Adhoc worker urged to apologise

The Phnom Penh Post
Monday, 10 August 2009
Chrann Chamroeun

THE judge presiding in the case of Pen Bonnar, the rights worker from Ratanakkiri province who is facing charges of incitement of terrorism, said the court is unlikely to pursue the case if the provincial coordinator for the rights group Adhoc issues an apology.

"Normally, the court will be considerate and understanding about lifting charges in these cases when the suspects are not stubborn," Judge Thor Saron told the Post on Sunday.

"But they must be humble and acknowledge their faults."

Pen Bonnar was charged with incitement by Ratanakkiri provincial police in connection with a protest over a land dispute in November 2007. He has since been removed from Ratanakkiri by Adhoc, but he vowed to fight the charges against him.

"I will not be humble because I am innocent, and I will try to pursue legal action against Judge Thor Saron to the Supreme Council of Magistracy ... for the insensitive charges against me," Pen Bonnar said. He called the charges against him "a threat to freedom of expression".

Although Pen Bonnar said he believes it was Thor Saron who initiated the charges against him, the judge said that they originated with provincial police.

"We have not yet made any decision about the charges against him," Thor Saron said.

"The court is now waiting for the suspect's lawyer to propose a resolution or make a request to the court, which we will make a decision about later."

On Sunday, the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) issued a press release stating its concern that Pen Bonnar's case "represents evidence of a practice in Cambodia whereby the threat of legal charges is used to silence the voices of human rights activists and to curtail freedom of expression."

Property Rights for the Urban Poor in Cambodia

The Wip Talk
http://thewip.net

by ChristineRobinson

It was two in the morning when we first heard the loudspeakers. My friend was annoyed thinking the noise was coming from people partying late, but we later learned something very different was happening. I got up early that morning to eat breakfast before a long day at the Killing Fields and Tuol Sleng. Walking downstairs, I saw about a hundred people outside our hotel in Phnom Penh including press, local police, and the Cambodian military.

The Dey Krahorn eviction underway in Phnom Penh. Photograph by Sarah Grime.

I rushed outside and found a member of my group. He explained that the slum down the street, Dey Krahorn, was being forcefully evacuated by the military and police. A barrier kept us from getting too close, and a green fence had been put up along the perimeter. We saw trucks coming out of the slum carrying what I thought was junk, but later realized were whatever possessions the people could salvage from their houses.

We stopped to talk to Kevin Knight, who works in a different slum with an NGO. He told us that the development company 7NG, along with the ruling party in Cambodia, the Cambodian Peoples’ Party (CPP), were responsible for the evictions. Dey Krahorn was located in a prime location in downtown Phnom Penh and worth an estimated US$44 million.

Kevin explained that the 150 families living in the slum had been negotiating with 7NG in the weeks prior to the evictions. The company offered each family US$20,000 or an apartment in a resettlement site named Cham Chao, located at least 16 kilometers from the center of Phnom Penh.

At first this seemed like a reasonable offer, but what I failed to realize is that the residents of the slum had livelihoods, access to water and education, and other things that the city center offered. The majority of people living in Dey Krahorn made a living as street vendors, so if forced into a location with a reduced population they would lose their incomes.

The truth of what was happening just a few hundred yards away was finally settling in. Why was all of this happening here, I wondered, and why now? I learned that because of all of the foreign investment in the area (including our hotel), land prices had dramatically increased. According to the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO), slum evictions are not a new phenomenon in Cambodia. The country is suffering from a classic case of the rich getting richer while the poor get poorer.

According to the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Cambodia, “The eviction was carried out in the middle of the night, with bulldozers, tear gas, rubber bullets, batons, and workers equipped with sticks and axes contracted to demolish the houses… The residents were thrown onto the street to watch their homes being destroyed.” A friend of Kevin’s who had been inside the slum when the eviction started described a woman collapsing in front of her house and bulldozers that continued to plow into her, sending her to the hospital with injuries.

After speaking with Kevin and other foreigners in the area, I realized how much the past really does influence the present. In order to understand what is happening in present day Cambodia, it is necessary to look to history, especially the period immediately following the Khmer Rouge.

When the Khmer Rouge came into power they wanted to make everyone in the society equal, which meant destroying money, books, private possessions, and land titles. During the period from 1975-1979, the cities of Cambodia were cleared out as the people were made to live and work in rural areas. After the fall of the Khmer Rouge in 1979, the people came flooding back into the cities. Since all of the land titles had been destroyed, people grabbed whatever they could, and the cities, especially Phnom Penh, became home to thousands of “squatters”.

Not everyone I spoke with explained the situation in the same manner. Some were sympathetic to the residents of Dey Krahorm, while others believed the government and 7NG were taking the required actions for the city to further “develop”. I was told by several people that the majority of the residents in Dey Krahorn had legal rights to their land. Some families were “squatting” illegally, but according to the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE), around 140 families living in Dey Krahorn had been there since the 1980s and were given rights to the land under the Cambodian Land Law (2001). Not only do the residents meet all of the preceding requirements, they have documentation to prove it.

According to Amnesty International, Cambodia is a state party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and “has an obligation to protect the population against forced evictions… [the evictions at Dey Krahorn] show all too clearly how little respect Cambodian authorities have for these requirements”. Another person added that while the residents had been living in Dey Krahorn for years, the land was owned by the government so it was free to be taken at any time.

Regardless of the exact legal situation of the slums in Phnom Penh, it’s clear that Cambodia’s land title situation is in peril. A quick search for the land laws of Cambodia reveals relentless confusion in the period following the Khmer Rouge. We are only just starting to see the severe affects of the land laws today, as foreign investment and rapid growth in Phnom Penh cause once worthless land to become a precious commodity.


Christine's blog entry is part of a two-part series written by WIP Contributor Pushpa Iyer's students. In the coming weeks, more entries will follow. Part I, "Legacy, Responsibility, Justice and Spirituality" will contemplate how Cambodia is coping with its painful past. Part II, "Identity, Sex Trafficking, HIV/AIDS and Property Rights" will explore some of the challenges modern-day Cambodia faces. – Ed.

3 dead, 26 missing in South China tropical storm Goni

www.chinaview.cn
2009-08-09

HAIKOU, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- Three fishermen were confirmed dead and another 26 missing from more than ten maritime disasters caused by tropical storm Goni in south Chinese island province of Hainan, local officials said Sunday.

Two fishermen were killed and another three missing when their fishing boat " Qiongdanzhou 00301" was wrecked at the Yangpu Port, while one fisherman died and another was missing after " Qiongdanzhou 52153" sank in the sea near Danzhou City, said Xu Zhuang, secretary general of the Hainan provincial government.

Four crew members on a Cambodian vessel were still missing off Dongfang City. Eleven fishermen lost contact with the control center after encountering Goni Friday at the Beibu Bay in the south of Guangxi Province.

Besides the 19 missing, another seven crew members on the freighter "Changxing 68" were missing at Qiongzhou Strait, said an official with the Hainan marine search and rescue center.

"The following 24 hours are very crucial for the rescue," Xu said.

More than 100 vessels have been deployed to comb through disaster scenes and helicopters are being used to locate the missing crewmen, he said.

Goni landed in south China' Guangdong Province Tuesday. It left China at 5 p.m. Sunday.


Editor: Li Xianzhi

Hamill's Khmer Rouge testimony delayed

http://www.stuff.co.nz

09/08/2009

A new date has been set for Olympic rower Rob Hamill to testify about his brother's murder by the Pol Pot regime in Cambodia has been pushed back.

Hamill was due to testify before the Khmer Rouge Tribunal on August 12, but the date was pushed back to August 18 today.

Kerry Hamill ended up at the S-21 or Tuol Sleng prison headed by Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Duch, when the yacht he and friends were sailing strayed into Cambodian waters on August 13 1978.

One crewman, Canadian Stuart Glass, was shot while Mr Hamill and Briton John Dewhirst were taken for interrogation and torture for two months before being killed.

Led by Pol Pot, who died in 1998, the Khmer Rouge emptied Cambodia's cities in the 70s in a bid to forge a communist utopia. Up to two million people died from starvation, overwork, torture or execution during the 1975-1979 regime.

- NZPA

Experts gather in Bali to discuss AIDS fight

A clinic where patients receive medical treatment for HIV/AIDS in Jakarta. Experts from 65 nations gathered in Indonesia to assess progress in the battle against HIV/AIDS in Asia and the Pacific, amid concern that only a quarter of those in need in the region were getting treatment.
(AFP/File/Adek Berry)

Sun Aug 9

NUSA DUA, Indonesia (AFP) – Experts from 65 nations gathered in Indonesia Sunday to assess progress in the battle against HIV/AIDS in Asia and the Pacific, amid concern that only a quarter of those in need in the region were getting treatment.

The ninth International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP), to be opened by Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on the resort island of Bali, will look at how to ensure "universal access" to antiretroviral treatment, congress chairman Zubairi Djoerban said.

He said that only 25 percent of the 1.7 million of people with HIV/AIDS in the Asia-Pacific region who needed the treatment were receiving it.

"We're still far away from our target," he said.

"We're not talking 100 percent, which is the ideal. If Latin America can treat 62 percent of sufferers there, we should strive towards that."

UNAIDS regional director Prasada Rao said that countries such as Thailand, Cambodia and Laos have been able to treat 80 percent of HIV-positive people there but about 10 countries managed to cover only 10 to 15 percent, due to geographical limitations and lack of funding.

An estimated five million Asians are living with HIV, especially in southeastern countries such as Thailand, Cambodia, the Philippines and Indonesia, according to a UN report released last year.

The congress, which runs until Thursday, will also demand commitment from governments to tackle a disease that killed 380,000 people across Asia in 2007, Djoerban said.

"We ask for commitment from the countries to achieve the targets they have set and if they say they can't, we'll discuss new efforts to help them reach their goals," he added.

"We can discuss prevention and treatment but with no leadership and commitment from countries and the community, we won't achieve much."

The congress also aims to put pressure on governments to change policies that "just keep on discriminating people because of their sexual behaviour such as males who have sex with males and commercial sex workers," Rao told reporters.

While there are some bright spots in the region, such as Cambodia, where HIV prevalence has declined through condom use, new infections are growing in populous countries such as Bangladesh and China, the UN report said.

In Indonesia and South Asia, Djoerban said, the biggest threat was the lethal combination of dirty needles and unprotected sex.

"We're concerned about India, Indonesia and Pakistan, where there is overlapping of drug injecting and unprotected sex... this includes sex workers taking drugs and drug users not using condoms," he said.

"New infections are offsetting positive results from preventive actions."

In Indonesia, where HIV/AIDS cases have tripled since 2005 to 26,632, according to official figures, prisoners and prostitutes have joined injecting drug users to become among the groups most at risk.

A third of 254 prison deaths in the country in May this year were due to HIV/AIDS.

Meanwhile, one of the worst HIV epidemics outside of Africa is under way in Indonesia's remote eastern province of Papua, where 2.4 out of every 100 people are infected due to an influx of migrants workers and a booming sex industry.

However, HIV prevalence in the region is still low compared with Africa.

"In South and Southeast Asia, the HIV prevalence is 0.3 percent. In sub-Saharan Africa, it's five percent," Djoerban said.

The Bali congress will also cover topics ranging from HIV risks among transgenders and migrant workers to biomolecular advances in HIV treatment and the impact of the financial crisis on those with HIV/AIDS.

Full interview with Rob Hamill

Kiwi rower Rob Hamill

Sun, 09 Aug 2009

Full interview with Kiwi rower Rob Hamill who is to testify before the Khmer Rouge Tribunal almost 31 years after his brother was abducted, tortured and killed by Pol Pot's regime in Cambodia.

View Video

3 News (New Zealand)

Typhoon Morakot slams China

Graphic showing the path of Typhoon Morakot. China rushed nearly one million people out of harm's away as Typhoon Morakot slammed into its coast after triggering Taiwan's worst flooding in 50 years, leaving at least four people dead.
(AFP/Graphic)

A woman looks out from the second floor of her apartment which was flooded after Typhoon Morakot hit Pingtung county, southern Taiwan August 9, 2009.
REUTERS/Pichi Chuang (TAIWAN ENVIRONMENT)

A collapsed hotel building is seen in heavily flooded river after Typhoon Morakot hit Taitung county, Sunday, Aug. 9, 2009, in Taitung County, eastern Taiwan. The six-story hotel collapsed and plunged into a river Sunday morning after floodwaters eroded its base, but all 300 people in the hotel were evacuated and uninjured, officials said.
(AP Photo)

Paramilitary policemen drive a motorboat in a flooded village in Cangnan county, eastern China Sunday Aug. 9, 2009. Typhoon Morakot slammed into China's east coast Sunday just hours after nearly 1 million people evacuated the area. It earlier lashed Taiwan with torrential rains that caused the island's worst flooding in 50 years and left dozens missing and feared dead.
(AP Photo)

A rescuer helps a crying baby out of floodwater area after Typhoon Morakot hit Pintung county, southern Taiwan, Sunday, Aug. 9, 2009. The storm dumped more than 200 centimeters (80 inches) of rain on some southern counties on Friday and Saturday, the worst flooding to hit the area in half a century, the Central Weather Bureau reported.
(AP Photo)

A rescuer drags a life cutter in flooded area after Typhoon Morakot hit Pintung county, southern Taiwan, Sunday, Aug. 9, 2009. The storm dumped more than 200 centimeters (80 inches) of rain on some southern counties on Friday and Saturday, the worst flooding to hit the area in half a century, the Central Weather Bureau reported.
(AP Photo)

A team of rescuers rows a life boat in a flooded street in Chiatung Town, Pintung County, southern Taiwan after Typhoon Morakot hit the area Sunday, Aug. 9, 2009,. The storm dumped more than 200 centimeters (80 inches) of rain on some southern counties on Friday and Saturday, the worst flooding to hit the area in half a century, the Central Weather Bureau reported.
(AP Photo)

Taiwanese people gather in floodwater in Chiatung Town, Pintung County, southern Taiwan after Typhoon Morakot hit the area Sunday, Aug. 9, 2009,. The storm dumped more than 200 centimeters (80 inches) of rain on some southern counties on Friday and Saturday, the worst flooding to hit the area in half a century, the Central Weather Bureau reported.
(AP Photo)

In this image made from television broadcast by ETTV television Sunday, Aug. 9, 2009, a a six-story hotel in Chihpen, Taitung county, Taiwan collapses and plunges into a river after floodwaters eroded its base as typhoon Morakot passed through the area. All 300 people in the hotel were evacuated and uninjured, officials said. Typhoon Morakot slammed into China's east coast Sunday just hours after nearly 1 million people evacuated the area. It earlier lashed Taiwan with torrential rains that caused the island's worst flooding in 50 years and left dozens missing and feared dead.
(AP Photo/ETTV Television)

A woman sweeps water as children walk down a flooded alleyway after Typhoon Morakot hit Fuzhou, Fujian province August 9, 2009. A child was killed and houses were flattened after the typhoon battered China's eastern coast on Sunday, bringing torrential rain and high waves likely to disrupt life and business across the heavily commercial region. REUTERS/Kong Nong

A worker sits behind a pile of sandbags as pumping units pump flood water out of a workshop after Typhoon Morakot hit Fuzhou, Fujian province August 9, 2009. A child was killed and houses were flattened after the typhoon battered China's eastern coast on Sunday, bringing torrential rain and high waves likely to disrupt life and business across the heavily commercial region. REUTERS/Kong Nong

Flood waters brought on by Typhoon Morakot submerge a house in Pingtung county in Taiwan. China rushed nearly one million people out of harm's away as Typhoon Morakot slammed into its coast after triggering Taiwan's worst flooding in 50 years, leaving at least four people dead.
(AFP/Sam Yeh)

A rescue worker carries a baby as a family is rescued from flooding brought by Typhoon Morakot in Chiatung, Pingtung county, in southern Taiwan. China rushed nearly one million people out of harm's away as Typhoon Morakot slammed into its coast after triggering Taiwan's worst flooding in 50 years, leaving at least four people dead.
(AFP/Sam Yeh)

Rescuers try to reach a man who is stranded by floods as Typhoon Morakot approaches in Shanghai August 9, 2009.
REUTERS/Stringer

Rescuers help local residents escape the flooding brought on by Typhoon Morakot in Chiatung, southern Taiwan. China rushed nearly one million people out of harm's away as Typhoon Morakot slammed into its coast after triggering Taiwan's worst flooding in 50 years, leaving at least four people dead.
(AFP/Sam Yeh)

A hotel building leans before falling in a heavily flooded river after Typhoon Morakot hit Taitung county, Taiwan, Sunday, Aug. 9, 2009. The six-story hotel collapsed and plunged into a river Sunday morning after floodwaters eroded its base, but all 300 people in the hotel were evacuated and uninjured, officials said.
(AP Photo)

Typhoon pummels China, forcing nearly 1M to flee

A resident rides a motorcycle on a flooded road as typhoon Morakot approaches in Xiapu County of Ningde, Fujian province, August 9, 2009.
REUTERS/Stringer

By GILLIAN WONG, Associated Press Writer

BEIJING – A typhoon pummeled China's eastern coast Sunday, toppling houses, flooding villages and forcing nearly a million people to flee to safety. Officials rode bicycles to distribute food to residents trapped by rising waters.

Typhoon Morakot struck after triggering the worst flooding in Taiwan 50 years, leaving dozens missing and feared dead and toppling a six-story hotel. It earlier lashed the Philippines, killing at least 21 people.

Morakot, which means "emerald" in Thai, made landfall in China's eastern Fujian province, carrying heavy rain and winds of 74 miles (119 kilometers) per hour, according the China Meteorological Administration. At least one child died after a house collapsed on him in Zhejiang province.

People stumbled with flashlights as the storm enveloped the town of Beibi in Fujian in darkness, the official Xinhua News Agency said. Strong winds uprooted trees or snapped them apart, while farmers tried to catch fish swept out of fish farms by high waves.

Village officials in Zhejiang rode bicycles to hand out drinking water and instant noodles to residents stranded by deep floods, while rescuers tried to reach eight sailors on a cargo ship blown onto a reef off Fujian, Xinhua reported.

Morakot was expected to weaken as it traveled north at about six miles (10 kilometers) per hour, but still bring strong winds and heavy rains to Shanghai, the meteorological administration said.

Flood control officials in Shanghai released water stored in inland rivers to reduce levels in preparation, Xinhua said.

About 1 million people were evacuated from China's eastern coastal provinces — more than 490,000 in Zhejiang and 505,000 in neighboring Fujian. Authorities in Fujian called 48,000 boats back to harbor.

Five houses were destroyed by heavy rain ahead of the typhoon's landfall, burying four adults and a 4-year-old boy in debris, Xinhua said. The child died after emergency treatment failed, it said.

Another 300 houses collapsed and thousands of acres (hectares) of farmland were inundated, Xinhua said.

Dozens of domestic flights were canceled and delayed in Fujian and Zhejiang, and bus service in Fujian's capital, Fuzhou, was suspended, it said.

Taiwan, meanwhile, was recovering after the storm dumped more than 80 inches (200 centimeters) of rain on some southern counties Friday and Saturday, the worst flooding to hit the area in half a century, the Central Weather Bureau reported.

Taiwan's Disaster Relief Center said a woman was killed when her vehicle plunged into a ditch in Kaohsiung county in heavy rain Friday, and two men drowned in Pingtung and Tainan. It said 31 were missing and feared dead.

Morakot hit Taiwan late Friday and crossed the island Saturday. The Disaster Relief Center reported Sunday that flash floods washed away a home in southern Kaohsiung, leaving 16 people missing. Three were swept away in southeastern Taitung county, including two policemen helping to evacuate villagers.

Twelve others were missing, including three fishermen from a capsized boat and three others whose cars fell into a rain-swollen river, it said.

In southern Pingtung county, 4,000 people were stranded in inundated villages waiting for police boats to rescue them, news media reported.

In Taitung county, a six-story hotel collapsed and plunged into a river after floodwaters eroded its base, but all 300 people inside were evacuated and uninjured, officials said.

In the northern Philippines, the typhoon and lingering monsoon rains left 21 people dead and seven others missing in landslides and floodwaters, including three European tourists who were swept away Thursday, the National Disaster Coordinating Council said Sunday.

The bodies of the Belgian and two French citizens were found Friday, the council said.

Meanwhile, Xinhua said three fishermen died and 26 others were missing from Tropical Storm Goni, which hit Guangdong on Wednesday but weakened into a tropical depression by Sunday. Helicopters and ships were searching for the missing crew.

___

Associated Press writers Annie Huang in Taipei and Jim Gomez in Manila contributed to this report.

Cambodia: Law On The Statute Of Judges

Scoop New Zealand

Sunday, 9 August 2009

Press Release: Asian Human Rights Commission

Cambodia: Law On The Statute Of Judges, Not Their Retirement, Is The Right End From Which To Tackle Judicial Reform

Last June the Cambodian government ignored the jurisdiction of the nomination and discipline of judges and prosecutors of the Supreme Council of the Magistracy (SCM) when it bypassed the court and got the King, who is chairman of this supreme judicial council, to retire and replace half of the eight SCM members. The retired members were Ouk Vithun, Prosecutor General of the Supreme Court, 62, an ex-officio member; Henrot Raken, 68, Prosecutor General of the Appeal Court, another ex-officio member; Khieu Sameth, 62, President of Kandal Provincial Court, an appointed member; and Sin Dim, 66, President of Preah Sihanouk Provincial Court, another appointed member.

The government’s infringement upon the SMC’s jurisdiction is unconstitutional as it violated the independence of the judiciary of which the SCM is an integral part. Apparently the government was not happy with the lack of the SMC’s swift disciplinary action against a provincial prosecutor whose alleged faults had been widely reported in the press.

Perhaps more importantly, the government was not happy with the SCM when the latter had not retired the judges and prosecutors it had proposed. The SCM had its own reasons for not heeding the government’s proposal. It wanted to uphold its independence and exercise its authority over the nomination and discipline of judges and prosecutors.

Even more importantly, there was no law on the statute of judges and prosecutors which should set the retirement age for them. The government has not yet enacted this long overdue law and also the law on the organization of the judiciary when the country‘s Constitution has specifically stipulated the need to enact both laws since 1993. Like the law on the statute of civil servants and the law on the statute of members of the armed forces, which have not been specifically stipulated in the Constitution and which had both been enacted in the mid-1990s, this law on the statute of judges and prosecutors would determine, among other things, the age of retirement for judges and prosecutors. Without this law, the SCM would have no legal basis to retire judges and prosecutors.

The SCM did not comply with a government decree (not a law) which has been echoed by subsequent government circular letters and which fixes the retirement age of 60 for judges and prosecutors when this decree was based on no law on the statute of judges and prosecutors. This inaction has led the government to accuse the SCM of defending certain members of the judiciary who have wished to remain in active service.

Now with a new composition more amenable to the government’s wishes, the SCM sets out to retire some 27 elder judges and prosecutors, retirement which some have seen as part of the long overdue judicial reform.

However, the retirement of the four members of the SCM in June and the planned retirement of a big batch of judges and prosecutors are but palliatives to defuse mounting pressure for judicial reform. These measures have tackled this reform at the wrong end and have in no way come to address the real issue of the legal foundation of Cambodia’s entire judiciary. They have further violated the constitutional principle of the separation of powers, judicial independence and consolidated the executive control of the judiciary.

If the government is not happy with the functioning of the SCM, the Prime Minister should raise the issue with the King who is its chairman when he has an audience with him twice a month (Art.20 of the Constitution). The government should not delay any further the enactment of the law on the statute of judges and prosecutors and the law on the organization of the judiciary so that judges and prosecutors, who belong to the same body of magistrates, would have proper legal status, which they don’t have at the moment, and all courts of law would be duly established by law, which they are not at the moment. Everyone would thus be entitled to be tried by an independent, competent and impartial tribunal established by law, a right which is specifically stipulated under Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Cambodia is a party.

The government cannot apply the law on the nomination of judges and on the functioning of courts of law enacted in the communist days, prior to the promulgation of the current Constitution, and any decree enacted thereof when they are not among the “Laws and standard documents in Cambodia that safeguard State properties, rights, freedom and legal private properties and in conformity with the national interests, (which) shall continue to be effective until altered or abrogated by new texts” under the transitional article 158 of the current Constitution.

The absence of the law on the statute of judges and prosecutors poses a big problem of legitimacy for the composition of the SCM itself whose three judge members should be elected by their peers, an election which has been held up for 16 years, which is too long. The lack of the legitimacy of the composition of the SCM in turn questions the legitimacy of the composition of the country’s Constitutional Council which is a sort of a constitutional court, whose three members are appointed by the SCM.

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) urges the Cambodian government to prioritise the building of the legal foundation and framework of the country’s entire judiciary, its organization and the status of judges and prosecutors by enacting the law on their statute, including their retirement age, in tandem with the law on the organisation of the judiciary, two of the important laws that are specifically stipulated in the country’s constitution. This is the right end from which it should tackle judicial reform in Cambodia.

About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights issues in Asia. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.

Kiwi rower heads to Cambodia to find justice (01:59)

TVNZ
http://tvnz.co.nz/

Please click to watch VIDEO

New Zealand transatlantic rower Rob Hamill is heading to Cambodia to address the trial of the Khmer Rouge death camp commander responsible for his brother's murder

Cambodia to register 12th century temple as World Heritage Site

www.chinaview.cn
2009-08-09

PHNOM PENH, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia will submit the application form to list 12th century Banteay Chmar temple as World Heritage Site with the heritage committee of UNESCO soon, the local media reported on Sunday.

"Listing of the temple is aiming at conservation of the heritage site and its value is humanitarian heritage," according to khmer language newspaper Kampuchea Thmey Daily.

It added that Cambodia delegation led some experts from UNESCO,and delegation from Foundation for World Heritage to visit the temple on Saturday.

The temple located in Banteay Mean Chey province, about 60 km distance in northern area of provincial town.

Cambodia has already registered Angkor Wat temple, Royal Ballet, Khmer shadow theater and Khmer temple Preah Vihear as World Heritage Sites.

Editor: Li Xianzhi

Hamill's Khmer Rouge testimony delayed

The Timaru Herald
http://www.stuff.co.nz

09/08/2009

A new date has been set for Olympic rower Rob Hamill to testify about his brother's murder by the Pol Pot regime in Cambodia has been pushed back.

Hamill was due to testify before the Khmer Rouge Tribunal on August 12, but the date was pushed back to August 18 today.

Kerry Hamill ended up at the S-21 or Tuol Sleng prison headed by Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Duch, when the yacht he and friends were sailing strayed into Cambodian waters on August 13 1978.

One crewman, Canadian Stuart Glass, was shot while Mr Hamill and Briton John Dewhirst were taken for interrogation and torture for two months before being killed.

Led by Pol Pot, who died in 1998, the Khmer Rouge emptied Cambodia's cities in the 70s in a bid to forge a communist utopia. Up to two million people died from starvation, overwork, torture or execution during the 1975-1979 regime.

- NZPA

Cambodian culture in Chicago

http://www.examiner.com

August 9

During the genocide in Cambodia that killed 1.2 million people between 1975 and 1979 thousands of Cambodians fled for their lives. Around 5,000 Cambodians currently live in Illinois and many live in the Albany Park and Uptown areas of Chicago.

The Cambodian culture is alive in Chicago through its’ music, food, dance and religion. April is the month of the Cambodian New Year which is celebrated during a three-day festival.

One place for Cambodians to celebrate and join together is the Kampuchean Buddhist Society in Chicago.

Kampuchean Buddhist Society in Chicago.

Immigrant Connect Chicago published a video entitled, Sampling Cambodian Culture in Chicago. Check out the video to see the highlights on how Cambodians maintain their culture while living in America.

Photo by: Albeiror24 / Wikimedia Commons

Cambodia: Naga Corp Go Fourth

http://www.goal.com

The action is getting hot in South-East Asia...

9 Aug 2009

Naga Corp FC moved up to fourth in the Cambodia Premier League when they scored a 4-2win over Kirivong Sok Sen Chey FC at the National Olympic Stadium.

A goal apiece from Chin Chum after 15 minutes and then from Pich Sina eight minutes later gave Naga a 2-0 lead at the half.

J. Chukwumeka pulled a goal back for Kirivong at the hour mark before Naga then stretched their advantage to 4-1 with goals off Sun Sovanrithy in the 72nd minute and Kim Chanbunrith six minutes later.

Kirivong’s second and final goal of the afternoon came from Vin Nhuc Truong a minute to the end.

Standings:1: Phnom Penh Crown 29 2: Khemara Keila 27 3: Preah Khan Reach 27 4: Naga Corp 21

UNC Professor Analyzes Khmer Rouge

http://www.wchl1360.com/

By Matt Stradley
WCHL Reporter

A human rights tribunal in Cambodia is questioning several leaders from the Khmer Rouge regime almost 25 years after their rule came to an end.

Dr. Jeffrey Sonis, associate professor in the departments of Social Medicine and Family Medicine, at UNC says the trials offer a unique opportunity to gauge the psychological effect of war trials on a society.

Sonis, the lead author in a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, says the rate of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, in Cambodians estimated at 11% of the population is five times higher than the United States.

Accounts of the genocide estimate between one and two million people were killed to create an “agrarian collectivism” a communist concept for an ideal society.

Sonis says the study showed a quandary between feelings of justice and fears of rehashing past memories.

Sonis and his colleagues are now conducting a study funded by the National Institute of Mental Health to measure the effects of the trials on Cambodians over time.

ASEAN commemorates 42nd anniversary with environment issue

Surin Pitsuwan, secretary general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), delivers a speech during a commemoration activity in Jarkata, Indonesia, on Aug. 8, 2009. The ASEAN on Saturday marked the 42nd anniversary of its founding with the theme of "Green Asia" to reflect its care about environment. (Xinhua/Li Xiaoyu)

www.chinaview.cn

2009-08-08

JAKARTA, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- The Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) commemorated its 42nd anniversary with theme of "Green Asia" to reflect its care about environment that has been deteriorated by climate change, the association's chief said here on Saturday.

"Today, we commemorate our 42nd anniversary, to commemorate achievements of we made to our people and the world's, just what our founding fathers wanted," said Surin Pitsuwan, the association's secretary general in his opening speech.

He said that climate change has been the top agenda of many countries, governmental bodies, inter-governmental summits et cetera.

"That's why we choose the topic for our commemorations' theme today," he said.

According to Surin, ASEAN is the home for so many species of flora and fauna that do not exist in other part of the world.

"ASEAN is just 3 percent part of the Earth but we have 20 percent of plants, animals, and marine species of the world's total," Surin said, adding that ASEAN contributed so much oxygen even though it emits much carbon dioxide too.

He said that making more comfortable and more livable Earth is the world's responsibility by preserving green environment.

According to Surin, all across ASEAN and the world that have ASEAN committee is commemorating the anniversary on Saturday.

"In London, Tokyo, Beijing, Brazil, for example, they are commemorating this anniversary. In fact, I just received messages from Moscow and Washington that they are commemorating this event, even though it's still early there," he said.

ASEAN consists of countries located in the Southeast Asia region, namely Indonesia, Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

According to the association's data in 2007, ASEAN has 576 million populations who lived on 4.5 million square meters. The countries have combined gross domestic product (GDP) of 1,282 trillion U.S. dollars with total trade of 1.616 trillion dollars.


Editor: Li Shuncheng

Sex slavery victim visits Central New York, speaks out against child sex trafficking

Submitted photograph
Somaly Mam, an advocate against sex trafficking and slavery, talks with supporters at a recent gathering. She was at Carousel Center Thursday at The Body Shop. That company The Body Shop has launched a fund-raiser for Somaly Mam and ECPAT (End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes). Somaly was a victim of child sex trafficking

http://www.syracuse.com

by Nina Wegner / The Post-Standard
Friday August 07, 2009

Somaly Mam, an international spokeswoman for ending child sex trafficking, paid a visit to the Carousel Center on this week to help promote an anti-trafficking campaign launched by The Body Shop.

More than 1.8 million children and young people are trafficked in the global sex trade each year, even within the United States, according to a 2002 report by the International Labor Organization.

Human trafficking is the globe's second largest organized crime, generating $9.5 billion a year, according to the U.S. State Department. However, sex trafficking remains an underexposed issue in America.


With the sale of several $10 body care products, The Body Shop will donate $6 to the organization End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes and the Somaly Mam Foundation.

"The Body Shop (campaign) has given us hope, because so many people (who are sold into sexual slavery) are so isolated, and alone, they feel nobody understands," said Mam. "It means a lot for us, it means a lot for the lives you save."

Mam, who was sold into sexual slavery as a child in Cambodia, was able to escape captivity and in 1996 started an advocacy group, AFESIP (an acronym in French for "Acting for Women in Distressing Situations").

Mam traveled from Cambodia to support the campaign's launch. In Syracuse, Mam greeted and thanked the staff of The Body Shop.

"Our late founder, Dame Anita Roddick, was dedicated to the issue of human trafficking. When she passed away in September 2007, we felt it was a fitting tribute to Anita to launch something as powerful as this," said Shelley Simmons, director of communications and values for The Body Shop.

Angkor Wat International Half Marathon 2009

http://www.kiwicollection.com

Run for a good cause while discovering one of the most amazing UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Cambodia!

Saturday, December 05, 2009

Run to bring artificial limbs for mine survivors

and

save youth from HIV/AIDS

The next event will be on December 6th, 2009

© Angkor Wat International Half Marathon Steering Committee

Be more enrolled in the AWHM 2009!

2009's Angkor Wat International Half Marathon will be held on 6th December, and other relevant events on 5th Dec.

2008's Angkor Wat International Half Marathon held on 7th December was a great success with 2,593 runners from 43 countries! Check out the record of 2008 here.

Donation & Pledge

Thank you very much for your warm hearted donation with our pledge system in 2008! Pledge supporters are shown here. Accurated amount of donation can be seen here.

Photo Gallery 2006

Photo Gallery 2007

Photo Gallery 2008

Typhoon Morakot batters Taiwan - 7 Aug 09

AlJazeeraEnglish

Taiwan has closed offices and schools and grounded flights as the strongest typhoon of the year closes in on the island.

Heavy rains and strong winds caused by Typhoon Morakot have already triggered floods and mudslides across the region.

Al Jazeera's Steve Chao reports from Taipei, Taiwan's capital.

6 dead, missing in typhoon

A pedestrian falls down during strong winds brought by typhoon Morakot in Taipei. --PHOTO: REUTERS

A woman is helped by rescuers in floodwater in Linbian. --PHOTO: AFP

It was expected to hit southern China late Saturday or early Sunday. --PHOTO: REUTERS

The Straits Times
http://www.straitstimes.com

Aug 8, 2009

TAIPEI - TYPHOON Morakot slammed into Taiwan overnight, flooding villages, cutting power lines and leaving at least six people dead or missing, officials and media reported Saturday.

Separately, rescuers were searching for some 10 sailors lost in rough seas off Hainan Island in southern China as Tropical Storm Goni approached.

Morakot hit Taiwan late Friday but by 2pm Saturday had traversed the island and weakened to a tropical storm in the Taiwan Strait.

It was expected to hit southern China late Saturday or early Sunday. Morakot had smashed into the northern Philippines early Friday, triggering floods and landslides that killed at least 12 people.

Morakot dumped up to 1,651 millimeters of rain on parts of southern and eastern Taiwan on Friday and Saturday, leaving villages in Taitung, Pingtung and Kaohsiung counties partially submerged.

A 67-year-old woman died late Friday when she drove her motorcycle into a ditch during heavy rain in Kaohsiung in the south, the National Fire Agency said in a statement posted on its Web site.

The Apple Daily newspaper said a 47-year-old man slammed his car into a train in torrential rain in eastern Yilan county late Friday and died on the spot. The newspaper did not provide a source and local authorities could not immediately confirm the report.

Another five people were missing and feared dead, the National Fire Agency said. Two were fishermen whose boat capsized off the coast of Pingtung county in the south, the agency said.

One man fell into the sea in eastern Taitung county and a 50-year-old woman fell into a river in Kaohsiung, the agency said.

A villager, also in Taitung, set off on a fishing expedition early Friday as the storm approached the island but no one has been able to contact him since, it said. It did not provide any more details.

The agency said at least 17 people were injured in the storm.

Government Officials Rejected a Joint Statement of Civil Society Organizations on Mu Sochua’s Case – Saturday, 8.8.2009

Posted on 8 August 2009
The Mirror, Vol. 13, No. 624
http://cambodiamirror.wordpress.com/

“After the Phnom Penh Municipal Court issued a verdict on 4 August 2009, announcing that the Sam Rainsy Party deputy secretary-general and parliamentarian from Kampot, Ms. Mu Sochua, lost the defamation case where the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia, Samdech Akkak Moha Senapadei Dekchor Hun Sen, had sued her, there was a strong reaction from civil society organizations against this verdict. However, the government totally rejects this joint statement where they had expressed their reaction.

“The spokesperson of the Council of Ministers, Mr. Phay Siphan, told Deum Ampil by phone on Friday, ‘I have no reaction, but I regret that these civil society organizations do not accept for themselves a the state of law, because the Phnom Penh Municipal Court decided already and the civil society’s statement is clearly political.’

“Mr. Phay Siphan added, ‘If Ms. Mu Sochua does not agree with the verdict of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, she has the right to appeal. No country has issued statement against this court verdict.

“The Human Rights Action Committee, which is a league of 21 non-government organizations, and the Committee for Free and Fair Elections, released a joint statement on 5 August 2009, saying that they regret the verdict of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court in the morning of 4 August 2009, ordering Ms. Mu Sochua to pay a fine and to compensate Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen.

“In the statement, they noted, ‘The Phnom Penh Municipal Court did not talk and ask in detail about facts, but just mentioned the complaint of the prime minister as the basis for its hearing, and in reality, the hearing did not pay attention on Ms. Mu Sochua’s case, especially to the reason why Ms. Mu Sochua held a press conference at [the Sam Rainsy Party] headquarters [which was used as the basis for the defamation suit against her].

“Civil society organizations ask the court to be independent, neutral, and non-biased in holding its hearings, and to reform itself soon, so that it does not become a tool of the powerful, and they requested the Cambodian courts to pay more attention to the rights and freedoms, as stated in the Constitution and other human rights treaties.

“It should be remembered that a judge of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court ordered Ms. Mu Sochua on 4 August 2009 to pay Riel 8.5 million [approx. US$2,100] to the state, and to pay a compensation of Riel 8 million [approx. US$2,000] to the Prime Minister for defamation, a court case which had extended over almost 4 months. After the verdict was issued, Ms. Mu Sochua appealed on 5 August 2009.”

Deum Ampil, Vol.3, #257, 8.8.2009
Newspapers Appearing on the Newsstand:
Saturday, 8 August 2009

Indonesian police officers regroup following a raid on a house where suspected terrorists were holed up in Bekasi, West Java, Indonesia, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2009. Indonesian police hunting the terrorists behind last month's attacks on hotels in the capital raided one house and besieged another Saturday, killing two suspected militants, arresting five and seizing explosives and a car bomb, a senior officer said.
(AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)

By IRWAN FIRDAUS, Associated Press Writer
Sat Aug 8

BEJI, Indonesia – Police reportedly killed the self-proclaimed Southeast Asian commander of al-Qaida on Saturday in a 16-hour siege of a village hide-out, but authorities said they could not confirm that a recovered body was that of the militant leader without DNA tests.

Local TV stations reported that alleged terror mastermind Noordin Mohammad Top was killed in the lengthy bomb and gunbattle at a house in central Java. Noordin is suspected in last month's suicide bomb attacks on two American hotels in the capital, Jakarta, as well as the deaths of more than 220 people in bomb blasts on the resort island of Bali in 2002 and 2005.

Together the bombings linked to Noordin and the Southeast Asian-based Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist network killed 250 people, many of them Western tourists.

The remains of a man believed to be Noordin were flown from central Java to Jakarta for an autopsy, but police "cannot yet confirm that this is Noordin Top," national police Chief Bambang Hendarso Danuri said.

Police don't want to say that Noordin is assumed dead and any announcement will have to wait until next week after a DNA examination is complete, Hendarso told a nationally televised news conference. It was unclear if police have any samples on file that can be used for the DNA test.

The July attacks on the J.W. Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in Jakarta killed seven people, all but one of them foreigners, and ended a four-year pause in terror strikes in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation.

Noordin is also believed to have orchestrated an earlier attack on the J.W. Marriott Hotel in 2003 and a blast outside the Australian Embassy in 2004, together killing dozens and wounding hundreds in the Indonesian capital.

Those early attacks were blamed on the Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist network and were believed to be funded by al-Qaida, but Noordin later reportedly broke away from the Southeast Asian group to form a more violent offshoot and his foreign ties became uncertain. It is unknown how the recent suicide blasts on the Jakarta hotels were funded.

Noordin emerged as the region's most prominent suspected terrorist leader and is known as a skilled bomb maker who has eluded capture for around seven years, despite a massive crackdown launched by Indonesian authorities following the first Bali bombing.

A Malaysian citizen, Noordin claimed in a video in 2005 to be al-Qaida's representative in Southeast Asia and to be carrying out attacks on Western civilians to avenge Muslim deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Killing or capturing him would be a major victory in Indonesia's fight against militants and could significantly weaken the chances of more attacks, given the key planning, financial and motivational role he is believed to have played in terror networks.

Minutes after Saturday's raid, witnesses said officers outside the house took off their helmets and were shaking hands with each other, suggesting all those inside had either been killed or captured. The firing ceased.

A police officer at the scene said a body was found in the bathroom of the house and authorities brought a coffin there. After about an hour, three ambulances left the home.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told reporters he had been briefed on an ongoing operation "to uphold law and to eradicate terrorism," but made no mention of Noordin. Still, he praised police.

"I extend my highest gratitude and respect to the police for their brilliant achievement in this operation," he said.

Earlier Saturday, officers raided a second house close to Jakarta where they killed two suspected militants and seized bombs and a car rigged to carry them, police Chief Danuri said.

The house was about three miles (five kilometers) from the president's residence. The Detik.com Web site, quoting an unidentified police source, said officers believed they were planning to attack Yudhoyono's house.

Officers circled the house in central Java province late Friday afternoon after making arrests in a nearby town. At one point, they sent remote-controlled robots into the isolated building to search for bombs.

Not long before they stormed the red-tiled building, officers dressed in black hid behind a shield and fired into the house from close range, while others fired repeated volleys from a hill behind it.

Police have arrested more than 200 militants linked to the Jemaah Islamiyah terror network since 2002, including many with suspected ties to Noordin.

Java, home to more than half of Indonesia's 235 million people, has long been the focus in the hunt for Noordin and his associates.

In November 2005, Azahari bin Husin, a top Jemaah Islamiyah bomb maker, was fatally shot by counterterrorism forces in east Java. Sariyah Jabir, another explosives expert, was killed in April 2006 during a raid on a militant hide-out in central Java.

___

AP reporter Niniek Karmini in Jakarta contributed to this article.

Tropical storm Goni: Nearly 100 missing in sea off S China

www.chinaview.cn

2009-08-08

HAIKOU, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- Nearly 100 ships' crew members from Cambodia, Vietnam and China are missing in heavy seas off south China's Hainan Island, a local official said Saturday.

More than 20 ships in the area had been affected by gale conditions resulting from tropical storm Goni, said Xie Fuchun, an official with the Hainan Province's Bureau of Maritime Affairs.

Rescue vessels and helicopters are being used to locate the missing crewmen, said Yang Pansheng, the bureau head. The exact number of rescue craft is not known.

In Guangdong, a female passenger was killed and the driver is missing after flooding blocked a bus route. Twelve houses have been destroyed and nearly 200,000 people affected by storm-related problems.

Goni, the seventh storm to hit China this year, was 19.2 degrees north and 108.3 degrees east at 10 a.m. Saturday, 30 kilometers from Dongfang City in the west of Hainan.

Packing winds of 65 kilometers per hour, it was moving southwestwards at a speed of five kilometers an hour and was likely to land on the island within 12 hours, said the island's meteorological station.

Editor: Li

Weather forecast for the Asia-Pacific region

http://www.etaiwannews.com

Associated Press
2009-08-08

Two tropical storms will hit East Asia on Sunday.

Tropical Storm Goni is forecast to bring considerable rain and thunderstorms to China's southeastern Hainan Island and Hong Kong later in the day.

Morakot is expected to weaken from typhoon to tropical storm strength before making landfall in southern China near Fuzhou early Sunday. It will nevertheless bring intense wind and heavy rain to coastal areas and inland.

Elsewhere, a low pressure system will move northeastward up Japan, bringing moderate to heavy rain to the country. Temperatures in Tokyo and Seoul will hit the upper 20s Celsius, while Shanghai will see temperatures in the lower 30s.

For Australia, a low pressure system will sweep through the Great Australian Bight before moving into Victoria and New South Wales. There will not be a tremendous amount of moisture involved with this system, but areas of light to moderate precipitation will fall in Victoria in the afternoon and evening.

Another low pressure system will move inland north of Cape Leeuwin late in the day and into Monday. The rest of the country will remain dry and under the influence of a high pressure system.

Sydney will rise into the upper 10s C, while Melbourne will see temperatures a few degrees lower and Brisbane will rise into the lower 20s C.

Chinese American Hero: Dr. Haing S. Ngor

Asia Week
http://www.asianweek.com/

August 7, 2009

Name in English: Dr. Haing S. Ngor
Name in Chinese: 吴汉[吳漢]
Name in Pinyin: Wú Hàn
Gender: Male
Birth Year: 1940-1996
Birth Place: Samrong Young, Cambodia
Philanthropy: Yes

Profession (s): Medical Doctor, Actor

Education: Medical Doctor, Royal Khmer University, School of Medicine

Awards: 1984, Academy Award - Best Supporting Actor, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; 1984, British Academy Film Award - Best Actor, British Academy of Film and Television Arts; 1984, British Academy Film Award, Best Newcomer to Film, British Academy of Film and Television Arts; 1984, Golden Globe - Best Supporting Actor, Hollywood Foreign Press Association

Contribution (s): Dr. Haing S. Ngor was born in Cambodia, the son of an ethnic Chinese father and Khmer mother. He was trained as a doctor specializing in gynecology and obstetrics and was working in the capital, Phnom Penh, when it fell to the communist Khmer Rouge in 1975. The Khmer Rouge’s extreme anti-Western and anti-intellectual policies placed Ngor in immediate danger. Ngor had to hide his glasses and pretend to be an uneducated common laborer because people who were suspected of being among the intellectual classes were immediately executed. There was widespread starvation, killings, and torture in the following years as the Khmer Rouge immediately forced all city residents into the countryside as part of their policy of destroying everything to create their utopian agrarian society. Dr. Ngor’s wife and child died during a premature birth because of the lack of medical supplies and the fact that Ngor couldn’t risk showing his medical education. He was also tortured at various times, having half a finger chopped off and was hit in the ankle with an axe during interrogations to find out his previous profession. Each time he convinced his interrogators that he was an illiterate taxi driver. Every member of his family was killed except for a young niece, just some of the over 2 million Cambodians that died under the Khmer Rouge.

In 1979, the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia gave Ngor and many other Cambodians the chance to flee the country. Ngor ended up in a refugee camp in Thailand with his niece and flew with her to America in August 1980. He became a social worker at the Chinatown Service Center in Los Angeles helping Southeast Asian refugees resettle in the United States because his medical license wasn’t recognized here. In 1983, he was asked to play the part of a fellow Cambodian survivor, Dith Pran, in the movie, “The Killing Fields.” His performance in recreating the Khmer Rouge horror was so powerful and moving that he became only the second Asian and the second non-acting professional to win an Academy Award for acting. Other critically acclaimed acting roles followed including “Heaven & Earth” in 1993. Ngor served as Grand Marshall of the 1992 Chinese New Year Golden Dragon Parade in Los Angeles. He was shot and killed during a suspected robbery in 1996.

Despite his sudden fame, Ngor was devoted to improving conditions in Cambodia and improving the lot of Cambodian refugees in the United States. He used his wealth to bring medical supplies and establish clinics in Cambodia. He helped found two aid organizations for refugees in camps near the Thai-Cambodian border: Aides aux Personnes Deplacees, based in Brussels, and Enfants d’Angkor, based in Paris. He also continued to work as a social worker dealing with refugees in Los Angeles. In 1990, he established the Dr. Haing S. Ngor Foundation which raised funds to support aid projects in Cambodia. The foundation built an elementary school and operated a small sawmill that provided jobs and an income for local families.

Electricity Use in Cambodia Does Not Yet Meet Proper Standards – Friday, 7.8.2009

Posted on 8 August 2009
The Mirror, Vol. 13, No. 624
http://cambodiamirror.wordpress.com/

“Phnom Penh: Nowadays, electricity use and management in Cambodia, by both the state and the private sector, is not yet up to international standards.

“A Secretary of State of the Ministry of Industry, Mines, and Energy, Mr. Ith Prang, said during the closing of a workshop at the Phnom Penh Hotel on 6 August 2009, ‘The ministry and the Royal Government of Cambodia intend to manage electricity use both in the state and in the private sector to meet standards like in modern countries such as America, Canada, China, Japan, and Russia. Therefore, from now on, we have to strengthen and study also hydro-electricity standards at the present time, so that they comply with international standards.’

“Mr. Ith Prang added that now, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is drafting detailed electrical technical standard recommendations for the field of civil construction, and also for electrical technology and for hydro-electric establishments in Cambodia.’

“According to the Deputy Director of the Department of Energy of the Ministry of Industry, Mines, and Energy, Mr. Bun Narith, at present, the management and the usage of electricity in Cambodia do not follow proper standards, including the general use of energy, the connection of electricity from place to place, the building of different construction elements along the roads where electric posts are planted etc… ‘These are problems that we need to improve in the future.’

“The head of the Department of Hydro-Electricity of the Ministry of Industry, Mines, and Energy, Mr. Much Chhun Hon, said that care has to be taken so that the production, dispatch, distribution, and use of electricity are effective and safe, and the means for these activities, including all tools and materials, must be handled under real, proper standards, both in state and in private services.”

Deum Ampil, Vol.3, #256, 7.8.2009
Newspapers Appearing on the Newsstand:
Friday, 7 August 2009

New challenges to ASEAN

http://www.thejakartapost.com

Andy Rachmianto , Jakarta Sat, 08/08/2009

On Aug. 8, 2009, ASEAN will celebrate its 42nd anniversary. It is quite natural that when celebrating its anniversary, ASEAN should ask itself what has been achieved and what should be done in the future. The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) made a historic move when its leaders adopted the ASEAN Charter in Singapore in 2007.

At the Singapore Summit, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the ASEAN Charter could be the catalyst for speeding up and strengthening regional integration, and could enhance the process by which ASEAN transforms from a loose association to an ASEAN community. It also provides for an elevation of ASEAN into a rule-based and people-centered organization with a legal personality that rests on the pillars of political-security cooperation, economic cooperation and sociocultural cooperation.

The charter is based on the principles of respecting fundamental freedoms, the promotion and protection of human rights, the promotion of social justice and the upholding of the United Nations Charter and international law.

However, following its adoption, some people representing civil society have criticized the charter. Some even argue the charter is irrelevant as it does not reflect "the ideals of ASEAN".

To some extent, this assessment may be correct, taking into account that there is no provision in the charter that clearly mentions the involvement of "the people" and the establishment of any institutionalized mechanism allowing civil society to contribute to ASEAN's decision making process.

More importantly, is whether ASEAN really can act together in facing future challenges at the regional level, including its own internal problems such as the tension between Thailand and Cambodia over the Preah Vihear Temple, overlapping territorial claims in the South China Sea or the problematic regime in Myanmar? How ASEAN will react to ongoing global crises such as climate change, energy security, food security and financial crises? Or how will ASEAN respond to the newly emerging regional architecture in the Asia Pacific, especially with the rise of China and India as regional powers?

The current regional architecture in the Asia Pacific is really a major challenge for ASEAN. Following the establishment of ASEAN, there are now other pillars of regional mechanisms that exist in the region, namely: the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the ASEAN Regional forum (ARF), the ASEAN Plus Three (APT) with China, Japan and Korea and the East Asian Summit (EAS). Since ASEAN as a group has been actively involved in all these regional mechanisms, ASEAN can only play its role if its members can cooperate more cohesively to solve the aforementioned internal problems in the region.

But how will ASEAN be able to play a convergent role among all these regional mechanisms? The answer is clear; it is necessary to consolidate all the existing regional mechanisms in order to avoid duplication in terms of focus of cooperation and activities. For instance, which forum or mechanism should deal with social and economic cooperation and which one should be responsible for strategic political and security dialogue.

There is another serious challenge that ASEAN needs to deal with in the future - the institutional-building of a new regional architecture in the Asia Pacific. For the last few years, at least, among Track-Two communities, the idea of shaping a new East Asian institution as an overarching body for strategic dialogues and security cooperation has been thoroughly discussed. In their views, if it is based on size, population, GDP and strategic importance, the new institution or mechanism should not be a large group. Countries that would be eligible to join this new grouping are Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the US. They will be called the G-8 for East Asia.

But in order to make this grouping reliable as a future concert of power in East Asia, ASEAN as a group should be included, at least be represented by the chair and the secretary-general of ASEAN. Although it is not likely this new regional architecture will come into being in the near future, ASEAN should still be able to respond once the discussion of this new idea becomes more official in the region.

In this context, the proposal made by the Australian prime minister on the establishment of an Asia-Pacific community is an indication that a process leading to a totally new overarching regional architecture in the Asia Pacific has already started.

Behind Kevin Rudd's idea is a regional institution that spans the entire Asia Pacific region and is capable of engaging in a full spectrum of dialogue, cooperation and action on economic and political matters and future security challenges. The proposal was also aimed at overcoming the compartmentalization of existing regional institutions by creating an effective leadership forum where major political, economic and security issues can be dealt with holistically rather than piecemeal.

Therefore, sooner or later, ASEAN should be ready to respond to it. Happy anniversary!