Human rights organisations are accusing Cambodia's government of discriminating against a group of families infected with HIV/Aids forced to move to a newly constructed "Aids village" outside of the capital, Phnom Penh.
Health organisations say the government has essentially created a pariah community.
Al Jazeera's Steve Chao reports.
Saturday, 1 August 2009
Anger over Cambodia's HIV 'pariah' village - 31 July 09
Flooded Mekong River bank that caused a house to collapse in Koh Norea village of a downtown Phnom Penh
A Cambodian man watches a collapsed house a long the Mekong River bank in Koh Norea village of a downtown Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, July 31, 2009. the Mekong River'S flood season runs from May to September.(AP Photo/Heng Sinith) 
A Cambodian man views the flooded Mekong River bank that caused a house to collapse in Koh Norea village of a downtown Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, July 31, 2009. The Mekong River's flood season runs from May to September.(AP Photo/Heng Sinith
The roof of a blind children's school along the Mekong River bank is seen ruined in Chrang Bak village of a downtown Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Thursday, July 30, 2009. The Mekong River's flood season runs from May to September.(AP Photo/Heng Sinith) WHO lists warning signs for severe H1N1 disease
Jul 31, 2009 (CIDRAP News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) today issued a list of warning signs of possible severe disease in H1N1 flu patients, while adding its voice to the recent warnings about the virus's threat to pregnant women.
The WHO said signs that can signal a progression to severe disease include shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, turning blue, bloody or colored sputum, chest pain, altered mental status, high fever lasting more than 3 days, and low blood pressure.
In addition, particular danger signs in children include fast or difficult breathing, lack of alertness, difficulty in waking up, and little or no desire to play, the agency said.
Because a patient's condition can worsen very quickly, medical attention should be sought when any of the warning signs appear, the WHO advised.
The agency noted that most patients continue to have mild symptoms and recover fully within a week, but a few people, usually younger than 50, rapidly progress to severe and often fatal illness. "No factors that can predict this pattern of severe disease have yet been identified, though studies are under way," the statement said.
Regarding pregnant women, the WHO noted a US study published this week in The Lancet that showed an increased risk of severe or fatal H1N1 disease in this group. Several other countries also have noted an increased risk for pregnant women and a higher risk of fetal death or spontaneous abortion, the agency said.
"WHO strongly recommends that, in areas where infection with the H1N1 virus is widespread, pregnant women, and the clinicians treating them, be alert to symptoms of influenza-like illness," the statement said.
The agency said pregnant women should be treated with oseltamivir as soon as possible after symptom onset and should be a priority group for immunization.
In other comments, the WHO said monitoring of viruses from multiple outbreaks has revealed no evidence of a change in the virus's ability to spread or cause severe illness.
The WHO said signs that can signal a progression to severe disease include shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, turning blue, bloody or colored sputum, chest pain, altered mental status, high fever lasting more than 3 days, and low blood pressure.
In addition, particular danger signs in children include fast or difficult breathing, lack of alertness, difficulty in waking up, and little or no desire to play, the agency said.
Because a patient's condition can worsen very quickly, medical attention should be sought when any of the warning signs appear, the WHO advised.
The agency noted that most patients continue to have mild symptoms and recover fully within a week, but a few people, usually younger than 50, rapidly progress to severe and often fatal illness. "No factors that can predict this pattern of severe disease have yet been identified, though studies are under way," the statement said.
Regarding pregnant women, the WHO noted a US study published this week in The Lancet that showed an increased risk of severe or fatal H1N1 disease in this group. Several other countries also have noted an increased risk for pregnant women and a higher risk of fetal death or spontaneous abortion, the agency said.
"WHO strongly recommends that, in areas where infection with the H1N1 virus is widespread, pregnant women, and the clinicians treating them, be alert to symptoms of influenza-like illness," the statement said.
The agency said pregnant women should be treated with oseltamivir as soon as possible after symptom onset and should be a priority group for immunization.
In other comments, the WHO said monitoring of viruses from multiple outbreaks has revealed no evidence of a change in the virus's ability to spread or cause severe illness.
See also:
Jul 31 WHO statement
Jul 29 CIDRAP News story "Study on pandemic flu risks in pregnancy finds antiviral treatment delays"
Study begins to look at impact of Mekong hydropower plans
The regulating dam of the Nam Theun 2 power dam is pictured under construction in Laos' Nakai plateau
HANOI — A watchdog has kicked off a study to look at proposed hydropower developments on the Mekong River and their impact on the tens of millions of people living along it, officials said Friday.The probe has been launched to help countries affected by the projects decide whether they want to go ahead with them.
The results are expected by July or August next year, Damian Kean, spokesman for the Mekong River Commission (MRC) secretariat in Laos, told AFP.
While hydropower is already used to generate electricity on the river's tributaries, the private sector has not in the past seriously considered using the mainstream, the MRC said in a press release.
Eleven schemes are being studied by Cambodia, Laos and Thailand but in China, where the Mekong is known as the Lancang River, there are already eight existing or planned mainstream dams, the MRC said.
The Commission is an intergovernmental body that deals with all river-related activities including fisheries, agriculture and flood management.
Increased interest in building hydropower dams in the mainstream lower Mekong River basin means the MRC is now "faced with perhaps its most important strategic challenge" since its founding in 1995, Jeremy Bird, chief executive officer of the MRC secretariat, said in the statement.
China is not a member of the MRC but attended annual meetings with its four MRC neighbours this week in Laos and the Commission said it had expressed a willingness to provide experts for the study.
"I think it's very significant," Kean said. "They're a dialogue partner and I think that signifies that they're taking the concerns of the downstream countries reasonably seriously."
More than 60 million people in the lower Mekong basin depend on the river system for food, transport and economic activity, the MRC said, adding that it is home to the world's most valuable inland fishery.
Int'l help in probe key to proper trial
Constanze Oehlrichhttp://www.thedailystar.net
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Cambodian expert says on war crime
Emran Hossain and Farhana Urmee Legal Adviser to Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia Constanze Oehlrich yesterday said assistance from international communities for evidence and investigation is necessary to ensure legitimate and transparent trial of war crimes.
It is very difficult to investigate such a large-scale crime and Cambodia needs to have additional capacity and support to make the trial legitimate and transparent, she said describing the Cambodian model.
“There is international experience in trying war criminals across the globe. In dealing with such a huge issue you need to be very pragmatic; you need to coordinate and organise the evidence,” said Constanze Oehlrich.
Oehlrich, who is visiting Bangladesh currently to attend the “2nd international conference on genocide, truth and justice,” expressed the view while explaining several features of Cambodian model for trial of war criminals with The Daily Star.
EU Parliament Member Helmut Scholz on Thursday said, “A legal analysis similar to the Cambodian model combined with international support is highly recommended for Bangladesh.”
Explaining the Cambodian model of court she said the Cambodian trial was backed by the United Nations. She mentioned that the Cambodian court was a mixed court involving judges from both national and international communities.
She mentioned that there was both national and international funding in Cambodian court.
“We have two prosecutors -- one is national and the other is international. We have both national judges and international judges. In case of taking decision both the national and international judges have to take decision unanimously,” she said.
She said that the trial of war criminals in Cambodia is divided into three parts---pre-trial, trial and Supreme Court chamber -- and majority of the judges are national.
There are, however, international judges in each step of the courts, she said.
“Decision in every step must be taken after getting super votes---like four votes out of five,” she added.
For example, if a decision is to be taken by the pre-trial court, which is consisted of five judges -- three Cambodian and two international judges, four judges must approve the decision.
She cited an example saying that Cambodian president at one stage ordered not to expand trial and limit it within the five accused. Later an international judge felt the necessity of conducting investigation against six more and then the matter was forwarded to pre-trial court for hearing.
She said it is tough to arrange a trial after 38 years of the incident. Newspaper reports can be used as written evidence and there are accounts of witnesses too.
Sharing her experience of work in the trial of war criminals in Cambodia Constanze said that there is a documentation centre in Cambodia, which has been collecting information soon after the killings in Cambodia.
She explained that the centre even visited countryside taking interviews and accounts of witnesses.
She and Nafia Tasmin Din, Victim's Unit, Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, said that there are individual groups in Bangladesh who collected information after the Liberation War and that can be used during trial as evidence.
The genocide tribunal in Cambodia backed by UN began holding its first historic trial on November 20, 2007, 30 years into the killing of 1.7 million people, nearly a quarter of the Cambodian population.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Cambodian expert says on war crime
Emran Hossain and Farhana Urmee Legal Adviser to Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia Constanze Oehlrich yesterday said assistance from international communities for evidence and investigation is necessary to ensure legitimate and transparent trial of war crimes.
It is very difficult to investigate such a large-scale crime and Cambodia needs to have additional capacity and support to make the trial legitimate and transparent, she said describing the Cambodian model.
“There is international experience in trying war criminals across the globe. In dealing with such a huge issue you need to be very pragmatic; you need to coordinate and organise the evidence,” said Constanze Oehlrich.
Oehlrich, who is visiting Bangladesh currently to attend the “2nd international conference on genocide, truth and justice,” expressed the view while explaining several features of Cambodian model for trial of war criminals with The Daily Star.
EU Parliament Member Helmut Scholz on Thursday said, “A legal analysis similar to the Cambodian model combined with international support is highly recommended for Bangladesh.”
Explaining the Cambodian model of court she said the Cambodian trial was backed by the United Nations. She mentioned that the Cambodian court was a mixed court involving judges from both national and international communities.
She mentioned that there was both national and international funding in Cambodian court.
“We have two prosecutors -- one is national and the other is international. We have both national judges and international judges. In case of taking decision both the national and international judges have to take decision unanimously,” she said.
She said that the trial of war criminals in Cambodia is divided into three parts---pre-trial, trial and Supreme Court chamber -- and majority of the judges are national.
There are, however, international judges in each step of the courts, she said.
“Decision in every step must be taken after getting super votes---like four votes out of five,” she added.
For example, if a decision is to be taken by the pre-trial court, which is consisted of five judges -- three Cambodian and two international judges, four judges must approve the decision.
She cited an example saying that Cambodian president at one stage ordered not to expand trial and limit it within the five accused. Later an international judge felt the necessity of conducting investigation against six more and then the matter was forwarded to pre-trial court for hearing.
She said it is tough to arrange a trial after 38 years of the incident. Newspaper reports can be used as written evidence and there are accounts of witnesses too.
Sharing her experience of work in the trial of war criminals in Cambodia Constanze said that there is a documentation centre in Cambodia, which has been collecting information soon after the killings in Cambodia.
She explained that the centre even visited countryside taking interviews and accounts of witnesses.
She and Nafia Tasmin Din, Victim's Unit, Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, said that there are individual groups in Bangladesh who collected information after the Liberation War and that can be used during trial as evidence.
The genocide tribunal in Cambodia backed by UN began holding its first historic trial on November 20, 2007, 30 years into the killing of 1.7 million people, nearly a quarter of the Cambodian population.
Doulos crew bless Cambodia’s needy
Friday, July 31, 2009
Having emerged from years of international isolation, residents of coastal Sihanoukville town in Cambodia welcomed Doulos crew with open arms during the ship’s recent visit there.
The crew who had spent months praying and preparing for the 18-day visit. As Doulos approached the coast and pulled into port, the crew had high expectations of all God would do.
The country’s Minister of Tourism, So Mara, was present at the quayside as the ship docked and the gangways were lowered. Along with Sbong Sarath, Governor of Sihanouk Province, he wanted to personally welcome the crew into port.
Following Doulos’ first-ever visit to Cambodia in 2007, there is now a Cambodian serving among the all-volunteer Christian crew.
The ship arrived with donations of medical supplies and educational resources from churches in Hong Kong and Taiwan responded generously.
With Doulos docked in Cambodia for over two weeks, the gifts were distributed to needy communities across the country, with orphans, schoolchildren and the sick among the many to benefit.
Back on board, the ship’s educational and Christian book fair was also busy, as thousands of people came to chose from the titles on offer.
After departing Sihanoukville on Tuesday, Doulos headed to Bangkok in neighbouring Thailand. The ship is already attracting considerable media interest there following news that a member of the royal family will visit.
On the other side of the world, Doulos’ sister ship, Logos Hope, has completed a highly successful visit to the UK and is now serving impoverished communities in the Caribbean region.
Having emerged from years of international isolation, residents of coastal Sihanoukville town in Cambodia welcomed Doulos crew with open arms during the ship’s recent visit there.
The crew who had spent months praying and preparing for the 18-day visit. As Doulos approached the coast and pulled into port, the crew had high expectations of all God would do.
The country’s Minister of Tourism, So Mara, was present at the quayside as the ship docked and the gangways were lowered. Along with Sbong Sarath, Governor of Sihanouk Province, he wanted to personally welcome the crew into port.
Following Doulos’ first-ever visit to Cambodia in 2007, there is now a Cambodian serving among the all-volunteer Christian crew.
The ship arrived with donations of medical supplies and educational resources from churches in Hong Kong and Taiwan responded generously.
With Doulos docked in Cambodia for over two weeks, the gifts were distributed to needy communities across the country, with orphans, schoolchildren and the sick among the many to benefit.
Back on board, the ship’s educational and Christian book fair was also busy, as thousands of people came to chose from the titles on offer.
After departing Sihanoukville on Tuesday, Doulos headed to Bangkok in neighbouring Thailand. The ship is already attracting considerable media interest there following news that a member of the royal family will visit.
On the other side of the world, Doulos’ sister ship, Logos Hope, has completed a highly successful visit to the UK and is now serving impoverished communities in the Caribbean region.
Cambodia launches national airline
http://www.cctv.com2009-07-31
Cambodian national airline -- Cambodia Angkor Air -- or CAA has been launched as a joint venture between Vietnam and Cambodia. The ceremony took place at Pochentong International Airport in Phnom Penh.
With the help of Vietnam Airlines, Cambodia launched the new national carrier, a 100-million-US-dollar venture with 3 aircraft, in a bid to boost the country's tourism sector.
Cambodia will hold 51 percent of CAA, and Vietnam the rest.
The airline will operate domestic flights from Cambodia's capital of Phnom Penh... to Siem Reap, site of the Angkor temples, the country's biggest tourism destination. And also to the coastal tourist town of Sihanoukville.
CAA is also looking to expand commercial flights to Vietnam and neighboring Laos. And the company expects to increase its fleet to 10 by 2015.
Cambodia's tourism sector contributes about 13 percent of the country's GDP. It also welcomes about 2 million tourists every year.
Cambodia has had no national carrier since Royal Air Cambodge went bankrupt in 2001.
Cambodian private equity firm Leopard Capital buys majority stake in beer brewery for $2m
31 Jul 2009
Source: AltAssets
Leopard Capital, a Cambodian private equity firm, has completed the fourth deal from its $27m debut vehicle Leopard Cambodia Fund by investing $2m in Kingdom Breweries.
LCF will acquire a 55.5 per cent share of the brewery for its investment.
The company, a Cambodian beer brewer, believes that with half the country’s population under the legal drinking age limit, consumption should shoot up over the next five to ten years.
Kingdom Breweries aims to secure a foothold by producing high-quality craft beer in a microbrewery in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh.
The fund’s previous transactions include a $1m investment in Greenside Holdings, which is part of a consortium of investors that is refurbishing, designing, constructing and commissioning a rural power transmission and distribution system.
LCF has also put $1.8m into Cambodia Plantations, a Singapore-based company which serves as an offshore finance vehicle for agricultural investments in central Cambodia.
The Leopard Cambodia Fund was launched in March 2008 and is targeting sectors in the financial services, agriculture, food and beverage production, building materials, tourism, and property development in the south-east Asian country.
The Kandal Provincial Governor Was Blamed by the Prime Minister for Being Lazy in Constructing Roads – Friday, 31.7.2009
Posted on 1 August 2009
The Mirror, Vol. 13, No. 623
http://cambodiamirror.wordpress.com/
The Mirror, Vol. 13, No. 623
http://cambodiamirror.wordpress.com/
“Phnom Penh: The prime minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia, Samdech Akkak Moha Senapadei Dekchor Hun Sen, used serious words on 31 July 2009 at a closing conference to sum up the task of the Ministry of Tourism, and Samdech warned the Kandal provincial governor Chhun Sirun over his negligence, not repairing roads and the river bank in Kandal.
“Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen said, ‘Since a long time, the riverbank was not repaired, but just now when the water rises, they get started. Now the water broke some parts of the riverbank, and I almost want to hit the Kandal provincial governor one day. After I phoned him and gave an order, the work started – if I had not phoned, nothing would happen.’
“Besides such serious warnings towards the Kandal Governor Chhun Sirun, Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen praised the Battambang governor, Mr. Prach Chan, who has frequently asked for funds to improve and repair many public recreational places and parks.
“Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen also repeated his previous recommendation to look at the roads. Samdech explained, ‘When I say again to look at the roads, that means: first, there must not be illegal check-points along the roads, and second, if the road is damaged, it must be repaired.
“His warning is not only aimed at the Kandal provincial governor, Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen encouraged also other governors in Cambodia to be highly responsible in repairing roads in their respective regions, and they should build more recreational places without waiting for the prime minister to shout and give orders before they take any initiative.
“Moreover, Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen instructed again all authorities on all levels not to sell any pre-schools or children’s playgrounds for whatever other purpose, they should be kept as state property.”
Deum Ampil, Vol.3, #250, 31.7.2009
Newspapers Appearing on the Newsstand:
Friday, 31 July 2009
Tribunal Rejects Vietnamese Prison Footage
By Kong Sothanarith, VOA KhmerOriginal report from Phnom Penh
31 July 2009
The Khmer Rouge tribunal on Wednesday rejected two segments of documentary film provided by the Vietnamese government from the regime’s 1979 ouster, claiming it had gathered enough evidence in the atrocity crimes trial for Duch.
Duch’s notorious Tuol Sleng prison was liberated by Vietnamese forces in January 1979, as combat camera crews recorded the conditions of the facility as they entered. Tribunal prosecutors had entered the films as evidence, but the Trial Chamber of the UN-backed court said Wednesday it would not use them.
“The Trial Chamber finds that the footage in question is likely to have little impact on the trial, as the information it is supposed to provide has already been established though other testimonies and evidence,” according to the court decision. “The Trial Chamber also finds that verification of the reliability of the footage is unlikely to be obtained within a reasonable time.”
The first segment of the footage depicts the overview scenes of the interior of the compound of S-21, including of various types of cells and restraints, as well as images of decapitated corpses chained to beds. The second shows Vietnamese troops helping surviving children leave the prison.
Duch, 66, whose real name is Kaing Kek Iev, is undergoing an atrocity crimes trial for his role as administrator of the prison and torture center, where prosecutors say 12,380 people were sent to the their deaths. He has been on trial for war crimes, crimes against humanity, trial and murder since March 30.
Long Panhavuth, a program officer of Justice Initiative in Cambodia, part of the Open Society Justice Initiative, said the court did not need to add evidence that could slow down the proceedings.
Pastor Remembers Duch’s Christian Conversion
Christopher LaPel baptizes a woman in Cambodia.By Nuch Sarita, VOA Khmer
Original report from Long Beach
31 July 2009
Thirteen years ago, Christopher LaPel, a Cambodian pastor for the Golden West Christian Church in Los Angeles and a founding leader of the Cambodian Christian Church in northwest Cambodia, baptized a man he believed to be a teacher in Battambang province.
In fact, the newly converted was Kaing Kek Iev, better known as Comrade Duch, chief of the Khmer Rouge’s torture center, Tuol Sleng. Duch is now facing trial at the UN-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal, where he has admitted to responsibility for mass torture and killings.
In a recent interview with VOA Khmer, LaPel described his relationship with Duch, who at the time called himself Hang Pin.
“I first met Duch in 1995,” LaPel said, speaking after a reunion of churchgoers in Long Beach. “He came to me and said, ‘Pastor Christopher, I have done a lot of bad things. I don’t think my brothers and sisters can forgive me.’”
Duch came with a colleague to take part in a two-week Christian leadership traingin course, in the village of Chamkar Samrong, Battambang, LaPel said. The man was quiet at first.
“He said he was not a believer but had come at the urging of a friend,” LaPel said.
Hang Pin, or Duch, would listen to LaPel’s services, and eventually he asked to be baptized.
“On Jan. 5, 1996, I baptized Hang Pin, along with many other believers, in the Sangke river in Battambang town,” LaPel said.
Christopher LaPel and Duch's mother in Siem ReapThe pastor returned to the leadership training the following year, but he did not ses Hang Pin. Then, in 1999, he did, in the news.
“In May of 1999, I saw this picture in every Cambodian newspaper,” LaPel said. “The man responsible for the deaths of up to 20,000 of my people now claimed to be a Christian, and I had unknowingly led him in.”
“An [Associated Press] reporters in Cambodia called me to inform me of Duch’s true identity,” he said. “As the reporter described him, I remembered than man I knew as Hang Pin—a short, thin, soft-spoken man in his fifties, and decidedly well-educated, as he spoke both English and French.”
“When he took part in our leadership training, he told me he was a teacher. I had no reason to doubt him. Reporters contacted me with media inquiries on his conversion and many asked me how was it possible for me to forgive such a man as Duch.”
Duch had been arrested and would be held by a military court until the UN-backed tribunal was established. He was transferred to the special court in July 2007.
“I was shocked when I found out who he really was, because what he did was so evil,” said LaPel, whose parents, brother and sister died under the Khmer Rouge.
Christopher LaPel points at a photo of Duch at S-21.Duch is now on trial for the deaths of 12,380 people. He has admitted responsibility and apologized to the families of his victims, though he has never admitted doing any killing himself.
“He came here and he asked permission to pray for those victims who died,” LaPel said. “He has a strong religious faith and is ready to testify. He would like to tell the truth, the whole truth, for what he did to his people.”
Since his arrest, LaPel has gone to see him twice, and he calls Duch a model convert. LaPel believes Duch has confessed his sins and is willing to stand witness against other former leaders of the regime now in custody at the tribunal.
In fact, LaPel said, a growing number of former Khmer Rouge have begun converting to Christianity. In Pailin, a former Khmer Rouge stronghold, has several Christian churches, and about 200 converts, he said.
Monk Offers Thoughts on Modern Buddhism
By Pin Sisovann, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
31 July 2009
Venerable Nhem Kim Teng recently traveled to the US from India to chant at the second-year funeral ceremony of the revered monk Maha Ghosananda. Nhem Kim Teng, who is studying for a PhD in Buddhism, traveled to Lowell, Mass., to pay his respects to Maha Ghosanada, the man whom he had accompanied on numerous peace marches in the past.
Accompanied by several monks, he also traveled to Washington DC, saying in a recent studio interview that Buddhism retained an important role in social development, education, environmentalism and morality.
Maha Ghosananda was a revered figure in Cambodia’s peace movements over the decades, and his 2007 death was felt throughout the country’s political and religious landscapes.
Nhem Kim Teng said that while he was helping Maha Ghosananda for the Thoamayeatra peace march, he formed an NGO called Sonte Sena, which “gathered volunteer monks and laymen to educate the public on the importance of a good environment, particularly the preservation of the forest, the planting of trees and the preservation of biodiversity.”
He decided to deck the trees in robes, something he learned from Cambodia’s history.
“In the old days, they respected big trees as powerful trees,” he said. “They robed them and chanted sermons to give spirit to the trees.”
Nhem Kim Teng and his group did the same, sermonizing to the spirits of trees “as if we put a man through the monkhood.”
On education, Nhem Kim Teng said more than 60 monks have now gone to learn Buddhism in India, with four studying at New Dehli University. He himself is at work on his dissertation.
Nhem Kim Teng said Buddhism plays very important roles. Pagodas not only give shelter to poor students from rural areas, but they offer a place to learn, as well.
“Buddhism has five main principles of good deeds: to avoid killing and robbing others, avoid telling lies, avoid alcohol and drug abuse,” he said.
Nhem Kim Teng appealed for laymen to carefully consider belief in so-called magic monks, some of whom make money to prepare themselves to quit the monkhood and get married. Having too much money, some monks abuse Buddhist principles, such as having sex, drinking or debauchery.
“Well, there are some such practices; we cannot deny it,” he said. “Believers shouldn’t encourage such practices of magic for individual benefit. They should change the direction of their offers, for the education of monks, for common profits, or public infrastructure.”
Nhem Kim Teng also worried that the division of monks along political lines could weaken Buddhism.
“Monks must stayed neutral and stay off political lines, like the king, so that Buddhism can continue to earn respect from all sides,” he said. “Monks must shift from too much expression of political views to focus on their views on education and social development.”
Original report from Washington
31 July 2009
Venerable Nhem Kim Teng recently traveled to the US from India to chant at the second-year funeral ceremony of the revered monk Maha Ghosananda. Nhem Kim Teng, who is studying for a PhD in Buddhism, traveled to Lowell, Mass., to pay his respects to Maha Ghosanada, the man whom he had accompanied on numerous peace marches in the past.
Accompanied by several monks, he also traveled to Washington DC, saying in a recent studio interview that Buddhism retained an important role in social development, education, environmentalism and morality.
Maha Ghosananda was a revered figure in Cambodia’s peace movements over the decades, and his 2007 death was felt throughout the country’s political and religious landscapes.
Nhem Kim Teng said that while he was helping Maha Ghosananda for the Thoamayeatra peace march, he formed an NGO called Sonte Sena, which “gathered volunteer monks and laymen to educate the public on the importance of a good environment, particularly the preservation of the forest, the planting of trees and the preservation of biodiversity.”
He decided to deck the trees in robes, something he learned from Cambodia’s history.
“In the old days, they respected big trees as powerful trees,” he said. “They robed them and chanted sermons to give spirit to the trees.”
Nhem Kim Teng and his group did the same, sermonizing to the spirits of trees “as if we put a man through the monkhood.”
On education, Nhem Kim Teng said more than 60 monks have now gone to learn Buddhism in India, with four studying at New Dehli University. He himself is at work on his dissertation.
Nhem Kim Teng said Buddhism plays very important roles. Pagodas not only give shelter to poor students from rural areas, but they offer a place to learn, as well.
“Buddhism has five main principles of good deeds: to avoid killing and robbing others, avoid telling lies, avoid alcohol and drug abuse,” he said.
Nhem Kim Teng appealed for laymen to carefully consider belief in so-called magic monks, some of whom make money to prepare themselves to quit the monkhood and get married. Having too much money, some monks abuse Buddhist principles, such as having sex, drinking or debauchery.
“Well, there are some such practices; we cannot deny it,” he said. “Believers shouldn’t encourage such practices of magic for individual benefit. They should change the direction of their offers, for the education of monks, for common profits, or public infrastructure.”
Nhem Kim Teng also worried that the division of monks along political lines could weaken Buddhism.
“Monks must stayed neutral and stay off political lines, like the king, so that Buddhism can continue to earn respect from all sides,” he said. “Monks must shift from too much expression of political views to focus on their views on education and social development.”
26 Out on Bail After Land Dispute Violence
By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
31 July 2009
Banteay Meanchey provincial court released 26 people on bail Friday, but upheld charges against them for violence in a Poipet land dispute.
Police initially arrested 22 men and nine women on July 24 as they pushed them from their land, following a decision by the Supreme Court in a land dispute between two groups of villagers.
All 31 have been charged with destruction of property, incitement and attempted murder, after they battled with local security forces, throwing gasoline bombs, acid and stones, in an attempt to stay on their land.
Two men were released on Sunday under the control of court authorities, and three men remain in the provincial jail.
“Banteay Meanchey court decided to allow the 26 accused to remain out of detention in a verdict on July 29,” according to a decision by investigating judges Ang Mealtey and Soeng Kuch.
The 26 will be required to appear in court when summoned, the judges said.
Oun Ranhya, a 24-year-old defendant released Friday, said the decision was just, “because we lost our land and houses, and the court detained us.”
“We have lived on this land for nearly 20 years,” he said.
He appealed to the court to drop all charges against the villagers.
Sum Chankea, a local coordinator for the rights group Adhoc, said the villagers were being charged with both civil and penal laws. He said they should only be charged with penal offenses, and should not have been released on bail, because the villagers don’t understand the verdict of the court or the law.
Original report from Phnom Penh
31 July 2009
Banteay Meanchey provincial court released 26 people on bail Friday, but upheld charges against them for violence in a Poipet land dispute.
Police initially arrested 22 men and nine women on July 24 as they pushed them from their land, following a decision by the Supreme Court in a land dispute between two groups of villagers.
All 31 have been charged with destruction of property, incitement and attempted murder, after they battled with local security forces, throwing gasoline bombs, acid and stones, in an attempt to stay on their land.
Two men were released on Sunday under the control of court authorities, and three men remain in the provincial jail.
“Banteay Meanchey court decided to allow the 26 accused to remain out of detention in a verdict on July 29,” according to a decision by investigating judges Ang Mealtey and Soeng Kuch.
The 26 will be required to appear in court when summoned, the judges said.
Oun Ranhya, a 24-year-old defendant released Friday, said the decision was just, “because we lost our land and houses, and the court detained us.”
“We have lived on this land for nearly 20 years,” he said.
He appealed to the court to drop all charges against the villagers.
Sum Chankea, a local coordinator for the rights group Adhoc, said the villagers were being charged with both civil and penal laws. He said they should only be charged with penal offenses, and should not have been released on bail, because the villagers don’t understand the verdict of the court or the law.
Artemisinin Resistance Continues Developing In Western Cambodia, Study Says
Main Category: Tropical Diseases
Also Included In: MRSA / Drug Resistance
Article Date: 31 Jul 2009
Artemisinin, the "basis of the most effective" malaria treatment recommended by the WHO, took nearly twice as long to clear malaria parasites in patients in western Cambodia than it did in patients in northwestern Thailand, according to a New England Journal of Medicine study, which shows the "drugs are losing their power against the disease in Cambodia," Bloomberg reports (Bennett, 7/30).
For the study, researchers at the Wellcome Trust-Mahidol University Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Program "compared the effects of artemisinin drugs in 40 malaria patients in western Cambodia and 40 patients in northwestern Thailand. On average, the patients in Thailand were clear of malaria parasites within 48 hours, compared to 84 hours for the Cambodian patients," according to HealthDay News/U.S. News & World Report (7/29).
"We do not see 100 percent resistance, but the parasite is much less susceptible to artemisinin than we are used to. If used in combination with other drugs we can still cure malaria but it takes a few days longer," Arjen Dondorp, the leader of the study, said, the Telegraph reports (Leach, 7/30).
For decades, scientists have known that the area near Cambodia's border with Thailand, "is a breeding ground for drug-resistant malaria," according to Nature News (Sanderson, 7/29). Chloroquine "started to fail there in the 1950s and 1960s, before becoming ineffective elsewhere, according to the study. The WHO ... is coordinating efforts to prevent artemisinin-resistant malaria from spreading to Africa, which has 90 percent of the world's cases of the disease," Bloomberg writes (7/30). In an accompanying NEJM editorial, PATH's Carlos Campbell, who was not involved the study, writes "that the results leave no question that there is artemisinin resistance in western Cambodia," according to ScienceNow (Vogel, 7/29).
In a separate study published in the same issue of NEJM, scientists used "chloroquine to protect people while gradually exposing them to malaria parasites and letting immunity develop," according to the AP/Washington Post. "The results were astounding: Everyone in the vaccine group acquired immunity to malaria; everyone in a non-vaccinated comparison group did not, and developed malaria when exposed to the parasites later," the AP/Washington Post writes.
"The study was done in a lab at Radboud University in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, and was funded by two foundations and a French government grant," according to the news service. While, a "vaccine that uses modified live parasites just entered human testing," this particular study "was only a small proof-of-principle test, and its approach is not practical on a large scale similar," according to AP/Washington Post (Marchione, 7/30).
This information was reprinted from globalhealth.kff.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at globalhealth.kff.org.
© Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.
Also Included In: MRSA / Drug Resistance
Article Date: 31 Jul 2009
Artemisinin, the "basis of the most effective" malaria treatment recommended by the WHO, took nearly twice as long to clear malaria parasites in patients in western Cambodia than it did in patients in northwestern Thailand, according to a New England Journal of Medicine study, which shows the "drugs are losing their power against the disease in Cambodia," Bloomberg reports (Bennett, 7/30).
For the study, researchers at the Wellcome Trust-Mahidol University Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Program "compared the effects of artemisinin drugs in 40 malaria patients in western Cambodia and 40 patients in northwestern Thailand. On average, the patients in Thailand were clear of malaria parasites within 48 hours, compared to 84 hours for the Cambodian patients," according to HealthDay News/U.S. News & World Report (7/29).
"We do not see 100 percent resistance, but the parasite is much less susceptible to artemisinin than we are used to. If used in combination with other drugs we can still cure malaria but it takes a few days longer," Arjen Dondorp, the leader of the study, said, the Telegraph reports (Leach, 7/30).
For decades, scientists have known that the area near Cambodia's border with Thailand, "is a breeding ground for drug-resistant malaria," according to Nature News (Sanderson, 7/29). Chloroquine "started to fail there in the 1950s and 1960s, before becoming ineffective elsewhere, according to the study. The WHO ... is coordinating efforts to prevent artemisinin-resistant malaria from spreading to Africa, which has 90 percent of the world's cases of the disease," Bloomberg writes (7/30). In an accompanying NEJM editorial, PATH's Carlos Campbell, who was not involved the study, writes "that the results leave no question that there is artemisinin resistance in western Cambodia," according to ScienceNow (Vogel, 7/29).
In a separate study published in the same issue of NEJM, scientists used "chloroquine to protect people while gradually exposing them to malaria parasites and letting immunity develop," according to the AP/Washington Post. "The results were astounding: Everyone in the vaccine group acquired immunity to malaria; everyone in a non-vaccinated comparison group did not, and developed malaria when exposed to the parasites later," the AP/Washington Post writes.
"The study was done in a lab at Radboud University in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, and was funded by two foundations and a French government grant," according to the news service. While, a "vaccine that uses modified live parasites just entered human testing," this particular study "was only a small proof-of-principle test, and its approach is not practical on a large scale similar," according to AP/Washington Post (Marchione, 7/30).
This information was reprinted from globalhealth.kff.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at globalhealth.kff.org.
© Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.
Cambodia approves sub-decree of co-ownership regulations
www.chinaview.cn
2009-07-31
PHNOM PENH, July 31 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's Council of Ministers on Friday approved a sub-decree of new co-ownership regulations, allowing legal ownership of individual apartments or condominium ownership, which paves the way for a law allowing foreign ownership of some property.
The new co-ownership regulations will make it possible to own units within a larger building without having title to the land it's on, according to the press release from the weekly meeting of the Council of Ministers which was presided over by Prime Minister Hun Sen.
"Its objects will guarantee to protect rights of legal holders in apartments or condominiums for co-ownership," it said, adding that it will facilitate to management work of co-ownership of apartments and co-owners who live in the apartments or condominiums.
Moreover, the new regulations will also facilitate co-ownership for sale, exchange, donation, in-heritage, permanent rent, and collateralizing of the private parts as personal ownership. The sub-decree, with seven charters and 27 articles, has large coverage for exercising all kinds of the apartments and condominiums across the country.
"This sub-decree will be applied in the country soon and local people who bought the houses in the apartments, condominiums and skyscrapers blocks will know about the rights and ownership," Nun Pheany, spokeswoman for Ministry of Land Management, Urban planning and Construction, told Xinhua.
The foreigners have not had rights to own Cambodian land or housing so far. They could rent for doing their business or staying only, she stressed.
"In the near future, we will have a law on the foreign ownership of Cambodian land and housing. My ministry and Ministry of Justice are discussing to compose that draft law in accordance with our constitution," she said.
"By that law, the foreigners, perhaps, could own above the first floor for apartments or condominiums, even though, we need to discuss more details," she said.
However, Nun Pheany said the foreigners would not be allowed to buy the land near borders with neighboring countries because it could affect national sovereignty and which is also prohibited by the law.
She said that when foreign title law is to be approved, it will help increase the foreign investment and contribute to economic growth in the country.
Editor: Li Shuncheng
PHNOM PENH, July 31 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's Council of Ministers on Friday approved a sub-decree of new co-ownership regulations, allowing legal ownership of individual apartments or condominium ownership, which paves the way for a law allowing foreign ownership of some property.
The new co-ownership regulations will make it possible to own units within a larger building without having title to the land it's on, according to the press release from the weekly meeting of the Council of Ministers which was presided over by Prime Minister Hun Sen.
"Its objects will guarantee to protect rights of legal holders in apartments or condominiums for co-ownership," it said, adding that it will facilitate to management work of co-ownership of apartments and co-owners who live in the apartments or condominiums.
Moreover, the new regulations will also facilitate co-ownership for sale, exchange, donation, in-heritage, permanent rent, and collateralizing of the private parts as personal ownership. The sub-decree, with seven charters and 27 articles, has large coverage for exercising all kinds of the apartments and condominiums across the country.
"This sub-decree will be applied in the country soon and local people who bought the houses in the apartments, condominiums and skyscrapers blocks will know about the rights and ownership," Nun Pheany, spokeswoman for Ministry of Land Management, Urban planning and Construction, told Xinhua.
The foreigners have not had rights to own Cambodian land or housing so far. They could rent for doing their business or staying only, she stressed.
"In the near future, we will have a law on the foreign ownership of Cambodian land and housing. My ministry and Ministry of Justice are discussing to compose that draft law in accordance with our constitution," she said.
"By that law, the foreigners, perhaps, could own above the first floor for apartments or condominiums, even though, we need to discuss more details," she said.
However, Nun Pheany said the foreigners would not be allowed to buy the land near borders with neighboring countries because it could affect national sovereignty and which is also prohibited by the law.
She said that when foreign title law is to be approved, it will help increase the foreign investment and contribute to economic growth in the country.
Editor: Li Shuncheng
Cambodian authorities continue evictions despite numerous condemnations
Phnom Penh (Cambodia). 04/10 2008: Borei Keila families with HIV/AIDS, who were to receive social housing, had lived under an eviction threat for two years©John Vink/ Magnum
Ka-set
http://cambodia.ka-set.info
By Laurent Le Gouanvic
31-07-2009
Despite repeated condemnations from civil society and international community, the list of victims of forced evictions in Cambodia has kept growing. In July, several removal operations took place in Phnom Penh. After the residents of Dey Krohom in central Phnom Penh, whose houses were smashed to dust in January, their neighbours in Group 78, located in the Tonle Bassac area, were forced to leave their homes on July 17th. Similarly, several dozen families in Borei Keila, the majority of which carry HIV/AIDS and require healthcare, were relocated in successive rounds to the outskirts of the Cambodian capital in unsatisfying conditions, according to local NGOs. Again, protests multiplied, whether from the World Bank, donor countries, international media or online networks, while authorities continue to turn a deaf ear.
Déjà -vu
A video, shot in the morning of July 17th in the area known as Group 78 in Phnom Penh, and broadcast on the website of Cambodian human rights organisation Licadho, leaves an impression of déjà -vu: the same dusk bluish light, the same noises of tearing down corrugated iron, the same images of dozens of young workers in red shirts and equipped with pickaxes and bars as during the eviction on January 24th of Dey Krohom residents. But this time, no cries or violence: most of the approximately sixty families of Group 78 resigned themselves to leave and dismantled themselves their wood and metal houses, before security forces and hired workers intervened. The previous day, according to Licadho, they had ended up accepting a compensation of 8,000 dollars, supposed to allow them to find new housing. In the morning of July 17th 2009, human rights activists who were present reported that only a few resisting families had not taken down their houses. After a few hours of negotiations, they yielded as well, for an ultimate compensation of 20,000 dollars, Licadho specified, except for one family who allegedly refused to leave until the end and therefore saw their house be torn down against their will.
A dispute that ends without violence
This last episode put an end to a dispute that started more than three years ago between this Phnom Penh community on one side and, on the other, the municipal authorities and private company Sour Srun, who was granted the area under a concession for a real estate project. The case did not end in violence, as the residents eventually received compensation, but it nonetheless “represents another violation of the basic human rights of the people of Cambodia,” according to Dan Nicholson, coordinator of NGO COHRE (Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions), quoted in a joint statement by several Cambodian organisations, published on the very day of Group 78’s eviction.
Voluntary… by force
Yet, the Municipality praised itself for not resorting to violence, alleging that Group 78 families left of their own free will and will receive food aid in addition to financial compensation. The fallacy of the argument was denounced by Yeng Virak, executive director of CLEC, who also signed the statement, together with NGO Housing Rights Task Force and the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights (CCHR): “The authorities cannot claim that what happened at Group 78 this morning, and over the past months and years, was 'voluntary' on the part of the residents. The families of Group 78 were never given any real choice - they were just subjected to a campaign of intimidation and threats by the authorities, which lasted for years, in order to wear them down into submission.”
23,000 people evicted in 2008, according to Amnesty International
Amnesty International, who also condemned this eviction against these families, some of which had “started moving into the area on the riverfront in 1983,” stressed that the procedure should have respected the 2001 Land Law and the judicial overview it requires, instead of a simple administrative decision by the Municipality of Phnom Penh, who took into account neither the opinion of people concerned nor alternatives suggested so their basic rights be respected. For the London-based organisation, this was yet another such violation in Cambodia: “In 2008 alone, Amnesty International received reports about 27 forced evictions, affecting an estimated 23,000 people.” Its calls for a moratorium on all mass evictions have fallen on deaf ears.
Series of official condemnations
Also ignored were the requests from the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, Raquel Rolnik, who had officially asked the Cambodian government on several occasions to prevent new evictions, particularly against Group 78.
Phnom Penh (Cambodia). 03/06/2009: Group 78 residents, neighbours of Dey Krohom, had gradually anticipated their upcoming eviction©John Vink/ Magnum
Similarly, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the European Commission delegation, the German, Australian, Bulgarian, Danish, U.S. and British embassies, as well as the Swedish and Danish development agencies (SIDA and DANIDA), did not influence the Cambodian authorities, although they published, on July 16th, a joint statement calling the government of Cambodia “to stop forced evictions from disputed areas in Phnom Penh and elsewhere in the country until a fair and transparent mechanism for resolving land disputes is put in place and a comprehensive resettlement policy is developed.”
Media and Internet
Also in July, British radio BBC World Service devoted a 25-minute broadcast to forced evictions in Cambodia. It highlighted, among others, the case of residents in the area of Boeung Kak lake, in the heart of Phnom Penh, which is currently being filled and progressively cleared of the shacks to make way for a large private real estate project.
On the network devoted to forced evictions in Cambodia on social networking website Facebook, petitions and calls have multiplied to denounce human rights violations and raise awareness with the widest audience possible.
Worse than refugee camps
Not only have these calls proved vain regarding the fate of Group 78 families, but they did not allow to stop other ongoing developments. Families living in temporary shelters for over two years – most of which carry HIV/AIDS and are taking antiretroviral medication – and waiting for social housing in Borei Keila district, in central Phnom Penh, were again moved to Tuol Sambo, a district located over twenty kilometres from city centre and devoid of running water or adequate sanitation. A first group of about twenty families had been brought there in June. A second group followed at the end of July. The organisation Human Rights Watch described how in the site, families live in metal sheds “that are baking hot in the daytime” and have only difficult access to the healthcare essential to their survival. Too crowded and hot, “flanked by open sewers” and provided with only one well, the substandard housing is reported “to not meet minimum international standards for even temporary emergency housing,” as stressed in an open letter signed by over a hundred international organisations working on health, HIV/AIDS and justice (Act-Up, AIDS…).
The same signatories also denounced the lack of transparency in the system of allocation of social housing in Borei Keila, which HIV-affected families applied for but were denied by the authorities. Several of them reportedly ended up having their request granted, but remain in uncertainty and have no written commitment for the time being.
Discrimination in addition?
Finally, the organisations expressed concern about possible discrimination against the families evicted from Borei Keila, while the Cambodian government has been praised for its efforts in the fight against AIDS and for a greater access to prevention and care. Adjacent to the site where they were relocated in Tuol Sambo, there are brick houses equipped with sanitation facilities which are intended for other “relocated” families. The unsanitary site where HIV-affected families were resettled was already called by neighbouring residents the “AIDS village.”
The situation, called by Licadho an “epidemic” of land-grabbing, remains very worrying in Phnom Penh, but also in remote areas in the Kingdom. The financial crisis does not seem to have dented the lust for land, despite a relative slowdown in speculation. It also failed, for the time being, to open the eyes and ears of the Cambodian authorities, who do not seem to hear the voices nor see the images that are now circulating internationally.
Friday, 31 July 2009
HCMC retail sites in short supply, no ceiling seen on development
http://english.vietnamnet.vn31/07/2009
VietNamNet Bridge – Unlike the office leasing market, now quiet because of low demand, the leasing market for upscale store sites in Ho Chi Minh City has remained bouyant even in the economic downturn, reports the Saigon Economic Times.
Urban consumers always ready to spend money
Like their counterparts in the in big urban areas of other countries, Vietnamese consumers shop more and more at high grade shopping centres, the domain of products with international brand names.
According to an executive of Savills Vietnam, a real estate service broker, the tendency can be seen more clearly in markets like where young people account for a large fraction of the population -- like in Vietnam. In a special report on the Vietnamese real estate market, Savills pointed out that at the lowest point of the global crisis, the fourth quarter of 2008, Vietnamese consumers hardly broke stride. They continued to seek out internationally known products and to go shopping at modern trade centres, like their counterparts in developed countries.
Sales of Louis Vuitton brand fashion products on the day its shop at Ho Chi Minh City’s Opera View building opened two years ago reached $750,000.
A senior manager of the Him Lam Real Estate Corporation said his corporation will begin construction of a high grade trade centre in HCMC’s District 7, calling it the ‘model of modern shopping for people with money.’ Meanwhile, CB Richard Ellis (CBRE), another real estate broker, also forecasts big, sustained potential for sales of ‘flashy and expensive’ goods in Vietnam’s retail market.
Products with international brand names continue to be offered – and sold – at prices higher than in other countries. The manager in charge of leasing retail premises at Saigon’s newly renovated Eden Mall confirms that most buyers of deluxe products are Vietnamese consumers, not tourists or foreigners.
Marketers of brand name fashion products, who study the consumption habits of wealthy urbanites, hunt relentlessly for beautiful, empty retail premises in big cities. In HCMC, there’s a growing shortage of such sites.
The T-junction
Many Vietnamese real estate developers share the Savills executive’s view that domestic retailing should be developed to the point that Vietnamese shoppers are not tempted to go abroad to spend their money in places like Thailand or Singapore.
In HCM City, a number of trade centres are under constructin, including Kumho Asiana Plaza and the Vincom project. The Saigon Paragon shopping centre opened its doors to customers late in June.
Savills predicts that HCM City will have 1.1 million more square metres of high standard retail premises in the next four years. CBRE’s estimate is that 1.35 million square metres of new retail premises will be ready by that time. Fifty percent, it notes, are already under construction.
Some analysts believe that the massive investment in retail premises will push down leasing fees that have gone sky high. However, real estate developers show no worry about that.
The Him Lam manager said that if the area of retail premises is compared with the number of people able to buy, it’s evident that the ratios are still very low in HCM City and in Hanoi as well. The Eden Mall exec believes that leasing fees for well-sited premises can only increase.
Observers have put forward three scenarios for the retail stores real estate market for the next several years.
In the first scenario, Vietnam opens the retail market’s doors widely to wholly percent foreign-owned retailers. In this case, domestic retailers can obtain international experience in management and brand name development from foreign retailers. This will help domestic retailers improve their technology and business efficiency, while setting up new standards for services and products on the market.
In the second scenario, there continue to be restrictions on foreign retailers, i.e., limits on opening new retail branches, which will incline them to become consultants or managers for domestic retailers.
An executive of the firm that owns Hung Vuong Plaza Trade Centre said that the second scenario will benefit domestic traders and domestic projects. She believes that in this case, many Vietnamese investors will seek relationships with foreign investors.
In the third scenario, it is posited that Vietnamese investors will occupy all advantageous retail positions, supported by a closed-door policy vis-Ã -vis foreign retailers. The Him Lam Company executive doubted the third scenario would happen. If it did, he said, it would be a catastrophe, preventing the upgrading of the domestic retailing industry that is needed in the context of Vietnam’s deeper integration into the world.
VietNamNet/TBKTSG
Bright prospects for VN’s exports to Cambodia
Workers at a Vinamit’s factory that produces dried jackfruit, one of the company’s exports to Cambodia. In the past several months, Vietnam’s exports have been at the top of Cambodia imports. (Photo: SGGP)Saigon
http://www.saigon-gpdaily.com.vn/
Friday ,Jul 31,2009
Made-in-Vietnam goods are taking the lead among Cambodia’s imports and Ho Chi Minh-based exporters have posted a robust year-on-year growth of 44 percent in January to July, pointing to a bright future for Vietnam’s exports to the market, the city People’s Committee deputy chairwoman, Nguyen Thi Hong, said in a recent meeting.
Three years ago, Vietnamese goods ranked third in Cambodia, after Thailand and China, but the situation has changed, with Vietnam surpassing both countries.
This is partly due to concerns revolving around China’s food hygiene and safety, while Thailand and Cambodia have had some diplomatic issues.
Of Vietnamese exports to Cambodia, many registered sharp growth, like instant noodles – which increased as much as 66 percent – in the past few months.
Cheap prices is the leading competitive factor in Cambodia, as local people’s income remains low, so goods of reasonable quality with low prices will obtain a firm foothold in the market, the HCMC Investment and Trade Promotion Center (ITPC) said.
The range of Vietnamese exports to Cambodia has continuously expanded, including seafood, fruit and vegetables, instant noodles, iron and steel, construction materials, pharmaceuticals, plastics, garment and textiles, cosmetics, cleansers, fertilizers, pesticides, and agricultural machinery and equipment, the center said.
Obstacles to remove
However, experts warned that there remain some challenges to Vietnamese exporters, including those in HCMC.
The first, Cambodia’s import duties are high, so they have to compete fiercely with Thai and Chinese rivals in terms of prices.
The second, Vietnamese businesses have yet to set up steady distribution channels in Cambodia to expand their market share.
The third, many Vietnamese companies have yet to create durable prestige for their brand name in Cambodia.
A technician at Thibidi, a manufacturer of electrical equipment, which provides transformers to the Cambodian Electricity Company. (Photo: SGGP)To tackle these obstacles, Ms Hong said she had asked the ITPC to prepare a program to broadly introduce and promote Vietnamese goods, especially goods with a competitive edge.
The ITPC reported that it has identified four key companies that have capabilities to lead the program, namely Saigon Trading Corp. (Satra), Saigon Commercial Cooperative Union (Saigon Co-op), Saigon Industrial Corp., and Saigon Agriculture Corp.
Of these companies, Satra is a pioneer, which has effectively run a chain of duty-free shops at border-gates Moc Bai and Tinh Bien in the southern provinces of Tay Ninh and An Giang respectively.
It has also set up a system of bonded warehouses at four locations along the border with Cambodia to help the flow of Vietnamese goods into Cambodia.
It has also joined hands with a Cambodian partner, Sokimex, to build a supermarket for Vietnamese goods in the country.
To facilitate exports to Cambodia, as well as to improve Vietnamese goods’ competitive edge there, the Government should help exporters by adopting support policies, such as giving investment incentives and tax reduction or exemption for a certain number of exports to Cambodia, Ms. Hong said.
By Thuy Hai – Translated by Truc Thinh
The end of an era as Hayes bows out
Photo by: ROSS DUNKLEYPhnom Penh Post founder and Editor-in-Chief Michael Hayes, whose 17 years at the helm of the paper ends with today’s issue, is pictured this week surrounded by some of the Post’s iconic front pages.
The Phnom Penh Post
Friday, 31 July 2009
ROBERT CARMICHAEL
SEVENTEEN years after he and Kathleen put out the first issue of the Phnom Penh Post, founding Publisher and Editor Michael Hayes is leaving. It genuinely marks the end of an era.
I met Michael in 2001, when he offered me the managing editorship of the Post. He needed a replacement in a hurry since his first choice, based in New Zealand, had stopped returning his calls.
The Post had a great team then, and it does today. It is fair to say the paper has been lucky with the quality of its staff over 17 years.
That was seldom the case with money, leading to Michael being fondly nicknamed "Oknha Coupon" in reference to the necessity of handing out restaurant vouchers to top up the wages of his dedicated staff.
Over almost two decades the Post covered iconic moments in Cambodia's history. It survived tough times, some money-related, others political. There is no doubt his drive, enthusiasm and integrity steered it through the worst.
Many local and foreign journalists who started on the Post have gone on to greater things. Their successes are testament to the achievement that is the Post. Much of that credit belongs to Michael.
He leaves the Post in great shape as it continues along the rocky road that is Cambodia's media environment.
Robert Carmichael was managing editor of the Post from 2001 to 2003.
Legal body to force out elder judges, prosecutors
The Phnom Penh Post
Friday, 31 July 2009
VONG SOKHENG
But some say their absence could strain the court system.
ATOTAL of 27 senior judges, prosecutors and provincial court chiefs are set to retire following a meeting Wednesday of the Supreme Council of the Magistracy (SCM), which has enacted a little-used law mandating compulsory retirement at age 60.
Sam Pracheameanith, Cabinet chief in the Ministry of Justice and assistant secretary general of the SCM, said Wednesday that the retirements would be made official once a royal decree was issued by King Norodom Sihamoni, who chairs the council.
"Retirement is a part of [the government's] judicial reform programme, which aims at improving the judicial services in the Kingdom. It will not affect the current work of the courts," he said.
The Kingdom's 1999 Co-Statute on Civil Servants lists 60 as the mandatory retirement age for all government employees and civil servants, but the law has never been fully implemented for judicial officials.
Sam Pracheameanith said that the nine-member SCM, which includes prosecutors and judges from the Court of Appeal, Supreme Court and Phnom Penh Municipal Court, has also approved 63 graduate judges to undertake internships under the auspices of the SCM.
The SCM, as the Kingdom's chief judicial body, has the power to appoint, replace or disqualify any judge or prosecutor on the grounds of conflict of interest or incapacity.
The forced retirements announced Wednesday have drawn some criticism from legal and civil society observers.
Sok Sam Oeun, executive director of the Cambodian Defenders Project (CDP), said the judges should not have been forced to retire, since the government still claims it lacks the human resources to fully staff the court system.
"My point of view is that the old judges and prosecutors who had a lot of experience would have played a fairer role in bringing justice to society than the young graduate students," he said.
"I think that the government should have allowed the judges and prosecutors to continue their work if they do not want to retire, so that they can work with the young [judges]."
He said that in countries such as Thailand, judges and prosecutors who pass the age of retirement are given dispensations to be able to continue their work.
Hanrot Raken, a retired member of the SCM, reiterated concerns Wednesday that the forced retirement of judges and prosecutors could affect the work of the court system.
"I think that the replacements for the retired judges and prosecutors will not have enough experience to handle their cases ... and trials will lack justice," he said.
Stretched to the limit
Chiv Keng, president of Phnom Penh Municipal Court, told the Post this month that each judge was forced to handle between 600 and 700 cases per year but could only properly handle around 200.
The Appeal Court alone receives roughly 2,000 criminal and civil cases annually, he said.
Chan Saveth, a monitor at local rights NGO Adhoc, said the lack of human resources in the courts meant that individual judges had to handle at least 10 criminal cases per day.
"We are concerned that judges forced to handle 10 cases per day will not be able to ensure that justice is done," he said.
Am Sam Ath, a technical supervisor at the local human rights group Licadho, added that the criminal cases currently being handled by the soon-to-be-retired judges might be delayed or abandoned by the courts in the confusion of the changeover.
But Sam Pracheameanith dismissed those concerns, saying that more than 200 judges are currently being trained, and that the ministry has carefully planned the retirements, spacing the resignations of senior court officials to ensure that the workings of the judiciary are not affected.
Friday, 31 July 2009
VONG SOKHENG
But some say their absence could strain the court system.
ATOTAL of 27 senior judges, prosecutors and provincial court chiefs are set to retire following a meeting Wednesday of the Supreme Council of the Magistracy (SCM), which has enacted a little-used law mandating compulsory retirement at age 60.
Sam Pracheameanith, Cabinet chief in the Ministry of Justice and assistant secretary general of the SCM, said Wednesday that the retirements would be made official once a royal decree was issued by King Norodom Sihamoni, who chairs the council.
"Retirement is a part of [the government's] judicial reform programme, which aims at improving the judicial services in the Kingdom. It will not affect the current work of the courts," he said.
The Kingdom's 1999 Co-Statute on Civil Servants lists 60 as the mandatory retirement age for all government employees and civil servants, but the law has never been fully implemented for judicial officials.
Sam Pracheameanith said that the nine-member SCM, which includes prosecutors and judges from the Court of Appeal, Supreme Court and Phnom Penh Municipal Court, has also approved 63 graduate judges to undertake internships under the auspices of the SCM.
The SCM, as the Kingdom's chief judicial body, has the power to appoint, replace or disqualify any judge or prosecutor on the grounds of conflict of interest or incapacity.
The forced retirements announced Wednesday have drawn some criticism from legal and civil society observers.
Sok Sam Oeun, executive director of the Cambodian Defenders Project (CDP), said the judges should not have been forced to retire, since the government still claims it lacks the human resources to fully staff the court system.
"My point of view is that the old judges and prosecutors who had a lot of experience would have played a fairer role in bringing justice to society than the young graduate students," he said.
"I think that the government should have allowed the judges and prosecutors to continue their work if they do not want to retire, so that they can work with the young [judges]."
He said that in countries such as Thailand, judges and prosecutors who pass the age of retirement are given dispensations to be able to continue their work.
Hanrot Raken, a retired member of the SCM, reiterated concerns Wednesday that the forced retirement of judges and prosecutors could affect the work of the court system.
"I think that the replacements for the retired judges and prosecutors will not have enough experience to handle their cases ... and trials will lack justice," he said.
Stretched to the limit
Chiv Keng, president of Phnom Penh Municipal Court, told the Post this month that each judge was forced to handle between 600 and 700 cases per year but could only properly handle around 200.
The Appeal Court alone receives roughly 2,000 criminal and civil cases annually, he said.
Chan Saveth, a monitor at local rights NGO Adhoc, said the lack of human resources in the courts meant that individual judges had to handle at least 10 criminal cases per day.
"We are concerned that judges forced to handle 10 cases per day will not be able to ensure that justice is done," he said.
Am Sam Ath, a technical supervisor at the local human rights group Licadho, added that the criminal cases currently being handled by the soon-to-be-retired judges might be delayed or abandoned by the courts in the confusion of the changeover.
But Sam Pracheameanith dismissed those concerns, saying that more than 200 judges are currently being trained, and that the ministry has carefully planned the retirements, spacing the resignations of senior court officials to ensure that the workings of the judiciary are not affected.
Vehicles to be confiscated
Photo by: Sovan PhilongOfficials gather at the Interior Ministry for a meeting on the Land Traffic Law on Thursday.
The Phnom Penh Post
Friday, 31 July 2009
Chhay Channyda and Tha Piseth
As part of plan to ramp up Traffic Law enforcement, police will be authorised to confiscate vehicles beginning Saturday.
INTERIOR Minister Sar Kheng said Thursday that a new effort to enforce the Land Traffic Law would lead to the confiscation of vehicles lacking side mirrors or licence plates as well as motorbikes ridden by drivers without helmets.
"We are not just imposing this law out of nowhere," Sar Kheng said, noting that the law had been approved by the National Assembly in 2007 and that his ministry had issued a directive in June stating that it would step up enforcement of the law on August 1.
"The people should know. We informed them one month ago to be cautious."
During a meeting at the ministry Thursday morning, Sar Kheng told municipal officials, provincial governors and Traffic Police officers that police were authorised to seize vehicles until fines could be paid and infractions remedied.
Motorbike drivers caught riding without helmets will be given the option of purchasing a helmet on the spot or having their bikes confiscated.
Any vehicle being driven without a licence plate or side mirrors will be confiscated, and drivers will be required to pay fines for infractions as well as a fee of 20,000 riels (US$4.75) for vehicle storage. The vehicle will only be released when it is fully equipped with a license plate and mirrors.
Under Article 79 of the Land Traffic Law, driving a vehicle without a licence plate incurs a fine of between 25,000 and 200,000 riels ($6-$48).
Under Article 88, driving a motorbike without a helmet incurs a fine of 3,000 riels.
Sar Kheng instructed all municipal and provincial governors to identify one or two hectares of land where confiscated vehicles could be stored.
Phnom Penh Governor Kep Chuktema said during the meeting that municipal officials had identified four places in which to store vehicles confiscated in the capital - Olympic Stadium, district police stations, the offices of district governors and the night market on Street 108 when it is not in use.
Persistent problem
The plan to ramp up enforcement of the Land Traffic Law comes as national deaths from crashes reportedly average more than four a day.
Keo Savin, director of land transport at the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, said by phone Thursday that 1,039 people had been killed in traffic accidents so far in 2009, compared to 1,638 for all of 2008.
Kep Chuktema said he believed City Hall needed to implement additional measures to make the roads safer, including relocating businesses set up on city sidewalks.
"The people running their businesses on the sidewalks park their cars on the roads next to them, which makes the roads in Phnom Penh become narrow," he said.
"This is a problem we have to solve in order to avoid traffic congestion."
Traffickers appeal to court
Photo by: Heng ChivoanTwo defendants appear at the Court of Appeal Thursday to appeal their 2007 convictions for human trafficking and debauchery.
The Phnom Penh Post
Friday, 31 July 2009
CHRANN CHAMROEUN
Two defendants say they were convicted on scanty evidence; extradition hearing for Russian paedophile Trofimov deferred.
THE COURT of Appeal on Thursday postponed an extradition hearing for accused Russian paedophile Alexander Trofimov when he failed to turn up, but heard the appeals of two German and three Vietnamese nationals convicted of human trafficking and debauchery in 2007.
The Appeal Court is scheduled to announce a verdict on Monday following Thursday's three-hour hearing, for which only two of the accused - one German and one Vietnamese - were present, presiding Judge Chaem Vicharit and observers told the Post.
"The two men did not confess before the court today, and they said that there is not enough evidence to press charges against them," said Peng Maneth, a lawyer provided by Action Pour Les Enfants (APLE), the anti-paedophile NGO that was involved in the 2006 raid that led to the charges against the group.
Trafficking, abuse charges
The five accused were arrested and sentenced for their roles in trafficking and abusing underage Vietnamese girls following a massive August 2006 police raid on the house of one of the German nationals.
They are appealing their sentences, which could be reduced under new anti-trafficking legislation under which the prison terms of several convicted sex offenders have already been slashed.
According to a letter to the court read by presiding Judge Chaem Vicharit, alleged "mastermind" Karl Heinz Henning was absent from the proceedings because he was "seriously ill" in his Prey Sar prison cell.
The court deemed the letter unofficial because it had not been signed by a doctor.
Vendors in Takeo say they want to go back to their former stalls
The Phnom Penh Post
Friday, 31 July 2009
May Titthara
Despite alleged threats from district officials, Takeo vendors protest prohibitively high cost of stalls in newly renovated and upgraded market.
ABOUT 300 vendors from Tonloab market in Takeo's Kirivong district demonstrated in front of the market Thursday to press for the right to continue to sell their goods there, vendors told the Post on Thursday. Vendors said they planned to bring their case to Prime Minister Hun Sen despite authorities' attempts to intimidate them.
"We protested because we want to sell at our old location," said San Sokhom, 49. "The market owners broke their promise."
San Sokhom said the market's owners announced plans to modernise the market three years ago, including installing an improved drainage system and a new roof. When the market reopened a month ago, the owners were charging between US$5,000 and $12,000 for a small store, pricing the vendors out of their old locations.
Nguon Sovann, another vendor, said she and others had been relegated to peddling their wares along a nearby street since they had been "kicked out".
"They only let us sell along the road. It makes a traffic jam every day," she said.
Nguon Sovann accused the Kirivong district governor of threatening her husband at gunpoint for demonstrating.
"At about 9pm on Wednesday, the Kirivong district governor came with a gun to my house and pointed it at my husband's head. The governor said my husband was the protest leader who persuaded vendors to protest," she said.
Kirivong police chief Meas Sophoan and Kirivong district governor Teuk Songlim declined to comment. Ni Hen, an owner of Tonloab market, could not be reached.
Nguon Sovann denied rumours that the vendors planned to burn down the market, saying they would seek help from Hun Sen instead.
"We are not crazy. We will not burn down the market. If we don't have any settlement here, then we will go to Prime Minister Hun Sen's house to ask for help," she said.
Even though commune officials met with vendors after the demonstration, vendor Nhen Pros said they believed their demands were not being taken seriously by the authorities.
"They asked us to go to the commune office, but they didn't talk about our suggestions," he said. "They only talked about their plan to ask vendors selling along the road to let them continue to pave the road."
"We did not agree because they would cheat us again," he added.
Friday, 31 July 2009
May Titthara
Despite alleged threats from district officials, Takeo vendors protest prohibitively high cost of stalls in newly renovated and upgraded market.
ABOUT 300 vendors from Tonloab market in Takeo's Kirivong district demonstrated in front of the market Thursday to press for the right to continue to sell their goods there, vendors told the Post on Thursday. Vendors said they planned to bring their case to Prime Minister Hun Sen despite authorities' attempts to intimidate them.
"We protested because we want to sell at our old location," said San Sokhom, 49. "The market owners broke their promise."
San Sokhom said the market's owners announced plans to modernise the market three years ago, including installing an improved drainage system and a new roof. When the market reopened a month ago, the owners were charging between US$5,000 and $12,000 for a small store, pricing the vendors out of their old locations.
Nguon Sovann, another vendor, said she and others had been relegated to peddling their wares along a nearby street since they had been "kicked out".
"They only let us sell along the road. It makes a traffic jam every day," she said.
Nguon Sovann accused the Kirivong district governor of threatening her husband at gunpoint for demonstrating.
"At about 9pm on Wednesday, the Kirivong district governor came with a gun to my house and pointed it at my husband's head. The governor said my husband was the protest leader who persuaded vendors to protest," she said.
Kirivong police chief Meas Sophoan and Kirivong district governor Teuk Songlim declined to comment. Ni Hen, an owner of Tonloab market, could not be reached.
Nguon Sovann denied rumours that the vendors planned to burn down the market, saying they would seek help from Hun Sen instead.
"We are not crazy. We will not burn down the market. If we don't have any settlement here, then we will go to Prime Minister Hun Sen's house to ask for help," she said.
Even though commune officials met with vendors after the demonstration, vendor Nhen Pros said they believed their demands were not being taken seriously by the authorities.
"They asked us to go to the commune office, but they didn't talk about our suggestions," he said. "They only talked about their plan to ask vendors selling along the road to let them continue to pave the road."
"We did not agree because they would cheat us again," he added.
Election monitor calls for voter list reforms
The Phnom Penh Post
Friday, 31 July 2009
VONG SOKHENG
LOCAL election monitor Comfrel has called on the National Election Committee (NEC) to reform the system of voter registration to ensure all eligible voters are able to cast their ballots in the 2012 commune council elections and 2013 national elections.
According to a report issued by Comfrel Thursday, 440,000 eligible voters, most of whom voted in the 2003 national election, could not cast their ballots in last July's national elections because they were unable to find their names on voter lists or locate the correct polling stations.
"We found irregularities after the July 2008 election and call for the NEC to make reforms in order to ensure that eligible voters' right to cast their ballots without unnecessary obstacles or difficulties is upheld," Comfrel executive director Koul Panha told the Post Thursday.
He said the report's findings would be submitted to parliamentarians, political parties and the NEC.
The report, based on surveys of 8,678 eligible voters in all 24 provinces and municipalities, found that the names and addresses of 18.5 percent had disappeared from the voter lists during the 2008 election.
Tep Nytha, secretary general of NEC, said Thursday that he had not yet received an official report on voter lists and registration, but he said the NEC would study the report and evaluate possible methods for improving the election process.
"We cannot accept all the requests made by civil society groups because they are far beyond the ability of the NEC," he said.
But Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) lawmaker Kouy Bunroeun said the government, the NEC and political parties must have the "political" will to amend the law in order to improve the election process.
In last year's national election, the ruling Cambodian People's Party won 90 of the National Assembly's 123 seats. The SRP took 26 seats, the Human Rights Party three seats and the Norodom Ranariddh Party and Funcinpec two seats each.
Friday, 31 July 2009
VONG SOKHENG
LOCAL election monitor Comfrel has called on the National Election Committee (NEC) to reform the system of voter registration to ensure all eligible voters are able to cast their ballots in the 2012 commune council elections and 2013 national elections.
According to a report issued by Comfrel Thursday, 440,000 eligible voters, most of whom voted in the 2003 national election, could not cast their ballots in last July's national elections because they were unable to find their names on voter lists or locate the correct polling stations.
"We found irregularities after the July 2008 election and call for the NEC to make reforms in order to ensure that eligible voters' right to cast their ballots without unnecessary obstacles or difficulties is upheld," Comfrel executive director Koul Panha told the Post Thursday.
He said the report's findings would be submitted to parliamentarians, political parties and the NEC.
The report, based on surveys of 8,678 eligible voters in all 24 provinces and municipalities, found that the names and addresses of 18.5 percent had disappeared from the voter lists during the 2008 election.
Tep Nytha, secretary general of NEC, said Thursday that he had not yet received an official report on voter lists and registration, but he said the NEC would study the report and evaluate possible methods for improving the election process.
"We cannot accept all the requests made by civil society groups because they are far beyond the ability of the NEC," he said.
But Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) lawmaker Kouy Bunroeun said the government, the NEC and political parties must have the "political" will to amend the law in order to improve the election process.
In last year's national election, the ruling Cambodian People's Party won 90 of the National Assembly's 123 seats. The SRP took 26 seats, the Human Rights Party three seats and the Norodom Ranariddh Party and Funcinpec two seats each.
M'kiri clinic to provide care for domesticated elephants
Photo by: Tracey SheltonChhouk, an elephant rescued in Mondulkiri after losing his foot in a hunter’s snare, was transported to Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre in Takeo province for treatment.
The Phnom Penh Post
Friday, 31 July 2009
Khouth Sophak Chakrya
Elephant assistance NGO currently provides treatment through house calls, but plans to consolidate and streamline operation.
THE Elephant Livelihood Initiative Environment (ELIE) has announced plans to open a new health-care centre in four to five months in Mondulkiri province where mahouts will be able to bring their elephants free of charge.
ELIE has been providing free veterinarian assistance for domestic elephants and teaching locals animal husbandry since 2006, but the new health-care centre will allow the organisation to treat sick elephants in one place instead of making house calls every time an elephant falls ill or gets injured.
Chear Chantorn, the assistant project officer for ELIE, said that some domestic elephants in the region drag timber up and down hills for illegal loggers, work so grueling he called it akin to "torture".
"I pity the domestic elephants. We decided this year to create a health-care centre to protect the elephants," he said, stressing that elephant owners will not be charged for the elephant's health services and that they would be trained on how to provide proper care.
ELIE is funding the project through donations and earnings from its ecotourist elephant camp, where visitors to Mondulkiri can pay to ride elephants through the jungle.
By caring for domestic elephants and giving mahouts a chance to take tourists around, Chhouk Sen, the council governor of Mondulkiri's provincial capital, Sen Monorom, said ELIE had helped improve the lives of many members of the local Phnong minority.
"They don't just treat the elephants for free, they provide jobs to our Phnong people and promote tourism in Mondulkiri," he said.
There are currently 63 domestic elephants in Mondulkiri, said Tuy Sariwathna, director of Fauna and Flora International in Mondulkiri, who added that there had been five elephant deaths so far in 2009 compared with just two in all of 2008.
Woman gives birth during protest at B Meanchey court
The Phnom Penh Post
Friday, 31 July 2009
MEAS SOKCHEA
40-year-old births 6th son while protesting charges of murder and robbery against husband that rights officials, villagers call unsubstantiated.
A WOMAN whose husband was detained by Banteay Meanchey provincial police last week after being accused of murder gave birth on the doorstep of the provincial court on Sunday, as she gathered with fellow villagers to press for her husband's release.
Sam Kol, a doctor working for the local rights group Licadho, said Sok Nath, 40, went into labour and gave birth to a boy outside the court at 8pm.
Friday, 31 July 2009
MEAS SOKCHEA
40-year-old births 6th son while protesting charges of murder and robbery against husband that rights officials, villagers call unsubstantiated.
A WOMAN whose husband was detained by Banteay Meanchey provincial police last week after being accused of murder gave birth on the doorstep of the provincial court on Sunday, as she gathered with fellow villagers to press for her husband's release.
Sam Kol, a doctor working for the local rights group Licadho, said Sok Nath, 40, went into labour and gave birth to a boy outside the court at 8pm.
"She gave birth on the grass under a tree," he said, adding that local village women helped deliver her sixth son.
Four days after the birth, he said that Sok Nath still suffered from poor nutrition and could produce breast milk only after receiving help from his organisation.
"She looks weak because she doesn't have enough food to eat, and the food she eats is not nutritious. She has no money. We have supported her with food, medicine and money, but it is not much," he said.
Sok Nath and around 140 residents from Banteay Meanchey's Rasmey village gathered at the provincial court Saturday, when her husband, Khleung Da, 46, was arrested on suspicion of murder and robbery.
Human rights officials say they believe Khleung Da was actually detained for representing the villagers in land disputes in the region.
"He has made no mistake. He was arrested unjustly because we went to investigate the issue and asked villagers about the murder, and the villagers said that he was not involved in the robbery," said Sum Chan Kea, provincial coordinator for the rights group Adhoc.
Villager Ngor Ea said Khleung Da's arrest was a mistake, and that the court did not have enough evidence to hold him. "They accused him of murder, but not any one has appeared to file a complaint," he said.
Judge Sim Kuch, who is in charge of Khleung Da's case, said Thursday that he had received it from prosecutor So Vath. So Vath could not be reached for comment Thursday.
Study reaffirms data on resistant malaria
Photo by: SOVAN PHILONGA woman in Chamkarmon district treats a mosquito net with repellant.
The Phnom Penh Post
Friday, 31 July 2009
JAMES O'TOOLE
Research in New England Journal of Medicine offers more evidence of drug-resistance trend.
ANEW study has confirmed that malaria parasites in western Cambodia are becoming increasingly resistant to drug treatment, underscoring the urgency of treatment and containment efforts already under way in the Kingdom.
In an article published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine, a group of doctors detailed a study in which they compared the effectiveness of artemisinin, the drug most commonly used in malaria treatment, in the cases of infected patients from western Cambodia and from northwestern Thailand.
In 40 patients from Pailin province, the median time that the drug took to clear the parasite was 84 hours, with 55 percent of patients still infected after three days of treatment. In 40 patients from Wang Pha, in Thailand's Nan province, by contrast, the median clearance time was the expected 48 hours, with only 8 percent of patients still infected after three days.
Ros Seyha of the World Health Organisation (WHO) said the presence of artemisinin-resistant malaria in Cambodia had already been discussed in the scientific community, but he stressed the importance of continuing research on this issue.
"Monitoring drug sensitivity is not something that should be done in just one study. There must be ongoing observations of what's going on as treatment is being delivered to the target group," he said.
Duong Socheat, director of the National Malaria Centre (NMC) , said the results in the Journal were "not really surprising".
Since February, he has been supervising a US$22 million effort to contain artemisinin-resistant malaria in western Cambodia, in partnership with the WHO and with a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Duong Socheat told the Post in May that a fully artemisinin-resistant strain of malaria would be "a disaster". He said malaria centre and its partner organisations hoped to rid Cambodia of the disease by 2015, but that costs remained an obstacle.
Drug resistance in the Kingdom has been exacerbated by the fact that some patients can only afford a partial course of treatment, killing all but the most resilient parasites.
Though the WHO and the NMC have worked to educate pharmacists about the importance of full treatment, costs remain prohibitive for many Cambodians, Duong Socheat said.
16 councillors attend training course about how to talk to media
The Phnom Penh Post
Friday, 31 July 2009
MOM KUNTHEAR
A training course run by the National League of Commune/Sangkat Councils is teaching commune officials to be better spokespeople.
A TRAINING course sponsored in part by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities is training 16 council members from communes across the nation to become effective media officers and spokespeople.
The course, organised by the National League of Commune/Sangkat Councils, started Wednesday and concludes today.
"We organised this training course in order to teach [council members] how to communicate with reporters, answer to reporters and write reports about the achievements of the commune," Pok Sokundara, secretary general of the National League of Commune/Sangkat Councils, said Wednesday.
He added that the members taking part in the course were selected by the league, and that topics ranged from communication and advocacy theory to how to interview people and find general information.
"This course can help [members] understand how to communicate with media officers, which currently seems difficult for them because it is new and different from what they've done before," he said.
Chhay Sophal, director of the media organisation Cambodia News, which has been helping to train the councillors, said Wednesday that the programme was designed to make information more readily available at the grassroots level.
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We live with the media, so having good communication ... is very important.
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"I think it's good to have spokespeople in provincial or commune councils in order to provide information to journalists or other media centers," he said.
Linking officials with locals
Phay Siphan, spokesman for the Council of Ministers, said Thursday he supported any programme that could help improve communication between the government and local people.
"We live with the media, so having good communication with [journalists] is very important."
Friday, 31 July 2009
MOM KUNTHEAR
A training course run by the National League of Commune/Sangkat Councils is teaching commune officials to be better spokespeople.
A TRAINING course sponsored in part by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities is training 16 council members from communes across the nation to become effective media officers and spokespeople.
The course, organised by the National League of Commune/Sangkat Councils, started Wednesday and concludes today.
"We organised this training course in order to teach [council members] how to communicate with reporters, answer to reporters and write reports about the achievements of the commune," Pok Sokundara, secretary general of the National League of Commune/Sangkat Councils, said Wednesday.
He added that the members taking part in the course were selected by the league, and that topics ranged from communication and advocacy theory to how to interview people and find general information.
"This course can help [members] understand how to communicate with media officers, which currently seems difficult for them because it is new and different from what they've done before," he said.
Chhay Sophal, director of the media organisation Cambodia News, which has been helping to train the councillors, said Wednesday that the programme was designed to make information more readily available at the grassroots level.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We live with the media, so having good communication ... is very important.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I think it's good to have spokespeople in provincial or commune councils in order to provide information to journalists or other media centers," he said.
Linking officials with locals
Phay Siphan, spokesman for the Council of Ministers, said Thursday he supported any programme that could help improve communication between the government and local people.
"We live with the media, so having good communication with [journalists] is very important."
Murder Trial: Sentences set in killing at Ream Park
The Phnom Penh Post
Friday, 31 July 2009
CHRANN CHAMROEUN
Murder Trial
Five men were sentenced to between one and 12 years in prison in connection with the March 7 slaying of Nov Kim, a provincial official stationed in Ream National Park in Preah Sihanouk province, Preah Sihanouk provincial court Judge Tang Sunlay told the Post Thursday. Only three men, Sum Ath, Thorn Vichhav and Thorn Virak, were present when the judge read out their sentences. Thorn Virak, 37, was sentenced to one year for using illegal weapons and was fined 500,000 riels (US$119). Sum Ath, 39, was sentenced 10 years for premeditated murder, and Thorn Vichhay, 15, was handed down three years for being an accomplice to murder. The two perpetrators tried in absentia, Soam Vannak and Lung Bunthorn, received sentences of 10 and 12 years, respectively. Nov Kim was shot and killed while working at the national park after he had detained the five men on suspicion of illegal logging. Judge Tang Sunlay ordered four of the five men to also pay a total of 40 million riels ($9,512) in compensation to the victim's family. "I welcome the court's conviction of the five criminals," said Chan Chamroeun, an investigator for the rights group Adhoc.
Friday, 31 July 2009
CHRANN CHAMROEUN
Murder Trial
Five men were sentenced to between one and 12 years in prison in connection with the March 7 slaying of Nov Kim, a provincial official stationed in Ream National Park in Preah Sihanouk province, Preah Sihanouk provincial court Judge Tang Sunlay told the Post Thursday. Only three men, Sum Ath, Thorn Vichhav and Thorn Virak, were present when the judge read out their sentences. Thorn Virak, 37, was sentenced to one year for using illegal weapons and was fined 500,000 riels (US$119). Sum Ath, 39, was sentenced 10 years for premeditated murder, and Thorn Vichhay, 15, was handed down three years for being an accomplice to murder. The two perpetrators tried in absentia, Soam Vannak and Lung Bunthorn, received sentences of 10 and 12 years, respectively. Nov Kim was shot and killed while working at the national park after he had detained the five men on suspicion of illegal logging. Judge Tang Sunlay ordered four of the five men to also pay a total of 40 million riels ($9,512) in compensation to the victim's family. "I welcome the court's conviction of the five criminals," said Chan Chamroeun, an investigator for the rights group Adhoc.
A changing of the editorial guard
Photo by: Michael HayesIn the jungle: a fatigued editor-in-chief during a kouprey hunt in Mondulkiri province in March 1994.
The Phnom Penh Post
Friday, 31 July 2009
Michael Hayes
The Post's founder remembers what made the newspaper great - and what will keep it so.
TODAY is my last day as The Phnom Penh Post's editor-in-chief, a position that I have held now for 17 years and 21 days since the first issue of the Post was published on July 10, 1992.
I had actually decided on my title six months earlier and put it on business cards after my older brother Jack explained what the choices were when I was in the process of setting up the paper. I didn't have a clue myself, so he explained the options.
I remember asking him: "Hey Jack, you studied journalism. What should I call myself? Chairman or president or ... what?" Demonstrating the deep affection only a guy can have for his kid brother, he replied: "You numbskull! What are you - a complete moron? You'll be publisher of course, and then if you want to control the content you should be editor-in-chief as well."
There was a lot to be learned in those early days.
Two critical lessons from the 1990s which are no less important today are the need to get the facts right and the dangers involved in attempting to print the truth.
The day after the first issue came out, a gentleman showed up at the office dressed smartly in a royal uniform.
He delivered our first letter-to-the-editor, and it was from none other than then-Prince Norodom Sihanouk, noting that in our lead front-page story we had published the wrong date for Cambodia's independence.
Ouch!
But what proved to be much more painful was the climate of fear and violence that developed after the new government was formed in 1993.
Sadly, who now remembers Tou Chom Mongkol, Nuon Chan, Sao Chan Dara and Thun Bun Ly? These are the names of Cambodian journalists who were murdered between 1994 and 1997, most on the streets of Phnom Penh and in broad daylight.
Their cases were never resolved.
Add to these tragedies the grenades thrown at newspaper offices, the numbers of publications confiscated or shut down, the reporters sued or jailed, the pervasive use of anonymous death threats to intimidate the press, and the question has to be asked: Why would anyone in their right mind want to practice journalism in Cambodia, especially since after some years of relative calm we seem to have entered a new phase of systematic efforts to muzzle an independent press?
The simple fact is that I've never had much difficulty finding Cambodians who wanted to be reporters. And if turnover was high, it was more because people with marketable skills in the foreign-employer arena found it difficult to live on the Post's pitifully low salaries, or the demands of working till midnight on deadline placed too heavy a price on time with families.
So if this issue seems unduly focused on me, my preference is to use the space to salute the courageous and dedicated Cambodian reporters who have worked, often at great risk to themselves and their families, for me over the last 17 years. These are the real unsung heroes of The Phnom Penh Post.
As a foreigner I have always had the option to call my embassy for help or just head to the airport and catch the next flight out. My Khmer reporters do not have these luxuries, but in spite of this many, if not most, were and still are determined to do something to help their country, to print the truth about issues and problems that were and still are related to helping Cambodia recover from 30 years of civil war and chaos.
I also want to salute and thank the many friends of the Post who as contributors, freelancers, sources from all sectors of society or just plain readers have, in whatever form, taken an active interest in and involvement with what we do.
Some of the Post’s noteworthy front-page stories.Over 17 years we've had both the challenge and the pleasure to report on some of the most incredible stories any journalist could imagine covering. Starting with UNTAC (at the time the UN's largest-ever peacekeeping mission), which resulted in the formation of a new government in 1993, the Post team has been on their toes.
The gradual demise of the Khmer Rouge over the next five years, including Pol Pot's death, brought some sense of closure and great relief. The collapse of the coalition government in 1997 just added more bitterness and sorrow to the brew.
Four contentious national elections made hanging chads look like kid's play.
And superimposed on the whole time frame is the cat-and-mouse game played between government, donors, rights groups and aid agencies in the always convoluted, challenging and entertaining process of reform and recovery, reconstruction and reconciliation.
It has always amazed me since day one how many people wanted to get involved with the paper, how serious was the task of publishing words in print, and how many people and institutions preferred to keep what they did in the dark. The pen may not be mightier than the sword, but it sure as hell can scare the daylights out of both saints and sinners.
Seth Meixner will take over as editor-in-chief, but since I've been working only half-time for the past year, Seth has already been running the show.
I expect the transition will be a seamless one and, in any case, I'll still be around as a senior editor.
As for the Post, it will only be useful if it meets the needs of its readers. This issue becomes more critical as we prepare to start publishing an edition in Khmer on September 9, 2009, when the waters of Cambodia's tolerance for press freedoms will be seriously tested once again.
Finally, I said this in the first issue and I'll say it again: If you want a better paper, then let us know what you need.
Go ahead, don't be shy, give us your best shot - in print, please.
----- New editorial appointments at The Phnom Penh Post -----
New appointments at the Post – English and Khmer
Group Editor-in-Chief
Seth Meixner
PK Editor-in-Chief
Kay Kimsong
PK Managing Editor
Neth Pheaktra
PE Managing Editor
Philip Bader
PE Lifestyle Editor
Joel Quenby
PE DeputyLifestyle Editor
Mark Roy
National News Editor
Laura Snook
Chief of Staff
Sam Rith
In advance of next month's launch of the Khmer edition of The Phnom Penh Post, the newspaper's owner Post Media Ltd (PML) has announced senior editorial appointments effective on August 1, 2009.
Mr Seth Meixner has been appointed group editor-in-chief of the two editions of the newspaper. Mr Meixner was previously managing editor of The Post's English edition, a role that will now be filled by Mr Philip Bader.
Mr Meixner has wide-ranging experience in Cambodia, having been a former managing editor of The Cambodia Daily and bureau chief for the wire service Agence France Presse before joining PML.
Mr Kay Kimsong will be the inaugural editor-in-chief of "PK" - The Phnom Penh Post's local language edition. He will be backed by Neth Pheaktra who will act as the managing editor.
Mr Kimsong said he was delighted to be leading The Post into its vernacular edition.
"These are challenging and exciting times for Cambodia. The likelihood of a stock exchange soon, the rapid sophistication of business and markets, and a fast-maturing population that desires more from its press, forces us to think carefully," he said.
'Over the past 12 months we have been planning our Khmer edition, and it will be fundamentally different from its English-language sister. The papers will have the same name, but will often make different editorial judgement. That's an exciting concept."
"We are looking forward to competing for readers when we launch in September. We're confident that we have judged our market correctly," said Mr Kimsong.
Post Publisher Ross Dunkley said the company had commissioned the designing of unique Khmer fonts for the newspaper. To be known as Post Khmer, the new fonts, written in Unicode, will be widely available for PC users once the paper is launched.
Meanwhile, The Phnom Penh Post today launches its regular Friday insert, called 7Days.
"The lifestyle liftout aims to highlight the growing diversity within Cambodian society and the lifestyle options available to people these days," said Mr Dunkley.
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