stothard of ALTSEAN, which campaigns for human rights in the region. "It is pretty clear the regime assumed it would get away this time too."
"Burma’s rulers have exposed an inherent flaw in the ASEAN charter, and the goal to establish a regional community with common values," she told IPS. "There is no mechanism to penalise members who break the charter and who go against its spirit."
BANGKOK, May 23 (IPS) - By pushing ahead with a sham trial to prosecute the country’s pro-democracy icon, Burma’s military regime appears set to shatter the credibility of the new, rules-based Southeast Asian regional bloc, of which it is a member.
The trial of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, which began May 18, goes against the language of the charter of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), adopted in the Indonesian capital Jakarta last December.
Under the ASEAN charter, the bloc’s 10 members agreed to strengthen democracy, the rule of law, and to promote human rights as part of their commitment to give the 42-year-old alliance a much-needed makeover - transforming it into a unified legal entity that resembles, in some ways, the European Union.
Yet barely six months into its new incarnation a major test looms for ASEAN - which includes Brunei, Burma (or Myanmar), Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
The concern within ASEAN over its international standing is conveyed in a statement released on the second day of Suu Kyi’s trial by Thailand, the current chairman of the regional body. "With the eyes of the international community on Myanmar at present, the honour and the credibility of the Government of the Union of Myanmar are at stake," noted the strongly- worded statement, departing from the usual diplomatic niceties that often pepper such official declarations.
"In this connection, the Government of the Union of Myanmar is reminded that the ASEAN Leaders had called for the immediate release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi," the statement from Bangkok added. "Furthermore, the Government of the Union of Myanmar, as a responsible member of ASEAN, has the responsibility to protect and promote human rights."
Suu Kyi’s latest troubles with Burma’s oppressive regime stem from the intrusion of John William Yettaw, a U.S. citizen, into her home on the banks of the Inya Lake in Rangoon, where the 63-year-old opposition leader has been under house arrest for over 13 years. Yettaw entered the compound as an uninvited guest earlier this month by swimming across the lake in Burma’s former capital.
The charges that Suu Kyi faces in this trial, held all week, could lead to a five-year sentence. She is accused of breaking a 1975 law - that she violated the terms of her detention - even though she has been kept a captive and isolated from the world by the security cordon around her house.
Two of Suu Kyi’s female housekeepers were charged also last week by the judge presiding over the trial taking place in a court within the compound of the notorious Insein prison, in northern Rangoon. The 53-year-old U.S. national is also facing charges in this court, renowned for its secret trials.
The trial comes days before Suu Kyi’s current period of house arrest was to end, on May 27. A ruling against her - which many Burma analysts expect - will prevent her playing a pivotal role in the run up to a 2010 general elections, which the regime has promised as part of its "roadmap to democracy."
Outrage is building among many Burmese and others in the international community. To thwart any angry outbursts in Rangoon, the military regime has strengthened security around the prison and in other key locations across the city that could attract protesters - such as the landmark Shwedagon Pagoda.
Truckloads of police have been placed near the west and north gates of the pagoda, near the city hall, the courthouse, a popular market, and a hotel that has offices for U.N. staff, a Rangoon resident told IPS. "In the Insein suburb there are many police, police trucks and police checkpoints."
"People on the streets are now - in most cases - angry with the American and with the authorities for pushing this case," added the resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "Much information is coming through over exile radio in the evenings so people are more aware."
The statements of outrage that have come from ASEAN, Western governments and even the U.N. human rights envoy to Burma have failed to impress human rights and pro-democracy activists. "Just issuing statements are not enough. This is the time for international action to free Daw Aung Suu Kyi and the over 2,100 other political prisoners," says Bo Kyi, head of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners in Burma, a group of former Burmese political prisoners based in Mae Sot, along the Thai-Burma border.
"She is a national leader who should be free, not a prisoner," Bo Kyi added in a telephone interview. "Her current case is further proof that there is no rule of law in Burma. She did not commit a crime."
This latest embarrassment to ASEAN is part of a pattern that the junta has stuck to over the years. In May 2008, following the devastating Cyclone Nargis that crashed through the Irrawaddy Delta, killing some 140,000 people, the regime refused to open the country to humanitarian agencies until international outrage forced it to concede some ground.
The previous year, in September 2007, Burmese troops opened fire on peaceful pro-democracy protesters led by thousands of Buddhist monks. That drew an angry response from ASEAN, which expressed its "revulsion" at such brutality, sharing the mood of disgust echoed by Western governments.
Yet, angry words by the regional bloc barely produced palpable change, convincing ASEAN watchers that Burma’s over 10-year presence in the grouping will only continue to earn it more disrespect.
The limits of the regional bloc to reform the pariah in its midst was confirmed during the 14th ASEAN Summit held in Thailand early this year. The region’s leaders declared that the U.N. - not ASEAN - would take the lead in prodding Burma towards political reform after over 47 years under military rule.
"This is the third time in recent years that the regime has misbehaved so dramatically and embarrassed ASEAN," says Debbie Stothard of ALTSEAN, which campaigns for human rights in the region. "It is pretty clear the regime assumed it would get away this time too."
"Burma’s rulers have exposed an inherent flaw in the ASEAN charter, and the goal to establish a regional community with common values," she told IPS. "There is no mechanism to penalise members who break the charter and who go against its spirit."
Buying sex not a sport: Sex work activists
Courtesy of Michelle MillerTrisha Baptie, a former sex-trade worker, speaks on human trafficking Friday night at the International Film Centre on Seymour Street.
http://www.metronews.ca/
The “Buying Sex is not a Sport” campaign is being launched at 8:15 p.m. Friday at the International Film Centre downtown. At 10 p.m., a film about child trafficking in Cambodia will be screened.
MINÉ SALKIN
FOR METRO VANCOUVER
May 21, 2009
Buying sex is not a sport, says a group of activists campaigning to get Ottawa to change the country’s sex laws before the 2010 Olympics, to keep more women from being lured into prostitution.
Michelle Miller, executive director of Resist Exploitation, Embrace Dignity, said Parliament should enact the same laws recently instituted in Sweden that decriminalize the selling of sex and criminalize the buying of sex.
“No one looks at the buyers,” she said. “Women are bought and sold but we want to expose that men have contributed to the demand.”
Miller said the increase in men away from their social networks would raise the demand for paid sex in Vancouver during the Games.
“We’ve seen this at the World Cup, the Superbowl, so it’s known. Men who travel enjoy the degree of anonymity and are more likely to buy sex,” she said.
Trisha Baptie is a former sex-trade worker who took to the streets when she was 13 years old.
“It’s human slavery. There are women in brothels in Vancouver right now, and more will come before the Games,” she said.
MINÉ SALKIN
FOR METRO VANCOUVER
May 21, 2009
Buying sex is not a sport, says a group of activists campaigning to get Ottawa to change the country’s sex laws before the 2010 Olympics, to keep more women from being lured into prostitution.
Michelle Miller, executive director of Resist Exploitation, Embrace Dignity, said Parliament should enact the same laws recently instituted in Sweden that decriminalize the selling of sex and criminalize the buying of sex.
“No one looks at the buyers,” she said. “Women are bought and sold but we want to expose that men have contributed to the demand.”
Miller said the increase in men away from their social networks would raise the demand for paid sex in Vancouver during the Games.
“We’ve seen this at the World Cup, the Superbowl, so it’s known. Men who travel enjoy the degree of anonymity and are more likely to buy sex,” she said.
Trisha Baptie is a former sex-trade worker who took to the streets when she was 13 years old.
“It’s human slavery. There are women in brothels in Vancouver right now, and more will come before the Games,” she said.
Gay and Asian: Fighting Stigmas in Our Communities
May 22, 2009
By Sarath Suong – Men’s Health Coordinator, MAP for Health May is Asian and Pacific
American (APA) Heritage Month.
While this crucial milestone in APA and American history occurred less than 20 years ago, it is an important reminder for us to recognize the experience and diversity of APAs as integral to the development and contribution to this country. Today, APAs remain a strong and growing community of over 15 million people. It is also one of the most at-risk populations for contracting Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs), including HIV.
MAP was founded a year after the passage of the APA Heritage Month, and to date, MAP remains one of the only organizations in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts dedicated to offering an integrated response to the growing HIV/AIDS crises among the APAs.
One of its programs, Asian Impact,a peer-support program,provides community
building spaces and educational workshops for APA gay and men-who-have-sex-with-men (MSM). Asian Impact recognizes the importance of creating safe spaces where young APA MSMs can become friends, support one another, and engage in conversation about safe sex and healthy lifestyles.
Asian Impact participant, Sophan, is a 22 year old Cambodian immigrant who recently immigrated to Lynn, Massachusetts from Cambodia two years ago. Sophan became intimate with other men at the young age of 18 and had never told his father. The last of his family to come to the U.S., Sophan quit college and left his partner in Cambodia to escape genocide.
He reunited with his mother and three brothers in the US, working hard to be the dutiful son to his mother and contribute as much as he could to his family’s livelihood.
For two years, Sophan struggled with culture shock and language barriers, while balancing two jobs and adjusting to his estranged family. He was already isolated from the general public as a refugee, and from his family who did not know him.
After he found MAP and joined the Asian Impact weekly gathering, Sophan now has a group of Asian mentors and support networks to help him navigate the challenges of being a newcomer, Asian, and gay.
Sophan is just one example of the young gay and bisexual men that participate in MAP’s programs. He, and many like him, are in real need of someone to talk to - someone who can relate to their struggle of being both APA and homosexual. Safe spaces, such as MAP’s A-SPOT, offers reprieve to young people like Sophan.
In a brief interview, he recounts his thoughts prior to joining MAP. “I just didn’t know what to do any more. I just didn’t have anyone to talk to. Here, I have been able to make friends who really understand where I am coming from. I used to feel that I had to tell my family,” he explains. “That pressure made me feel really horrible.”
He has since become part of a community that understands the challenges Asians face and provides encouragement to be brave and resilient.
As an organization dedicated to the health and wellbeing of the APAs, MAP runs programs, hosts events, and advocates for the community every day.
For more information and its next large event that will take place in Chinatown, during the August Moon Festival, visit MAP’s website www.mapforhealth.org
Gay and Asian: Fighting Stigma in Our Communities
By Sarath Suong – Men’s Health Coordinator, MAP for Health May is Asian and Pacific
American (APA) Heritage Month.
While this crucial milestone in APA and American history occurred less than 20 years ago, it is an important reminder for us to recognize the experience and diversity of APAs as integral to the development and contribution to this country. Today, APAs remain a strong and growing community of over 15 million people. It is also one of the most at-risk populations for contracting Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs), including HIV.
MAP was founded a year after the passage of the APA Heritage Month, and to date, MAP remains one of the only organizations in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts dedicated to offering an integrated response to the growing HIV/AIDS crises among the APAs.
One of its programs, Asian Impact,a peer-support program,provides community
building spaces and educational workshops for APA gay and men-who-have-sex-with-men (MSM). Asian Impact recognizes the importance of creating safe spaces where young APA MSMs can become friends, support one another, and engage in conversation about safe sex and healthy lifestyles.
Asian Impact participant, Sophan, is a 22 year old Cambodian immigrant who recently immigrated to Lynn, Massachusetts from Cambodia two years ago. Sophan became intimate with other men at the young age of 18 and had never told his father. The last of his family to come to the U.S., Sophan quit college and left his partner in Cambodia to escape genocide.
He reunited with his mother and three brothers in the US, working hard to be the dutiful son to his mother and contribute as much as he could to his family’s livelihood.
For two years, Sophan struggled with culture shock and language barriers, while balancing two jobs and adjusting to his estranged family. He was already isolated from the general public as a refugee, and from his family who did not know him.
After he found MAP and joined the Asian Impact weekly gathering, Sophan now has a group of Asian mentors and support networks to help him navigate the challenges of being a newcomer, Asian, and gay.
Sophan is just one example of the young gay and bisexual men that participate in MAP’s programs. He, and many like him, are in real need of someone to talk to - someone who can relate to their struggle of being both APA and homosexual. Safe spaces, such as MAP’s A-SPOT, offers reprieve to young people like Sophan.
In a brief interview, he recounts his thoughts prior to joining MAP. “I just didn’t know what to do any more. I just didn’t have anyone to talk to. Here, I have been able to make friends who really understand where I am coming from. I used to feel that I had to tell my family,” he explains. “That pressure made me feel really horrible.”
He has since become part of a community that understands the challenges Asians face and provides encouragement to be brave and resilient.
As an organization dedicated to the health and wellbeing of the APAs, MAP runs programs, hosts events, and advocates for the community every day.
For more information and its next large event that will take place in Chinatown, during the August Moon Festival, visit MAP’s website www.mapforhealth.org
Gay and Asian: Fighting Stigma in Our Communities
Article Reference: http://www.sampan.org/show_article.php?display=1979
Interpol asked to help find Thaksin
Fri, May 22, 2009
The Nation/Asia News Network
Police have sought help from the Interpol unit in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in a search for fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who is believed to have been staying in that country.
The police move came after Pheu Thai Party MP Chalerm Yoobamrung admitted he had been to Dubai recently to visit Thaksin for three days.
Police Maj General Visanu Prasartthong-osot said the latest intelligence report showed Thaksin had not left the UAE, but police were checking if he had left the country under another name.
"We believe he is likely still in that country because it is not far from Thailand and he can use it as a base for his close aides to come and see him,'' he said.
Visanu said he had submitted a request to the Attorney General's Foreign Affairs office to seek the extradition of Thaksin, even though Thailand does not have an extradition treaty with the UAE. "We can ask for cooperation from the UAE since we had earlier helped them arrest and dispatch suspects wanted by them."
After the court issued an arrest warrant for Thaksin, police stepped up pressure on him by asking Interpol police in 187 countries to help find and arrest him, he said. Thai police had been dispatched to countries Thaksin was believed to visit frequently such as Hong Kong, Nicaragua, Montenegro, Cambodia and the UAE.
Chalerm said he did not discuss politics or who would be the new party leader with Thaksin, but they talked about his well-being and his business. Thaksin told him he had bought an island in Montenegro to develop a real estate business, hoping to make billions of baht in profit by selling expensive mansions to Asian millionaires, following the success of Hawaii.
"Thaksin is living a good life in Dubai because the country highly honours him and has given him top security. The reports that said Thaksin is not welcome there are wrong. Dubai approved a visa for me 24 hours after I applied. Thaksin took me out shopping in malls and many people came to ask for his autograph and his picture,'' he said.
Thaksin also won five goldmine concessions from a country in Africa, which had given him a special passport.
Responding to Chalerm's revelation of his visit to Thaksin in Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban said he had not made any progress getting Thaksin back because he had more important work to do, such as combating drugs and violence in the South.
The Nation/Asia News Network
Police have sought help from the Interpol unit in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in a search for fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who is believed to have been staying in that country.
The police move came after Pheu Thai Party MP Chalerm Yoobamrung admitted he had been to Dubai recently to visit Thaksin for three days.
Police Maj General Visanu Prasartthong-osot said the latest intelligence report showed Thaksin had not left the UAE, but police were checking if he had left the country under another name.
"We believe he is likely still in that country because it is not far from Thailand and he can use it as a base for his close aides to come and see him,'' he said.
Visanu said he had submitted a request to the Attorney General's Foreign Affairs office to seek the extradition of Thaksin, even though Thailand does not have an extradition treaty with the UAE. "We can ask for cooperation from the UAE since we had earlier helped them arrest and dispatch suspects wanted by them."
After the court issued an arrest warrant for Thaksin, police stepped up pressure on him by asking Interpol police in 187 countries to help find and arrest him, he said. Thai police had been dispatched to countries Thaksin was believed to visit frequently such as Hong Kong, Nicaragua, Montenegro, Cambodia and the UAE.
Chalerm said he did not discuss politics or who would be the new party leader with Thaksin, but they talked about his well-being and his business. Thaksin told him he had bought an island in Montenegro to develop a real estate business, hoping to make billions of baht in profit by selling expensive mansions to Asian millionaires, following the success of Hawaii.
"Thaksin is living a good life in Dubai because the country highly honours him and has given him top security. The reports that said Thaksin is not welcome there are wrong. Dubai approved a visa for me 24 hours after I applied. Thaksin took me out shopping in malls and many people came to ask for his autograph and his picture,'' he said.
Thaksin also won five goldmine concessions from a country in Africa, which had given him a special passport.
Responding to Chalerm's revelation of his visit to Thaksin in Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban said he had not made any progress getting Thaksin back because he had more important work to do, such as combating drugs and violence in the South.
K.Rouge court must tackle corruption: US diplomat
US envoy Clint Williamson (R) hands over a textbook to a Cambodian student at the Hun Sen Ang Snuol school in Kandal province on May 20,2009. The US envoy for war crimes issues has praised developments at Cambodia's Khmer Rouge tribunal but said officials must tackle corruption at the UN-backed court.(AFP/File/Suy Se)
Fri May 22
PHNOM PENH (AFP) – The US envoy for war crimes issues on Friday praised developments at Cambodia's Khmer Rouge tribunal but said officials must tackle corruption at the UN-backed court.
Clint Williamson, the US ambassador-at-large for war crimes issues, told reporters the court was "making real progress" with its first trial under way, but needed to agree and implement anti-graft mechanisms.
"There's increased awareness on the Cambodian side and the UN side that this (corruption) is an issue that needs to be tackled. There has to be some sort of resolution of this going forward," he said at a US embassy press conference.
The tribunal, which is currently trying former Khmer Rouge prison chief Duch, has faced controversy over allegations of political interference by the government and claims that Cambodian staff were forced to pay kickbacks for their jobs.
The UN has withheld funds to Cambodian operations at the court, and its talks with senior government officials to stop the alleged corruption have ended without agreement.
Williamson said he had met with government, UN and civil society officials during his four-day trip to Cambodia, and was working hard with other donors to make sure the court addresses the graft and management problems.
The long-awaited first trial has heard Duch, whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav, acknowledge responsibility and beg forgiveness for overseeing the torture and execution of more than 15,000 people at the notorious Tuol Sleng prison.
Four other senior officials from the 1975-1979 regime are also in detention, waiting for their trial to start next year. Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot died in 1998.
Up to two million people were executed or died of starvation, disease and overwork as the Khmer Rouge movement emptied cities and enslaved the population on collective farms in its bid to to create a communist utopia.
Court Drops Judicial Academy Bribery Case
http://www.voanews.com
By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
22 May 2009
As a fifth class of judiciary students were preparing to begin classes at a government academy this year, Phnom Penh Municipal Court documents show that a $55,000 bribery suit between a prospective student and one near-graduate was nearly fought.
According to the official complaint, obtained by VOA Khmer on the condition that names not be used, the plaintiff, whose “younger sibling” hoped to enter the Royal Academy for Judicial Professions, paid $35,000 to a Class Three student, having been promised the money would earn the sibling a seat in the prestigious school.
The case was settled out of court this month, according to a Phnom Penh court source, with the academy student agreeing to return $35,000 to the plaintiff.
The filing of such a complaint underscores at least a perceived understanding that it takes money to get a seat at the donor-supported school. The complaint also adds weight to complaints by students who are already in the school and who say they must pay bribes in order to get judge’s seats across the judicial system.
The defendant who allegedly took the money was a student in Class 3 of the academy who has finished school and is awaiting professional assignment in Cambodia’s court system, the court source said. Two students at the academy contacted by VOA Khmer also said the defendant was a Class 3 student.
“Before the exam, the school called [the defendant] to meet all the students and asked whether they should allow him to take his exams or not, as he was implicated in a court case on taking someone’s money to ‘run business’ for a judicial student seat,” the court source told VOA Khmer, on condition of anonymity. “At that time, students agreed then that he could take the exam; otherwise, he would have already lost his career.”
Judicial students contacted by VOA Khmer said the case had been discussed at the academy.
The plaintiff, a 30-year-old woman from Phnom Penh, claims in the complaint she paid the former student to secure a position for her “younger sibling” to enter Class Five of the academy.
After her family member did not gain admittance, the plaintiff filed suit to have the $35,000 returned and for $20,000 in further compensation, according to the court document, registered as No. 566.
The defendant, the woman wrote the court prosecutor, “has used tricks to cheat and took money from me, $35,000…by lying that he took it to use in the liaison work so that my younger sibling [redacted] be admitted as a Class Five student judge. But when the examination day arrived, surprisingly, [redacted] was not on the list of the examination, and [defendant] just disappeared.”
The court source told VOA Khmer the defendant had apparently taken the money but instead of bribing officials to secure admittance to the academy had spent it on personal expenses.
“When he spent all of it out of pocket, that money did not ‘run business,’” the source said. “The [plaintiff] was angry and filed a lawsuit to the court, as he did not even pay back the money taken.”
The two sides reconciled out of court, the source said.
The defendant and plaintiff could not be reached for comment Wednesday as phone numbers were not available to VOA Khmer.
Koet Sekano, secretary-general of the Royal Academy for Judicial Professions, reached by phone Wednesday, said he had no time to speak with a VOA Khmer reporter.
Chea Meth, leader of Class Three, which recently graduated, told VOA Khmer on Wednesday that the court case was a “personal” matter of another student.
“For me, I do not know if there have been any implications with money or whatever,” he said.
Chea Meth, and fellow Class Three graduates Yet Molin and Hok Pov, also reached by phone Wednesday, denied paying money ensure spots in the academy and said they had no knowledge of the bribery case.
Class Five began May 4.
The court complaint is further evidence of a perception of corruption and bribery within the ranks of those who wish to join Cambodia’s judicial profession, which has come under fire by academy students in recent weeks, even as the UN-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal struggles with allegations that some Cambodian staff members pay kickbacks for their positions.
Some at the academy expect to pay at least $20,000 to be seated as judges or other court officials in the judicial system, according to VOA Khmer interviews over the past three months with three current students and one graduate of the Royal Academy for Judicial Professions, a Phnom Penh court official, a Ministry of Justice official and others.
“It’s shameful for me to do this, but there is no choice,” said one student, who explained how he paid thousands of dollars to ensure he’d pass his entrance exam and gain a seat in the academy. “I joined this career because I saw that the salary of the judge was better than the government, and in the process of [national] reform, this is a better paying job than others.”
Another current student at the academy said to become a judge was to have a chance to reform the country, even if money was paid to secure the opportunity.
“We go not to do a bad thing, but to help promote good action in the court,” this student said.
Former and current students described having to pay older classmates money to use as brokerage for judge’s positions in the court system after graduation, including as much as $150,000 to be a judge in Phnom Penh. Money is paid cash up front, before admittance into the elite academy, they said.
The government has denied the allegations, and a leading government lawyer, Heng Vong Bunchat, on Wednesday refused to comment further to VOA Khmer.
“I’m not a person clarifying things for you,” said Heng Vong Bunchat when reached by phone. “You are [working for] a radio that… has no responsibility. You’re so mighty. You [are working for] a radio of a superpower. You must seriously think [of the consequences]. Once one is influential, he has to seriously think [of the consequences]. You just flip here and there [referring to broadcasting] and then make a phone call. I [derogative] never see your face and now come here to show your face.”
For a full transcript of the phone interview with Heng Vong Bunchat, click here.
By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
22 May 2009
As a fifth class of judiciary students were preparing to begin classes at a government academy this year, Phnom Penh Municipal Court documents show that a $55,000 bribery suit between a prospective student and one near-graduate was nearly fought.
According to the official complaint, obtained by VOA Khmer on the condition that names not be used, the plaintiff, whose “younger sibling” hoped to enter the Royal Academy for Judicial Professions, paid $35,000 to a Class Three student, having been promised the money would earn the sibling a seat in the prestigious school.
The case was settled out of court this month, according to a Phnom Penh court source, with the academy student agreeing to return $35,000 to the plaintiff.
The filing of such a complaint underscores at least a perceived understanding that it takes money to get a seat at the donor-supported school. The complaint also adds weight to complaints by students who are already in the school and who say they must pay bribes in order to get judge’s seats across the judicial system.
The defendant who allegedly took the money was a student in Class 3 of the academy who has finished school and is awaiting professional assignment in Cambodia’s court system, the court source said. Two students at the academy contacted by VOA Khmer also said the defendant was a Class 3 student.
“Before the exam, the school called [the defendant] to meet all the students and asked whether they should allow him to take his exams or not, as he was implicated in a court case on taking someone’s money to ‘run business’ for a judicial student seat,” the court source told VOA Khmer, on condition of anonymity. “At that time, students agreed then that he could take the exam; otherwise, he would have already lost his career.”
Judicial students contacted by VOA Khmer said the case had been discussed at the academy.
The plaintiff, a 30-year-old woman from Phnom Penh, claims in the complaint she paid the former student to secure a position for her “younger sibling” to enter Class Five of the academy.
After her family member did not gain admittance, the plaintiff filed suit to have the $35,000 returned and for $20,000 in further compensation, according to the court document, registered as No. 566.
The defendant, the woman wrote the court prosecutor, “has used tricks to cheat and took money from me, $35,000…by lying that he took it to use in the liaison work so that my younger sibling [redacted] be admitted as a Class Five student judge. But when the examination day arrived, surprisingly, [redacted] was not on the list of the examination, and [defendant] just disappeared.”
The court source told VOA Khmer the defendant had apparently taken the money but instead of bribing officials to secure admittance to the academy had spent it on personal expenses.
“When he spent all of it out of pocket, that money did not ‘run business,’” the source said. “The [plaintiff] was angry and filed a lawsuit to the court, as he did not even pay back the money taken.”
The two sides reconciled out of court, the source said.
The defendant and plaintiff could not be reached for comment Wednesday as phone numbers were not available to VOA Khmer.
Koet Sekano, secretary-general of the Royal Academy for Judicial Professions, reached by phone Wednesday, said he had no time to speak with a VOA Khmer reporter.
Chea Meth, leader of Class Three, which recently graduated, told VOA Khmer on Wednesday that the court case was a “personal” matter of another student.
“For me, I do not know if there have been any implications with money or whatever,” he said.
Chea Meth, and fellow Class Three graduates Yet Molin and Hok Pov, also reached by phone Wednesday, denied paying money ensure spots in the academy and said they had no knowledge of the bribery case.
Class Five began May 4.
The court complaint is further evidence of a perception of corruption and bribery within the ranks of those who wish to join Cambodia’s judicial profession, which has come under fire by academy students in recent weeks, even as the UN-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal struggles with allegations that some Cambodian staff members pay kickbacks for their positions.
Some at the academy expect to pay at least $20,000 to be seated as judges or other court officials in the judicial system, according to VOA Khmer interviews over the past three months with three current students and one graduate of the Royal Academy for Judicial Professions, a Phnom Penh court official, a Ministry of Justice official and others.
“It’s shameful for me to do this, but there is no choice,” said one student, who explained how he paid thousands of dollars to ensure he’d pass his entrance exam and gain a seat in the academy. “I joined this career because I saw that the salary of the judge was better than the government, and in the process of [national] reform, this is a better paying job than others.”
Another current student at the academy said to become a judge was to have a chance to reform the country, even if money was paid to secure the opportunity.
“We go not to do a bad thing, but to help promote good action in the court,” this student said.
Former and current students described having to pay older classmates money to use as brokerage for judge’s positions in the court system after graduation, including as much as $150,000 to be a judge in Phnom Penh. Money is paid cash up front, before admittance into the elite academy, they said.
The government has denied the allegations, and a leading government lawyer, Heng Vong Bunchat, on Wednesday refused to comment further to VOA Khmer.
“I’m not a person clarifying things for you,” said Heng Vong Bunchat when reached by phone. “You are [working for] a radio that… has no responsibility. You’re so mighty. You [are working for] a radio of a superpower. You must seriously think [of the consequences]. Once one is influential, he has to seriously think [of the consequences]. You just flip here and there [referring to broadcasting] and then make a phone call. I [derogative] never see your face and now come here to show your face.”
For a full transcript of the phone interview with Heng Vong Bunchat, click here.
Walk, Swim, Eat Right for Health: Doctor
http://www.voanews.com
By Sothearith Im
Washington
22 May 2009
Cholesterol and triglycerides are useful to the body and our brain, but if too high they can create problems, a doctor said Thursday, adding that Cambodia was now experiencing dietary problems.
“However, we can use medicine to lower cholesterol so that it prevents us from having heart attack and stroke,” Dr. Taing Tek Hong said, as a guest on “Hello VOA.”
Food with fat, such as fat from pork, beef, and chicken can create high levels of bad cholesterol, Taing Tek Hong said.
“Milk also contains a lot of fat,” he said. “There a lot people in the US who have high cholesterol. Not many people in Cambodia had high cholesterol before, but now we have plenty of food, then some people have high cholesterol too. Sometimes it is inherited from parents. Some medicines make triglycerides high. People who are overweight or who have diabetes usually have high triglycerides.”
There are no symptoms of high cholesterol, the doctor said, in response to a listener question.
“We know it only through blood tests,” he said. “You should start checking when you are 20 years old. If you have already had it, you usually have pains in the chest, but not everyone.”
“There are many kinds of medicines, such as Statins, which is mostly used,” he added. “It stops the liver from generating cholesterol. Other medicines are Niacin, Fibrates, and Bile Sequestrants, which are medicines that stop gall liquid from flowing back to liver.”
While there are medicines, he said, “the most important thing is to watch your food, do exercise regularly and stop smoking.”
Another called, from Phnom Penh, 31-years-old, asked how to reduce the fat in his veins.
“You are still young,” the doctor told him. “You must be ready to take good care of yourself. The most important is not to eat any food containing fat, especially animal fats, such as fat from pork and beef. Then eat a lot of vegetables and fruits. If you have high triglycerides, stop drinking alcohol and don’t eat rice or noodle or bread so much, because they contain carbohydrates, which will be converted to sugar, and then fat, when it goes into our body.”
“If you are overweight, you must reduce weight and do exercise,” he said. “If cholesterol and triglycerides are still high, you must take medicine. You must take Statins. You must use these three methods: diet, exercise, and medicines.”
For youth, diet and exercise are important to avoid the condition, he said. “It is not difficult. You simply walk. Each day you should walk at least 10,000 steps. Swimming and doing other activities is even better.”
By Sothearith Im
Washington
22 May 2009
Cholesterol and triglycerides are useful to the body and our brain, but if too high they can create problems, a doctor said Thursday, adding that Cambodia was now experiencing dietary problems.
“However, we can use medicine to lower cholesterol so that it prevents us from having heart attack and stroke,” Dr. Taing Tek Hong said, as a guest on “Hello VOA.”
Food with fat, such as fat from pork, beef, and chicken can create high levels of bad cholesterol, Taing Tek Hong said.
“Milk also contains a lot of fat,” he said. “There a lot people in the US who have high cholesterol. Not many people in Cambodia had high cholesterol before, but now we have plenty of food, then some people have high cholesterol too. Sometimes it is inherited from parents. Some medicines make triglycerides high. People who are overweight or who have diabetes usually have high triglycerides.”
There are no symptoms of high cholesterol, the doctor said, in response to a listener question.
“We know it only through blood tests,” he said. “You should start checking when you are 20 years old. If you have already had it, you usually have pains in the chest, but not everyone.”
“There are many kinds of medicines, such as Statins, which is mostly used,” he added. “It stops the liver from generating cholesterol. Other medicines are Niacin, Fibrates, and Bile Sequestrants, which are medicines that stop gall liquid from flowing back to liver.”
While there are medicines, he said, “the most important thing is to watch your food, do exercise regularly and stop smoking.”
Another called, from Phnom Penh, 31-years-old, asked how to reduce the fat in his veins.
“You are still young,” the doctor told him. “You must be ready to take good care of yourself. The most important is not to eat any food containing fat, especially animal fats, such as fat from pork and beef. Then eat a lot of vegetables and fruits. If you have high triglycerides, stop drinking alcohol and don’t eat rice or noodle or bread so much, because they contain carbohydrates, which will be converted to sugar, and then fat, when it goes into our body.”
“If you are overweight, you must reduce weight and do exercise,” he said. “If cholesterol and triglycerides are still high, you must take medicine. You must take Statins. You must use these three methods: diet, exercise, and medicines.”
For youth, diet and exercise are important to avoid the condition, he said. “It is not difficult. You simply walk. Each day you should walk at least 10,000 steps. Swimming and doing other activities is even better.”
Three Potential H1N1 Flu Carries Sought
http://www.voanews.com
By Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
22 May 2009
Cambodian health officials are looking for three US-Cambodians who were aboard a South Korean flight Sunday after one passenger who deplaned in Incheon was found carrying H1N1 flu.
Officials in Cambodia emphasized that the threat of infection was low, but were searching for the three, who they thought might be in Kampot province.
South Korea put out a warning Wednesday, saying the three had been among 93 on an Asiana Airlines flight from Seattle to Incheon, South Korea, before transiting for a Phnom Penh flight.
One woman from the first flight was quarantined in South Korea and confirmed to have the H1N1 virus, sometimes called swine flu.
By Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
22 May 2009
Cambodian health officials are looking for three US-Cambodians who were aboard a South Korean flight Sunday after one passenger who deplaned in Incheon was found carrying H1N1 flu.
Officials in Cambodia emphasized that the threat of infection was low, but were searching for the three, who they thought might be in Kampot province.
South Korea put out a warning Wednesday, saying the three had been among 93 on an Asiana Airlines flight from Seattle to Incheon, South Korea, before transiting for a Phnom Penh flight.
One woman from the first flight was quarantined in South Korea and confirmed to have the H1N1 virus, sometimes called swine flu.
Tribunal Corruption Still a ‘Concern’: US Envoy
By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
22 May 2009
US Ambassador-At-Large for War Crimes Issues Clint Williamson on Friday urged the Khmer Rouge tribunal to address nagging corruption allegations, following discussions with the donors and UN and government officials.
Williamson told reporters that corruption “remained a concern” for the US, but that progress was being made on the issue.
The UN-backed tribunal, known officially as the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, has struggled under allegations of corruption, even as it tries its first suspect, prison chief Duch.
“Along with other donors to the ECCC we are working hard to ensure that the court improves its management and addresses the issue of corruption,” Williamson said Friday. “The US decision to fund the court last year reflects our commitment to ensure the tribunal is capable of meeting international standards of justice and to work with Cambodians to strengthen the structure of the rule of law in thecountry.”
A tribunal spokesman said both the UN and national sides of the hybrid court were working to improve the handling of corruption allegations and other complaints.
Original report from Phnom Penh
22 May 2009
US Ambassador-At-Large for War Crimes Issues Clint Williamson on Friday urged the Khmer Rouge tribunal to address nagging corruption allegations, following discussions with the donors and UN and government officials.
Williamson told reporters that corruption “remained a concern” for the US, but that progress was being made on the issue.
The UN-backed tribunal, known officially as the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, has struggled under allegations of corruption, even as it tries its first suspect, prison chief Duch.
“Along with other donors to the ECCC we are working hard to ensure that the court improves its management and addresses the issue of corruption,” Williamson said Friday. “The US decision to fund the court last year reflects our commitment to ensure the tribunal is capable of meeting international standards of justice and to work with Cambodians to strengthen the structure of the rule of law in thecountry.”
A tribunal spokesman said both the UN and national sides of the hybrid court were working to improve the handling of corruption allegations and other complaints.
Friday, 22 May 2009
Cambodia, WHO declear no confirmed A/H1N1 virus in Cambodia
www.chinaview.cn
2009-05-22
PHNOM PENH, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization (WHO) here on Friday issued a joint statement claiming there is no confirmed cases of Influenza A/H1N1in Cambodia.
"The ministry of Health would like to advise that as of May 22 2009, no cases of Influenza A/H1N1 virus have been confirmed in the country," the statement said.
Cambodian Health Ministry received an urgent letter Wednesday from South Korean Embassy warning that three Cambodian- Americans were on the same flight from the United States to South Korea with a passenger who was later confirmed to have Influenza A/H1N1. The three individuals subsequently flew on a separate flight to Phnom Penh on Sunday.
At the time of their arrival to Cambodia, the three passengers did not display influenza symptoms, according to the statement. The ministry officials are now seeking to locate these passengers to assess their well-being and to offer them testing.
"The Ministry of Health is working closely with all relevant authorities to continue to monitor the situation closely," it added.
The ministry also strongly advised people who has traveled from an affected area in the past seven days and has developed fever ...to contact with the ministry.
Editor: Mo Hong'e
PHNOM PENH, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization (WHO) here on Friday issued a joint statement claiming there is no confirmed cases of Influenza A/H1N1in Cambodia.
"The ministry of Health would like to advise that as of May 22 2009, no cases of Influenza A/H1N1 virus have been confirmed in the country," the statement said.
Cambodian Health Ministry received an urgent letter Wednesday from South Korean Embassy warning that three Cambodian- Americans were on the same flight from the United States to South Korea with a passenger who was later confirmed to have Influenza A/H1N1. The three individuals subsequently flew on a separate flight to Phnom Penh on Sunday.
At the time of their arrival to Cambodia, the three passengers did not display influenza symptoms, according to the statement. The ministry officials are now seeking to locate these passengers to assess their well-being and to offer them testing.
"The Ministry of Health is working closely with all relevant authorities to continue to monitor the situation closely," it added.
The ministry also strongly advised people who has traveled from an affected area in the past seven days and has developed fever ...to contact with the ministry.
Editor: Mo Hong'e
Khmer Rouge court's identity crisis
Asia Times Online
May 23, 2009
By Stephen Kurczy
PHNOM PENH - Slung over Nic Dunlop's shoulder on Tuesday was the same vintage Leica he used a decade ago to photograph the Khmer Rouge's former chief of secret police and publicize his whereabouts.
Dunlop was standing outside the Khmer Rouge tribunal where Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Duch, is on trial for overseeing the notorious S-21 prison during the regime's rule in the late 1970s.
During the court's recess, Dunlop recalled his surprising discovery of Duch after a year spent showing Cambodians the solitary black-and-white photograph of him that he carried in his wallet. In 1999, the photojournalist found Duch, living under a pseudonym and working for a refugee committee near the Thai border.
"Duch picked [my camera] up and said, 'Oh, very nice, you like expensive cameras,'" Dunlop said, his Leica still slung from his shoulder. While Dunlop said he stumbled upon Duch by chance, and others say his photographer's eye helped him spot Duch, the accused has said it was God's work.
A Christian convert, Duch told the court on April 22 that Jesus Christ guided Dunlop to Samlot town. "I told Nic Dunlop, 'Christ brought you to meet me'." The remarks echoed Dunlop's account in his book The Lost Executioner, where he quotes Duch saying: "It is God's will that you are here. Now my future is in God's hands."
Soon after their meeting, Cambodian security forces arrested Duch and he has been jailed since, but Dunlop has attempted to maintain contact. He tried to send him the books On God by Norman Mailer and The Inner Life by the theologian Thomas a Kempis, along with letters and e-mails through third parties. All efforts failed and Duch never responded.
"I'm told that he's angry with me still," said Dunlop.
Dunlop remains a central figure in the quest to understand and reconcile what happened under the Khmer Rouge. He is expected to testify at Duch's trial. Along with answering questions, Dunlop is still asking them as he shifts the focus of his Leica from Duch to the legacy of the court.
A movie house in Phnom Penh on Tuesday screened a documentary Dunlop produced for al-Jazeera's People & Power television series in February. The film highlights what Dunlop considers the court's lackluster outreach efforts and its subsequent failure to become relevant to ordinary Cambodians. In it, he visits M-99, a former prison in Kompong Speu province. Duch allegedly sent prisoners to M-99 while chief of the Khmer Rouge secret police and warden of S-21, where he is thought to have overseen the torture and death of possibly 20,000 men, women and children.
In the film, Dunlop finds an old woman living near M-99 who spent three years imprisoned there, waking every morning to bury prisoners who had died in the night. She said she has never heard of the Khmer Rouge tribunal or Duch.
"Her house is less than three hours from [the courthouse] and not one official from the court had gone to investigate" the site or inform the villagers of the tribunal, Dunlop said.
The documentary was shown on the eve of Cambodia's Day of Anger, held each year on May 20 to commemorate the day in 1976 when the Khmer Rouge announced its plan to turn Cambodia into an agrarian collectivization, a decision that contributed to the deaths of some 2 million citizens from overwork and starvation.
This year's Day of Anger also coincided with distribution of the first Khmer Rouge textbook. US Ambassador at Large for War Crimes Clint Williamson and Education Ministry Secretary of State Chemteav Tum Sa Im presided over Wednesday's official presentation of 175,000 copies of A History of Democratic Kampuchea (1975-1979) to 1,321 high schools and junior high schools in all the kingdom's 24 provinces.
Despite the new textbook and three decades of Days of Anger, lack of awareness of the long-awaited Khmer Rouge tribunal remains widespread. The documentary cited a University of California study in 2008 that found 85% of Cambodians had little or no knowledge of the court. Traveling around Cambodia, Dunlop said he has found resounding support for the idea of a tribunal, but little knowledge of it. He blames international donors for failing to adequately fund outreach projects.
"I think a large burden of the responsibility to explain this process to ordinary Cambodians lies with the donors," Dunlop said Tuesday. "Only $50,000 [of the trial's $143 million budget] has been allocated to this. It doesn't add up. It should be paramount."
Tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath said by telephone that the court has heard this criticism before and is taking it into consideration, but he added that court proceedings are broadcast daily on state television to keep Cambodians informed without public affairs staff needing to visit every Cambodians' home.
"Sometimes you don't need to go from house to house, because TV goes there already," he said.
German Ambassador Frank Mann, who attended Tuesday's screening, declined to comment on Dunlop's criticisms. He did note that Germany had provided $11 million to the tribunal process, with one-third allocated to tribunal outreach conducted by various non-profit organizations, such as the Center for Social Development (CSD).
It was the CSD that was responsible for the shuttling in by bus of most of the Cambodians attending the court on Tuesday. The busload of villagers from Prey Veng province said they could not have otherwise afforded the overnight trip to Phnom Penh.
One of the villagers, Sy Siem, 66, said 12 of his family members died under the Khmer Rouge. He said he gets his news from the radio, but he found it difficult to hear the court proceedings daily.
"Not many people have the chance to visit the court and they are only familiar with the name of the tribunal, but ask where it is located and they don't know," said Nou Lon, 61. Asked to name the five suspects in detention, Nou Lon could only name three and then added that everyone knew Pol Pot - the Khmer Rouge's "Brother Number 1" who died in 1998 - was the guilty man anyway.
"When I return home I will tell people about what I saw and experienced and I will encourage people to attend the hearing," Nou Lon said. "For those who really suffered, I believe they can save money and attend the court one time."
Sy Siem and Nou Lon both walked out of the court Tuesday with free t-shirts, free transportation, and a free night's lodging at a Phnom Penh hotel courtesy of CSD. Both said they believed the tribunal is leaving a positive legacy, though Dunlop still questions the effectiveness of a court that the majority of Cambodians will never attend. Lack of awareness in the countryside, along with unresolved allegations of political interference and corruption in the court, all threaten to turn the proceedings into a sideshow.
"I'm still undecided if this is worth something or worth nothing," Dunlop said after Tuesday night's film screening. "So much is said to be done for the people of Cambodia and so little actually is. Very little actually trickles down."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)