Life Chiropractic College West Provides Chiropractic Care During Cambodian Mission Trip

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Life West News

Hayward, California -- Kim Khauv, a doctor of chiropractic and faculty member and alumnus from Life Chiropractic College West, led a team of twelve college interns who traveled to rural parts of Cambodia to provide chiropractic care. Over the course of two weeks in December 2009 they provided care to over 1500 patients, many of whom where children in orphanages and the sick and elderly in local villages.

This marks the first chiropractic mission trip to Cambodia from Life West. Arrangements were made with cooperation from government officials, village leaders and orphanage directors. The Life West team was joined by volunteer organizer, Aireen Navarro, and volunteer doctors, Amy Vevoda, D.C., and Nathan Clem, D.C., both from Seattle, Washington.

The trip had been a long-held dream by Dr. Khauv, whose family fled Cambodia in 1981 after the Khmer Rouge, a faction of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, began an agricultural reform leading to widespread famine and genocide between 1975 and 1979. After earning his graduate degree as a doctor of chiropractic and a master's degree in public health, he began a non-profit organization, Well-Balanced World, with the sole intention of returning to his homeland and bringing chiropractic to his fellow countrymen.

Dr. Khauv is very grateful to have the opportunity to go back to Cambodia and offer healing to many who have little or no access to any health care. He states, "I sincerely appreciate Life West for their support. The devoted doctors and dedicated interns who came along allowed me to live out my dream of bringing chiropractic to Cambodia." He is planning the next mission trip for December 2010 with the intention of increasing the number of locations and the number of patients served.

Life West, established in 1976, is an accredited non-profit institution of higher learning. Currently over 400 students from across the United States and abroad are enrolled, and over 3,700 graduates of Life West are now providing chiropractic care worldwide. The college's Health Center, a public outpatient facility staffed by approximately 150 senior interns who are guided by licensed doctors of chiropractic, provides affordable health care to more than 1,500 patients per week in the city of Hayward, California. The college and Health Center maintain a Web site at http://www.lifewest.edu/.

DAP News ; Breaking News by Soy Sopheap

Leopard Capital Completes Fundraising for Leopard Cambodia Fund LP, and Launches Two Sri Lanka Funds

Wednesday, 20 January 2010 08:10 DAP-NEWS/ Ek Madra

PHNOM PENH-Leopard Capital announces that Leopard Cambodia Fund LP, Cambodia’s first multi-sector investment fund, achieved its final closing on December 31, 2009.

The Fund received $34,135,000 of committed capital from over 100 investors around the world, including pension, family office, and individual investors, said the release obtained by DAP.

The Fund’s initial closing was April 2, 2008. It has since made five investment commitments in Cambodia, representing over 40% of its capital.

The Fund’s portfolio thus far includes investments in rice production (Cambodia Plantations), mobile telecommunications (CamGSM), beer brewing (Kingdom Breweries), power transmission (Greenside Holdings), and residential property development (Angkor Residences).

The Fund’s Manager is in advanced negotiations on several other investment proposals and expects that the Fund may be fully invested during 2010. Leopard Cambodia Fund is managed by Leopard Capital Cambodia Ltd.

Douglas Clayton, CEO of Leopard Capital, commented “it was challenging to raise a first-time fund like this during a global financial crisis but we think the timing will turn out to be very fortunate,” said the release.

“The volume and quality of investment proposals we’re getting has exceeded our expectations, and we’re pleased with the diversified portfolio we’re building.”

“We hope that the performance of Leopard Cambodia Fund will help change global perceptions about investing in Cambodia,” he said in the press release.

Leopard Capital also announces that its subsidiary Leopard Capital Sri Lanka Ltd. plans to start fundraising this Quarter for Leopard Sri Lanka Fund (for private equity) and Leopard Sri Lanka Value Fund (for public equity), it said.

Both funds will be managed by Leopard Capital Sri Lanka Ltd., whose Managing Partners are Nirosh De Silva, Ramanan Govindasamy, Douglas Clayton, Kenneth Stevens, and Thomas Hugger.

Leopard Sri Lanka Fund has a fundraising target of $100 million and a 10 year lifespan. The Fund will invest in unlisted companies in Sri Lanka, typically taking minority positions. It aims to help fund the post-war development of Sri Lanka’s economy by investing in sectors such as tourism, consumer goods, seafood processing, agriculture, and manufacturing.

The Fund is advised by an Advisory Council headed by Dr. Marc Faber, publisher of the widely-respected Gloom Boom and Doom Report. The expected launch date for this fund is 1st April 2010.

Leopard Sri Lanka Value Fund is an open-ended fund with an initial fundraising target of $30 million. It will invest in a diversified portfolio of companies listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange which the Manager considers underpriced by fundamental measures, including under-researched smaller companies. The launch date for this Fund is scheduled for 1st February 2010.

Leopard Capital LP manages investment funds in Asian frontier markets. By providing well-timed access into overlooked, post-conflict and pre-emerging economies, it seeks to capture excess returns.

Leopard Capital was founded in 2007 by Douglas Clayton as a partnership of financial professionals with lengthy investment experience in Asian emerging markets. Leopard Capital is based in the Cayman Islands and has affiliated offices in Hong Kong, Phnom Penh, and Colombo.

UN, Cambodia Agree to New Human Rights Rep

Wednesday, 20 January 2010 05:54 DAP-NEWS

The UN Special Human Rights Rapporteur Surya Prasad Subedi on Tuesday met with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen for over two hours at the National Assembly.

Both sides agreed to create a representative of human rights NGOs to work with the government to assess the situation of human rights in the country, Om Yen Tieng, head of the Committee of Human Rights of Cambodia, told reporters at the NA.

“Cambodia is not heaven of human rights and also is not hell of human rights,” he added.

Nepali national Subedi told reporters that “we hope the situation of human rights will progress for the better for this year.” Subedi is the fourth UN human rights official to Cambodia but the last three encountered many difficulties in working with the government. Subedi will be in Cambodia from January 18 to 30 and plans to meet NGO leaders and governmental officials.

He also will look into the roles of the NA and judiciary, including the Supreme Council of Magistracy and the Constitutional Council, and ensure checks and balances on the power of the executive, human rights and promote and protect democratic development, according to a UN statement.

Most Khmers in US Support Hun Sen: Soy Sopheap

Wednesday, 20 January 2010 05:52 DAP-NEWS

DAP Media Center Director-General Soy Sopheap has claimed that most Cambodians in the US support Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen’s policies, even those who previously supported the two main opposition parties, the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) and the Human Rights Party (HRP).

His remarks came after he led a DAP delegation to the US to meet and chat with Cambodians living in the US. Soy Sopheap and Mayarith, DAP Radio Director, are to arrive back in Cambodia at 11 am on January 22.

“The Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) branch in Philadelphia, US will hold a special dinner party for me and Mayarith before we leave here,” Soy Sopheap told DAP News Cambodia on Tuesday.

Soy Sopheap said his trip to the US was to seek understanding of US-based Cambodians and garner their support for Cambodia’s agriculture sector, especially rice exports.

He claimed that most people who before supported the SRP’s Sam Rainsy and the HRP’s Kem Sokha have lessened or withdrawn their support and instead backed the premier’s policies.

“The people here are confident in the premier’s policy in protecting Preah Vihear temple,” Soy Sopheap said, adding that many wished to find out about the human rights situation and the state of democracy.

According to Soy Sopheap, many have expressed a desire to return to Cambodia as the country is increasingly under the leadership of Hun Sen.

SRP Lawmakers Visit Detained Villagers

Wednesday, 20 January 2010 05:51 DAP-NEWS

Lawmakers from the opposition Sam Rainsy Party on tuesday visited and met the two suspects detained in Svay Rieng provincail prison.

“The prison head allowed three of us and other two villagers to visit and meet with the detained villagers at the prison on Tuesday morning,” Chea Poch, SRP lawmaker told DAP News Cambodia yesterday. The permission letter reached the SRP main office in Phnom Penh on Monday evening.

The three lawmakers – Yim Sovann, Keo Sovanaroth, and Tioulong Samura, Sam Rainsy’s wife – were allowed to visit the detainees who allegedly pulled up Vietnamese border markers with SRP leader Sam Rainsy on October 25, 2009. The lawmakers visited the detainees at 10 am and left at 10:30 am.

The lawmakers after went to Kosh Kbal Kandal village, Samrong commune, Chantrea district to check the border markers.

The provincial court will hold a trial on January 27, 2010.

Economy Grew 2.1 Percent in 2009: NBC

Wednesday, 20 January 2010 05:49 DAP-NEWS

The National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) on Monday announced that economic growth is expected at 3 percent in 2010, claiming that 2009 saw 2.1 percent, despite many other organizations well-researched data suggesting that the economy contracted.

“Economic activities have been strengthened to support the economic growth and the government is pushing the policy for growth,” said Chea Chanto, NBC governor, at a meeting to review 2009. “The government is using the soft policy to deal the impacts from the global economic crisis and prevent the measures to challenging factors and strengthen the banking system in the country to guarantee the stable macro economy,’ he added .

“Generally, the banking system in Cambodia is processing in smooth ways and currently we have 27 commercial banks and 6 special banks, and three foreign banks in operation,” he said, claiming that the global economic crisis has not impacted Cambodia seriously.

He said that investment in Cambodia fell in 2009 to US$600 million from US$800 million in 2008.

The 2009 US$70.2 million foreign reserves had dropped about 79.7 percent from 2008, he said. He said that inflation decreased to 5.3 percent in the last six months of 2009 and lauded the potential of agriculture.

Finance Minister Lauds Budget Reform

Wednesday, 20 January 2010 05:48 DAP-NEWS

Deputy Prime Minister, Finance and Economic Minister on tuesday said the allocation of the National Budget is getting better despite the downturn.

Keat Chhon said in the fourth year of Finance Public Reform was assessed at a January 16-17 meeting at Sokha Hotel in Preah Sihanouk province. The result of meeting will help the economic recovery next year, the minister added.

“We had six steps toward to achieve the goal in plan as the first reform in stage 1 and 2 to get benefit and store, the second accountability will be changed in the stage 2 and so far to be struggle to get win, the third agreement on targets and set strategies to related appropriate frameworks, and to ongoing to touch its implementation, the fourth set target activities and work plan to be logical aims, the fifth quick agreement on FMIS and marketing linked, the last discussed on the EAP to be better for all recommendations were suggested,” the Finance and Economic Minister stressed.

Foreign Paedophile Convicted

Wednesday, 20 January 2010 05:46 DAP-NEWS

Phnom Penh Municipal Court on tuesday sentenced a foreign paedophile to for 6-and-a-half years in prison for oral sex with Cambodian less than 15 years at a guesthouse of Preah Sihanouk province during 2007.

Judge Chhay Kong jailed Johan Abrahim Escori on Tuesday for committing indecent acts and having sexual intercourse with the boys, who were aged nine to 13. The convicted man was arrested by Daun Penh local police at International Angkor Hotel of Central Market’s bloc, a local police source said.

Viking launches biking tour to Cambodia, Thailand

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20/01/2010

VietNamNet Bridge – Viking Travel and Media in HCMC has just launched a special tour to Cambodia and Thailand by bicycle, with the first tour to start from the city on March 15.

The tour will be highly challenging for tourists, who will have to ride 960 kilometers for nine days on end from HCMC before ending up in Bangkok, where they will have the tenth day for rest and shopping before flying back to HCMC on the last day.

Under the 11-day itinerary, travelers will ride for 111 kilometers from HCMC to Tay Ninh Province’s Moc Bai border gate to Cambodia’s Svay Rieng on the first day. The next legs will be 105 kilometers from Svay Rieng to Phnom Penh, 140 kilometers from Phnom Penh to Chamka Luong, 150 kilometers from Chamka Luong to Koh Kong, and 110 kilometers from Koh Kong to Trat in Thailand.

Then they will travel on for 80 kilometers from Trat to Chanthaburi, 100 kilometers from Chanthaburi to Rayong, 54 kilometers from Rayong to Pattaya and finally 110 kilometers from Pattaya to Bangkok.

The tour costs US$550 per traveler, excluding an air ticket from Bangkok to HCMC costing around US$200 to 250 per passenger. Tourists will travel on their own bicycles, said Tran Xuan Hung, director of the company.

“We have 12 passengers to departure on March 15. Almost all travelers are businessmen who love biking tours and have experience of biking,” Hung said.

He said such travelers have traveled to the Central region and Hanoi by bicycles and wanted to try their strength on the new route. The travelers use two-star hotel services only.

“This tour is really challenging. In some days, travelers must ride all day long, and even have to start at 5:00 am and ride for 150 kilometers,” he said.

The tour operator only accepts bookings from visitors who have experiences of biking and good health.

VietNamNet/SGT

Nobel Laureate: Human Resource is the Major Problem Facing Cambodia

By Im Sothearith, VOA Khmer

Original report from Washington

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As other developing countries in the world, the major problem facing Cambodia is the serious lack of human resources for the country’s development, according to Professor David Jonathan Gross, a Nobel Laureate for Physics.

Prof. Gross said through his lecture and dialogue with some participants and people he met, he observes that there are quite a lot of brilliant young people in Cambodia, which will be important for Cambodia’s future development, but the most important thing is whether they are given opportunity to develop their skills.

“It’s a major problem - human resources,” Gross said in a phone interview with VOA Khmer during his visit to Cambodia’s Siem Reap province. “I’ve met a lot of very hopeful people. You know that’s the most important thing. People are very optimistic about the future. Cambodia has a lot of great resources. I have a lot of faith in young people, very brilliant young minds that could do great things just given the opportunity. I have tried to tell them that they should dream big. I have talked to people about giving young people opportunity.”

Prof. Gross is a Nobel Laureate for Physics in 2004. He has discovered and explored the force that binds particles inside an atomic nucleus. This phenomenon led to a whole new physical theory and enabled scientists to complete the standard model of particle physics, which describes the fundamental particles in nature, and how they interact with one another.

Gross said there are two kinds of human resources. While the majority of people are just working forces, others have special talents and great minds, who make great contributions to the country’s development. This kind of people should be given special opportunity.

"And then, very gifted people, whose minds you really don’t want to waste and who will contribute very important contributions to the society,’’ Prof. Gross said. ‘’And it’s important to make sure you don’t lose those really special people, and you give them opportunities. You will have to enable them to go abroad. It’s also important to identify very brilliant people and give them special opportunities because those people can make important contributions.”

Chek Chan Oeun, a physics lecturer at Royal University of Phnom Penh, who participated in the Professor Gross’s lecture, said the lecture paves the way for participants, especially for students to a broader scientific research and open their minds to how science can help social development.

“Through this lecture, we have acquired some knowledge related to universe, dark energy, dark materials, and the evolution of the universe,” Chek Chan Oeun said. “In addition, it encourages students to find out what has been discovered by scientists, what is still unknown, and what they are doing to help the world.”

“In the future I want to be like him and discover new things to meet the needs of the world,” said Sun Limhour, a 4th year student in physics department of Royal University of Phnom Penh. “I have loved electronics since I was young. It is a true science.”

The visit by Prof. David Jonathan Gross intends to strengthen the relationship among nations in Southeast Asia and ASEAN with the rest of the world, according to the organizer.

“It’s our aim really to build these bridges not only with Nobel laureates from the United States or Europe and the societies here in Southeast Asia, but between the societies in ASEAN to reach more cooperation on the level of education because education as we think is basic for peace and that’s why we are doing this program at the universities and at schools here in Cambodia and also in other countries in the region,” said Morawetz, director of International Peace Foundation.

Born in Washington, D.C., Professor David Jonathan Gross, received his undergraduate degree from Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 1962 and then continued his education at University of California, Berkley, from where he received his Ph.D. in physics in 1966. He then served as a junior fellow at Harvard University. Professor Gross is now a director and holder of the Frederick W. Gluck Chair in Theoretical Physics at the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics of the University of California in Santa Barbara and a member of the Advisory Board of the Intentional Peace Foundation.

As part of the “Bridges” program by the International Peace Foundation, the next Nobel Laureate who will pay a visit to Cambodia on January 20 is Professor Eric Stark Maskin, a 2007 Nobel Laureate for Economics.

Cambodia’s Roads Claim Over 1,600 Lives Annually

By Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer

Washington

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Cambodia’s road accidents have killed more people than countries in the region, claiming more than 1,600 lives annually and are on the rise, a traffic police official said Thursday.

“The figures that we have received are worrying,” said Pol. Maj. Chev Hak, deputy chief of Phnom Penh municipality police, on Hello VOA. “The rates of road accidents are still high compared to other countries in the region.”

Cambodia recorded 10,015 accidents that killed 1,638 people in 2008 due to over-speed driving, drunk driving, violation of rights of way, and not respecting traffic signs.

“Nationwide the number of traffic accidents has increased steadily by six percent annually since 2006,” said Chev Hak.

However, in the country’s capital Phnom Penh, where some two million people reside the number of road accidents, has reduced slightly.

In 2009, there were 639 cases reported with 210 people dead, a slight decrease compared to 2008 where 700 cases were reported with 266 people killed.

“It is important that drivers should not drink alcohol,” said Meas Chandy, another guest speaker from Handicap International Belgium, a non-governmental organization that provides technical support to Cambodian police and traffic education to Cambodians.

Vietnam helps Cambodia build guard headquarters

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01/20/2010

Deputy Minister of Defence Sen. Lieut. Gen. Nguyen Van Duoc on January 19 attended the inauguration ceremony of the Cambodian Guard Forces’ Headquarters, which was built with assistance from Vietnam.

At the event, Cambodia Defence Minister Tea Banh thanked the Vietnamese army and people for providing practical assistance to Cambodia.

He said that both countries have built a long-lasting friendship, which was specially demonstrated in the 1970s and 1980s when Vietnam helped Cambodia drive away the Pol Pot genocidal regime.

In his speech, Deputy Minister Duoc affirmed that Vietnam and Cambodia have stood shoulder to shoulder to overcome numerous difficulties and win victories.

This relationship has developed constantly and become a valuable asset of the two nations, said Mr Duoc, adding that solidarity and cooperation is a decisive factor behind the victory of the struggle for national liberation of each nation.

The headquarters of the Cambodian Guard Forces covers 10 hectares in capital Phnom Penh.

Cambodia jails Swede for sex with adopted son

http://www.smh.com.au/
January 20, 2010
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A Cambodian court has sentenced a Swedish man to six-and-a-half years in prison for having sex with three underaged boys, including his adopted son.

Judge Chhay Kong says Johan Brahim Escori, 62, was convicted on Tuesday on charges of illegal sexual intercourse with his nine-year-old adopted son and indecent acts with two other boys.

He also ordered Escori to pay a four million riel ($1040) fine and be expelled from Cambodia after serving his sentence.

Lax law enforcement and poverty have made Cambodia a prime destination for foreigners seeking sex with minors. But police working with social activists have stepped up efforts to fight the crime, and several foreigners are serving lengthy prison terms.

AP

Tribunal outreach efforts

Photo by: Pha Lina

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Wednesday, 20 January 2010 15:03 Pha Lina

A guide at Tuol Sleng prison conducts a tour of the facility organised by the public affairs team at the Khmer Rouge tribunal on Tuesday morning. The court has been leading such outings, which also take participants to the court and to the killing fields at Choeung Ek, since September.

Helmet use spotty at best: experts

Photo by: Rick Valenzuela

Cheng Samnang retrieves a checked-in helmet for a shopper Tuesday at Sorya Shopping Centre, where the lot guard said most drivers do not have helmets. One year ago, municipal traffic police began enforcing a law requiring motorbike drivers to wear helmets.

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Wednesday, 20 January 2010 15:05 Cameron Wells and Brooke Lewis

One year after its implementation, the helmet rule is still hindered by spotty police enforcement

LAST month, Chea Mengly, a 29-year-old construction site superviser, was driving his motorbike along Street 63 in Prampi Makara district at night when a car swerved in his direction and cut him off. Minutes before, he had removed his safety helmet to answer his cell phone.

“I had my helmet on at first, but because I had a phone call I took it off,” he said. “I wanted to speed up to pass the car, but instead I crashed into a cyclo. The driver was sleeping in the middle of the street.”

The collision threw him from his bike, and his face hit the pavement when he landed. He fell unconscious, but sustained only minor injuries.

“I got some scratches on my face. I can’t believe that I fell unconscious but was not seriously injured,” he said.

Since then, he has vowed never to go without a helmet when he drives, but not everyone on the roads is so safety-conscious.

As Interior Ministry officials meet this morning to discuss the efficacy of the Land Traffic Law, road safety experts have expressed renewed concern that an amendment adopted a year ago requiring all motorbike drivers to wear helmets has been largely ignored. The amendment calls for violators to be fined 3,000 riels (about US$0.75 ).

Despite the heavy publicity campaigns that were tied to the amendment’s adoption, compliance has been lacklustre, and it has failed to reduce the number of traffic fatalities over the past 12 months, according to government statistics.

The total number of deaths on the Kingdom’s roads climbed from 1,572 in 2008 to 1,654 in 2009, according to Him Yan, the director of the Ministry of Interior’s Public Order Department.

Experts argue that the effectiveness of the helmet amendment has been hindered by spotty enforcement, a trend they say bodes poorly for the prospect of implementing other traffic reforms, such as crackdowns on speeding and drunken driving.

“The key risk factors in injuries are not wearing helmets, drink-driving and speeding, so that’s what [the government has] been focusing on,” said Ryan Duly, a road safety adviser for Handicap International Belgium.

“But a lot more needs to be done. More resources and police are needed long term – the government needs to commit to long-term enforcement and think in years, rather than months. For behaviour to change, that is key.”

The helmet amendment was accompanied by a strong enforcement campaign, at least at first. On January 1, 2009, the day it went into effect, police reported nabbing 120 violators. A few months later, in a speech delivered on May 19 at the Interior Ministry, no less an authority than Prime Minister Hun Sen bemoaned the fact that compliance with the amendment appeared to be on the decline and called for an additional amendment that would empower police to confiscate motorbikes ridden by drivers without helmets.

The attention from government officials seemed to be effective. Helmet use by drivers in the capital – which had already been on the rise, climbing from 9 percent in 2004 to 24 percent in 2008, according to figures from the National Road Safety Commission – skyrocketed, reaching 85 percent in August.

Since then, however, official interest in the amendment has been limited, road safety experts say.

Jeroen Stol, country director for Handicap International Belgium, said the number of drivers wearing helmets had lagged in recent months in particular.

“It looked very promising back in August, but helmet use is decreasing at the moment,” Stol said. “It has to do with enforcement, I believe. People think, ‘I can get away with not wearing a helmet, so why should’I?”

Photo by: Rick Valenzuela

Motorbike riders turn the corner from Kampuchea Krom Boulevard north onto Monivong Boulevard on Tuesday.

Full force of law not felt

Even when police have launched crackdowns, violators have not faced all of the penalties outlined in the law. Failure to wear a helmet is defined as a minor offence under Article 88 of the law, along with driving while talking on a cell phone, driving with a defunct speedometer and using a horn “incorrectly”. All minor offences are supposed to result in a one-point violation from a driver’s “score card”, which is supposed to be issued at the same time as a driver’s licence. Each score card, according to the law, should have a total of 12 points, and a deduction of all 12 points should result in revocation of the licence.

But Duly said the scorecard system had not yet been implemented, and that he could not predict when it would begin.

Chev Hak, deputy chief of the municipal Traffic Police, said Tuesday that officials were fully committed to enforcing the helmet rule, adding that night deployments of police officers had been in effect sporadically since August 2009 in part for this purpose.

“Enforcement of the law will continue because people will get back into their old habits if we stop,” he said.

Looking ahead, HIB has been lobbying the Ministry of Public Works and Transport to implement an amendment that would increase fines for drivers caught without helmets, establish minimum safety standards for helmets and force passengers to wear them as well.

The September 2009 Ministry of Health Survey found that only 9.8 percent of passengers on national roads and 8.5 percent of passengers in urban areas were wearing helmets. According to figures from the Road Traffic Accident and Victim Information System, passengers accounted for 11 percent of casualties in the first few months of 2009, with children among the most vulnerable.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY THARUM BUN

Jailed villagers visited by SRP

Photo by: Heng Chivoan

Police in Svay Rieng province set up a barricade to prevent some Sam Rainsy Party lawmakers from visiting villagers awaiting trial in connection with an October border protest.

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Wednesday, 20 January 2010 15:05 Meas Sokchea

Svay Rieng province

LAWMAKERS from the opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP)on Tuesday were allowed to visit imprisoned Svay Rieng province villagers accused of helping to tear out border posts along the Cambodia-Vietnam frontier – in what they called a last-ditch effort to draw publicity to the issue ahead of a trial scheduled for next week.

While police had originally pledged to block Tuesday’s visit, three SRP lawmakers and two family members were allowed into the provincial prison.

Party spokesman Yim Sovann said accused villagers Prom Chea and Meas Srey called for their release.

“They have done nothing wrong at all,” Yim Sovann told reporters waiting outside.

“When they lost their land, it meant that they lost their rice fields. I think today the world and Cambodia will be aware of the suffering of the two victims in prison.”

Council of Ministers Spokesman Phay Siphan suggested that Tuesday’s visit was purely a publicity stunt. “It’s so strange to attract the media to talk about these people,” he said.

“Visiting [your supporters] in jail may be the right thing to do. But keeping them from jail in the first place is better. They should not be inciting people to do things that are against the law.”

Prom Chea and Meas Srey are awaiting trial in connection with an October incident in which they allegedly assisted opposition leader Sam Rainsy in uprooting border markers. Sam Rainsy has claimed that the markers were evidence that Vietnamese authorities were encroaching on Cambodian soil.

Svay Rieng provincial court has charged the opposition leader with racial incitement and destroying public property. A total of five villagers were also charged in the case, though three are on the run. Sam Rainsy remains out of the country.

After the visit to the prison, SRP lawmakers brought reporters to a nearby border area where Yim Sovann said Vietnamese officials had removed border markers.

“They’re aware that if they do not remove the markers, maybe more and more Cambodian people will ask the government to investigate,” Yim Sovann said.

“They removed them to eliminate evidence.”

Phnom Trop becomes a flashpoint

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Wednesday, 20 January 2010 15:05 Cheang Sokha

CAMBODIAN and Thai military commanders are scheduled to meet for negotiations today after Thai troops asked Cambodian forces to retreat from a border area near Preah Vihear temple, military officials said.

Yim Phim, the commander of Royal Cambodian Armed Forces Brigade 8, said RCAF General Srey Doek will meet with his Thai counterparts to discuss the disagreement and assert Cambodia’s claim to the Phnom Trop area, located adjacent to the temple in the disputed zone claimed by both Cambodia and Thailand.

“Thai troops are dreaming if they think Cambodian soldiers will move away from that area,” Yim Phim said. “We will not move forward or back.”

Yim Phim said Cambodian and Thai troops at Phnom Trop discussed the potential withdrawal of troops from the area this past weekend for about two hours. Though they did not reach a solution, the situation remains calm, he said.

Colonel Meas Yoeun, RCAF deputy military commander for Preah Vihear province, said Thailand has been repositioning its troops recently, but added that the movements are no cause for alarm.

“We have not been surprised by the movements of the Thai troops,” Meas Yoeun said. “Soldiers on the battlefield are like the boxers in the ring – always moving around.”

Om Yentieng, chairman of the government’s Human Rights Committee, told reporters on Tuesday that at a meeting between Prime Minister Hun Sen and Surya Subedi, the UN’s special rapporteur for human rights in Cambodia, Subedi expressed support for the Kingdom’s protection of its territorial sovereignty.

“[Subedi] assured Samdech Hun Sen that Cambodia is not isolated in this matter,” Om Yentieng said. “The UN will support Cambodia in defending Cambodian territory.”

Subedi also offered his support for Cambodia’s membership in UNESCO, Om Yentieng added.

After talking with PM, UN rights envoy cites human rights progress

Photo by: Sovan Philong

UN human rights envoy Surya Subedi meets with Prime Minister Hun Sen on Tuesday at the National Assembly during his second official visit to Cambodia.

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Wednesday, 20 January 2010 15:04 Vong Sokheng

THE UN’s human rights envoy to Cambodia said progress had been made on human rights issues in the Kingdom, following talks with Prime Minister Hun Sen at the National Assembly on Tuesday.

“We discussed a wide range of human rights issues. We have been making progress on freedom of expression and the NGO law, land evictions and the cooperation between civil society and the government,” Surya Subedi, the UN’s special rapporteur for human rights in Cambodia, told reporters after the meeting.

“I will not go into individual specific allegations of human rights violations. We are looking at the total picture of the human rights situation in Cambodia.”

Subedi arrived in Cambodia on Monday for a 12-day visit to examine the functioning of the National Assembly and judiciary, and probe the current human rights situation in the Kingdom, according to a statement released by the UN on Friday. The visit, Subedi’s second, comes following a similar mission in June.

Subedi said that though there are a number of human rights issues that remain a concern in Cambodia, his discussion with the prime minister was cordial.

He described as positive the government’s stated goal of strengthening the country’s human rights mechanisms, ultimately leading to the establishment of an independent Human Rights Commission to monitor human rights issues throughout the country.

Subedi and Hun Sen also both approved of the idea of an election to select a civil society representative who could liaise directly with the government over issues of concern, said Om Yentieng, head of the government’s Human Rights Committee.

“The two sides have opened their hearts in a dialogue about the development of the human rights situation, and Prime Minister Hun Sen agreed with Subedi’s idea of calling on the NGOs in Cambodia to elect their representative in order to facilitate dialogue with the government,” he said.

He added: “I think that Subedi is in a transitional period and wants to get some ideas from Hun Sen in order for the UN to help support Cambodia on human rights issues.”

Attack spurs call for acid laws

Photo by: Photo Supplied

Acid attack victim Yun Sarun, who police say was doused with acid on Monday by his wife, receives treatment for serious injuries he sustained to his face and upper body.

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Wednesday, 20 January 2010 15:04 Mom Kunthear and Tep Nimol

LOCAL rights groups are renewing calls for authorities to regulate the sale of acid in the Kingdom, in the wake of another violent attack that has left a man with serious injuries to his face.

Police have identified the most recent victim as Yun Sarun, 33, who was doused with acid on Monday as he was sleeping. Investigators have accused the victim’s wife of pouring the corrosive liquid over her husband’s face in a fit of jealous rage.

“His wife was very angry with her husband because he loved another woman,” said Khat Khuntith, an officer with the Boeung Kak II commune police.

Yun Sarun was being treated for serious injuries to his face and upper body at Preah Kossamak hospital Tuesday.

“The acid was poured onto his face, and it flowed until it reached his waist. It looks like a burn from a fire,” Khat Khuntith said. “Both his eyes and his mouth are swollen … but he can open his eyes and see everyone around him.”

The policeman questioned how the victim’s attacker was able to buy so much acid, which, in concentrated form, can eat through human skin, muscle and bones.

“I wonder why the acid-seller sold acid to the buyer without asking what she planned to use that acid for,” Khat Khuntith said. “I have often seen people buying acid, but not for their motors or machinery.”

Regulate acid: groups

This week’s attack prompted further outcry from rights groups that have long decried the ease with which people are able to purchase acid in the Kingdom.

“Cambodia has to create a law to control the use of acid,” said Am Sam Ath, senior monitor with the rights group Licadho, who warned that incidences of acid attacks will only increase in the absence of policy changes.

But Khieu Sopheak, spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, said the importance of acid in people’s daily lives – for use in car or motorcycle batteries, for example – makes it difficult to manage.

“It is difficult to create a law to control the use of acid,” he said. “We cannot ask buyers what they are buying the acid for.”

The attack on Yun Sarun added to the recent spate of reported acid attacks, which appear to have increased dramatically in recent months.

The Cambodian Acid Survivor’s Charity counted at least five such attacks nationwide in December alone – a figure that represents roughly half of the attacks the group had tallied for the entire year up until that point.

POLICE KILLING: Three men charged in cop’s death

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Wednesday, 20 January 2010 15:04 Chrann Chamroeun

POLICE KILLING

Three men were charged with premeditated murder in Kampong Cham provincial court on Tuesday in connection with the January 4 killing of a narcotics officer, court officials said. Yuk Rath Mony, an officer for the Kampong Cham provincial Anti-Drug Trafficking Bureau, was shot six times and beaten to death in an unknown location before his body was locked inside his Lexus SUV, found in Choeung Prey district about 100 metres from National Road 6 on January 4. Two of the accused are in police custody: Chhorn Sochea, a nephew of one of the victim’s two wives, and Soam Bolly, the victim’s brother-in-law. Both were arrested on Saturday in Kampong Cham town.

NGOs want larger role in national planning

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Wednesday, 20 January 2010 15:04 Sebastian Strangio

CIVIL society representatives have called on the government to allow for more input on Cambodia’s national planning process, repeating earlier criticisms that NGOs were not given enough of an opportunity to help shape the draft National Strategic Development Plan Update for 2009-13 (NSDP).

Chith Sam Ath, executive director of the NGO Forum in Cambodia, said the three-week period slated for civil society comment on the NSDP draft, which closed on January 14, was too short to be meaningful.

“Sufficient information should be given before consultations take place,” he said during a workshop in Phnom Penh on Tuesday. “In order to ensure the participation is successful, sufficient time should be given.”

The NSDP for 2009-13 – a key planning document that creates a framework for the country’s development – carries forward a similar plan for 2006-10, though it has been adjusted to account for the effects of the global financial crisis, said Theng Pagnathun, deputy director general at the Ministry of Planning.

He said the government’s consultation process over the new draft began last May with the issuing of a circular and the organisation of workshops for its distribution. “There has been the involvement of NGOs, CSOs [civil society organisations] and donors,” he said. “This is the consultation we’ve been having – it’s not perfect.”

The NSDP draft is due to be signed by the King in May or June, at which point it will be disseminated widely, he added.

Emissary to UK slams Bangkok broadsheet

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Wednesday, 20 January 2010 15:04 Sebastian Strangio

CAMBODIA’S ambassador to the United Kingdom has lashed out at the Bangkok Post newspaper for describing him and other senior officials as being of Vietnamese descent, a claim he described as “totally and utterly false and potentially defamatory”.

In a letter to the newspaper’s editor, Pattnapong Chantranontwong, dated Tuesday, Ambassador Hor Nambora expressed outrage at suggestions that he, his father Hor Namhong, who is Cambodia’s foreign minister, and You Ah, the country’s ambassador to Thailand, were ethnic Vietnamese.

“Publishing such false information as if it is fact does no credit to the Bangkok Post and not only damages the credibility of your newspaper, but also the reputation of Thailand on the international stage,” the letter stated.

The article, published on Monday and authored by academic Pavin Chachavalpongpun, noted that it “has been reported widely and much discussed among diplomats in Southeast Asia that many Cambodian ambassadors are of Vietnamese lineage”.

“They are strong allies of Hun Sen and are formidable forces that help strengthen his regime,” he noted.

In the past year, Hor Nambora has also criticised the Financial Times, the Guardian, the BBC and the UK-based corruption watchdog Global Witness for publishing what he claimed were inaccurate reports about the country.

Swedish paedophile found guilty

Photo by: Pha lIna

A hearing in the case of accused American paedophile Harvey Alexander Johnson, 57, (centre) was delayed Tuesday for lack of an interpreter.

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Wednesday, 20 January 2010 15:03 Chrann Chamroeun

PHNOM Penh Municipal Court on Tuesday found a 62-year-old Swedish man guilty of two counts of committing indecent acts and having sex with children, and sentenced him to six-and-a-half years in prison.

Johan Brahim Escori was also ordered to pay a fine of 4 million riels (US$963).

Police arrested Escori last May at a hotel in Phnom Penh’s Daun Penh district, where he was sharing a room with a 9-year-old boy who he claimed was his adopted son.

The arrest followed nearly two years of surveillance by the child protection NGO Action Pour Les Enfants (APLE), which accused the Sihanoukville resident of regularly abusing three underage boys: the 9-year-old found in Escori’s hotel room and two children who sold souvenirs on the beach.

Presiding Judge Chhay Kong said one of the counts for which Escori was convicted was for crimes committed in Phnom Penh, whereas the other was for crimes committed in Sihanoukville.

“This man was convicted of regularly abusing underage boys beginning in 2007, both in Phnom Penh and Preah Sihanouk province,” he said, adding that Escori would be permanently expelled from Cambodia after serving out his prison term. Escori will be credited for the seven months he has already served.

Samleang Seila, APLE’s country director, said he welcomed the court’s decision, which he said “sends a clear, serious message: ‘Do not commit sex crimes in Cambodia’”.

“For this conviction, we must thank the Swedish authorities for sending over documents showing that as early as 1981, this man had already been accused of sexually abusing boys whom he misrepresented as adopted sons,” Samleang Seila said. “This evidence helped ensure that justice was delivered here in Cambodia.”

American’s hearing delayed

Also Tuesday, the first hearing in the case of a 57-year-old American charged with committing indecent acts against a 12-year-old girl was postponed until February 2 because the court could not find an interpreter.

Harvey Alexander Johnson was arrested on August 9 at his rented home in Phnom Penh’s Boeung Kak commune after APLE caseworkers presented authorities with statements by 10 underage girls accusing him of sexual abuse.

“Johnson built up his victims’ trust by giving free English lessons in his home and acting like a kind person,” said Keo Thea, chief of the municipal police’s Anti-Human Trafficking Bureau.

Johnson’s defence lawyer, Dun Vibol, criticised the court for the delay.

“The failure to find an interpreter for my client was the fault of court officials, who knew that my client was unable to afford one on his own,” he said. “It was also a waste of my time, as I am already well-prepared to seek justice on behalf of my client, who is innocent.”

Nobel laureate to push PM on school reform

Photo by: Rick Valenzuela

Economist and Nobel laureate Eric Maskin speaks at the Hotel Cambodiana on Tuesday.

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Wednesday, 20 January 2010 15:03 Ellie Dyer

A NOBEL Prize-winning economist said Tuesday that he intends to discuss the “critical” gap between rich and poor, and emphasise the importance of improving the national education system when he meets with Prime Minister Hun Sen later this week.

Professor Eric Maskin, who won the Nobel Prize for economics in 2007, is scheduled to meet with the premier on Thursday as part of the International Peace Foundation’s “Bridges for Peace” lecture programme.

In an interview Tuesday, he said he believed the rapid economic growth Cambodia experienced prior to the global economic downturn had left the country with a severe skills gap because the rich had disproportionately benefited from access to education.

It will be necessary to close the chasm that resulted in order to improve the Kingdom’s economic prospects, he said.

“I think education is critically important for Cambodia. I don’t think an economy can truly prosper when an equality gap is too high,” he said.

“It can be a socially and politically disruptive force if people are living in such different circumstances, and I’m afraid the gap between rich and poor will continue to grow.”

He added: “I’d like to raise this with Hun Sen. I feel strongly that on the basis of the evidence and the data that education has to be a priority of the government in development.”

Maskin will deliver a lecture titled “Why Global Markets Fail to Reduce Equality” at the University of Cambodia today at 2pm.

Court Protest: Villagers decry arrest of neighbour

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Wednesday, 20 January 2010 15:03 May Titthara

Court Protest

About 100 people gathered in front of Pursat provincial court on Tuesday to protest the detention of a man suspected of robbery, saying that all witnesses to the crime – even the victim – believed the court had wrongly detained him. District police arrested Hai Ol, 47, in Bakan district on January 16 and accused him of robbing a woman of US$500 worth of gold and 20,000 riels ($5) last week. “I dare say that Hai Ol is a good man in the village, and he has never done anything wrong to his neighbours,” said Kuon Yoeun, the chief of Samraong Prey Khiev village, where Hai Ol lives. “Police arrested him without confirming the reason.” Bakan district police chief Pen Tung said the case was no longer under his jurisdiction because it had been transferred to the court, though he defended the arrest. “What we have done is according to evidence found at the scene,” he said.

Mother seeks restitution for drowned son

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Wednesday, 20 January 2010 15:03 Khouth Sophak Chakrya and Tha Piseth

A MOTHER who says her only child drowned while fleeing military police in Kandal province during a raid on a cockfighting arena has demanded US$10,000 in compensation, accusing the officers of preventing bystanders from saving him.

Chan Sophea, 23, drowned when he jumped into a canal in Prek Phnau commune, Ponhea Lue district after police raided a cockfighting arena where he was engaged in illegal gambling last Wednesday.

At her son’s funeral in Photraing Sy pagoda on Monday, Chan Sopheap said she would file a complaint against local military police.

“I will file a complaint to the court against the military police next week demanding US$10,000 compensation,” she said.

Several witnesses told her that police fired shots in the air and threatened to shoot them if they attempted to save her drowning son, she said.

She accused police of “cruel inhumanity” for standing by and watching as her son was drowning.

Sau Sokunthea, deputy chief of the provincial military police said he did not know the man had drowned and denied any wrongdoing by his officers.

“No one from the military police threatened people or authorities. Our job is to ensure the people’s security,” he said.

Tan Si Thon, a cousin of Chan Sophea who witnessed his death, said that police beat him with a metal pole and threatened to shoot him if he tried to save the victim. He also demanded compensation for Chan Sopheap.

Falling prices in December capped a year of deflation

Photo by: PHA LINA

A vendor sells seafood this month at a Phnom Penh market. Falling food prices prompted overall deflation in Cambodia last year.

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The continued month-on-month fall [in CPI] is more surprising."
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Wednesday, 20 January 2010 15:01 Steve Finch

Consumer prices fell 0.7pc, but rise in fuel costs will prompt inflation in 2010

CAMBODIA experienced full-year consumer price index (CPI) deflation of 0.7 percent in 2009, San Sy Than, director general of the National Institute of Statistics (NIS), said Tuesday.

December CPI capped an unusual year for price trends in the Kingdom, as the index fell 0.1 percent month-on-month but jumped 5.3 percent in December on prices a year earlier due to the low base at the end of 2008 – when the global economic crisis began to affect Cambodia, analysts said.

The rate matched a December projection by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which foresaw a 5 percent annual rise in prices year on year, “mainly as base effects from sharp declines in commodity prices fall out of the consumer price index”.

Still, overall inflation was sharply down on 2008, when prices rose in August and September at rates above 20 percent and the economy boomed, at least for the first three quarters.

Food prices – which dropped 1 percent – were again at the centre of the continued month-on-month fall in prices in December, the third month in a row that CPI declined, according to new NIS figures.

October was the only month last year in which month-on-month and year-on-year CPI moved in the same direction, falling 0.3 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively, highlighting the shift in base prices and larger effect of the economic crisis upon the Kingdom over the past year and a half.

“A weak base in late 2008, when global commodity prices fell sharply owing to the financial crisis, partly explains December’s year-on-year rise in Cambodian consumer prices,” Nick Owen, a Beijing-based Cambodia specialist at Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), said by email Tuesday. “The continued month-on-month fall is more surprising, but we’re not talking about large movements here.”

Although Owen downplayed the trend, he said “it may be a sign that demand-side pressures are still weak”.

Market dealers and consumers in Phnom Penh told the Post last month that although they had barely noticed falling food prices, the lack of activity was more tangible as demand had been hit by falling purchasing power.

Monthly versus yearly data paint a conflicting picture

In terms of inflation, 2009 became confusing - were we in a period of inflation or deflation? Overall last year, prices fell 0.7 percent – a year of deflation, but only in October was the annualised and month-on-month figure in the same territory - in the case both were negative. This trend was caused by the base figure, which fluctuated as inflation skyrocketed in August 2008 but slumped spectacularly as the crisis hit in Q4.

Source: National Institute of Statistics

Food prices at the farmer-to-wholesaler level have remained fairly stable since the start of the harvest in November.

“We don’t see [the dealers’ purchase] price changing up to now,” Phou Phuy, president of Cambodia Rice Millers Association, told the Post on Tuesday, referring to the start of the harvest two months ago until this week.

Farmers sold normal rice to dealers at US$214 per tonne in November 2008, he said, which had risen 12 percent to $240 per tonne in November, reflecting the year-on-year CPI increase that continued to the beginning of 2008. But prices have remained static since November, he added.

This month, petrol stations have raised both petrol and diesel prices because of price rises on global markets compared with the crash a year ago. That trend was briefly halted Monday in New York as crude oil fell to its lowest level of the year – at just over $77 a barrel – but many analysts say the blip may be temporary.

“Higher oil prices will put upward pressure on the cost of goods and services in Cambodia,” Owen said. “This additional cost will inevitably be passed on to consumers.”

The EIU said Tuesday it was maintaining its projection of 5.9 percent inflation rate for 2010. This is on par with the IMF, which forecast “mid-single digits” in a report last month, “… although upside risk remains, possibly stemming from a more expansionary fiscal stance, a sharper depreciation of the US dollar vis-a-vis other major currencies, and/or higher oil prices than currently envisaged,” it said.

San Sy Than said the NIS was forecasting a much lower rate – about 1 percent.

“According to our forecasts, [there will be] some price increases in January and February,” he said.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY MAY KUNMAKARA

Mong Riththy fires up 'clean' charcoal brand

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Wednesday, 20 January 2010 15:01 Chun Sophal

MONG Riththy Group is preparing to put “cleaner” charcoal on the domestic market after a US$10 million investment, its president told the Post Tuesday.

In the coming two weeks, the company is set to introduce between 250 and 1,000 tonnes of Acacia charcoal on the domestic market each month at a price of 1,200 riels (US$0.30) per kilogram, said Mong Riththy.

The special charcoal is thought to be cleaner than the domestic charcoal used normally, as it burns at a high heat and does not produce as much smoke as other varieties.

It has been produced using wood from Acacia trees planted in 2005 on 3,200 hectares of land in the Keo Phos area of Stueng Hav district, Preah Sihanouk province, Mong Riththy said.

“We hope that our company will be successful in putting its clean charcoal into the market because the product is easy to use, burns well, and does not affect the health of users,” he explained Tuesday.

He added that a grinding plant and 50 charcoal kilns have been built to process the wood, which is mixed with palm oil shells to produce the charcoal.

Mong Riththy said he hopes to encourage people to grow Acacia trees to avoid cutting down the Kingdom’s natural forests. One hectare of the crop, which takes five years to mature, could earn about $500 per year, he added.

Government officials welcomed the move to produce cleaner fuel.

Ty Sokun, director general of the Department of Forestry Administration, said Tuesday that people throughout the country cut down around 3.5 million tonnes of wood to use as cooking charcoal each year.

According to a report from the Department of Forest Administration, 70 percent of the firewood people use to cook in Cambodia is cut from natural forest. The other 30 percent is cut from fruit trees.

“We believe that it is a good idea to produce clean charcoal because it will help reduce the demand for firewood from natural forests,” said Ty Sokun.