Another Press Council charade in Phnom Penh? Cambodia to Pursue Self-regulating Press Council

Penulis : bang Sreymom on Saturday, June 16, 2012 | 7:36 PM

Saturday, June 16, 2012

15 June 2012

ScandAsia.com

Senior Minister Om Yen Tieng, head of the government’s Anti-Corruption Unit, speaks at a joint Sweden-Cambodia workshop on press freedom and media ethics in Phnom Penh. He supports an idea of having a press council that would act as a self-regulating body with the power to field complaints as well as sanction reporters and their media organisations.

Many local reporters and editors from various radio stations and newspapers attended a joint workshop between Cambodia and Sweden on press freedom and ethics yesterday in Phnom Penh.

As a high-ranking Cambodian official proposed an idea of having the self-regulating press council, Minister Om Yin Tieng endorsed the idea.

“We don’t want the court to judge,” Om Yin Tieng said, although he said the court would not be taken completely out of the equation.

The new body would not replace incitement and disinformation laws that have been used to put journalists in prison.

Om Yin Tieng said the council would be along the lines of the Cambodian Medical Association, with its authority limited to withdrawing licenses, issuing fines, and ordering corrections and apologies.

The existing model is Sweden’s Press Council, which was established in 1916 and is the oldest of its kind in the world.

The Press Council’s ombudsman, Ola Sigvardsson, flew in to lead the one-day workshop.

He said about 300 complaints a year came to his office, and he rejected roughly 250 of them. If he wants to uphold a complaint, he sends it to the Press Council for approval. Newspapers, magazines and their websites then have to publish the decision.

Although he is unfamiliar with laws governing the press in Cambodia, Sigvardsson said a free and unrestrained media environment was necessary for the Press Council to work.

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Two [Boeung Kak Lake] Activists Released on Bail

Ly Channary

Sao Saroeun

A court in Cambodia allows the two land activists to return home pending trial.

2012-06-15

Radio Free Asia

A Cambodian court Friday released on bail two villagers jailed for protests against a forced eviction from a site marked for development in downtown Phnom Penh, their lawyer said.

Yim Sawath of the Community Legal Education Center who represents the two villagers from Boeung Kak Lake—the site of the land dispute—said that his clients had been released Friday evening on bail with certain “conditions.”

Ly Chanary, a 40-year-old woman, and Sao Saroeun, a 73-year-old man, were arrested May 24 after participating in protests in front of a municipal building over the disputed Boeung Kak Lake land they say the government gave away in concession to a private developer.

The two were charged with encroaching on private land and obstructing authority.

Yim Sawath said the judge in their case reconsidered an earlier decision to deny the two bail because of Sao Saroeun’s deteriorating health and Ly Chanary’s need to take care of her three children.

He added that the judge ordered his clients to appear before district police once a fortnight and not to change their residences during the course of the investigation while out on bail.

Yim Sawath called the court’s charges against his two clients baseless.

“There are enough documents and witnesses to prove that they didn’t commit the crime,” he said.

“I hope that the investigating judge will conduct a thorough investigation into the charges because my clients did nothing wrong.”

No date has yet been set for their trial.

Thirteen to appeal

Their arrest stemmed from a May 22 protest that led to the detention and sentencing two days later of 13 women villagers to between one year and two and a half years on similar charges. The two were arrested while joining protests against the larger group’s trial.

Cambodian authorities had asked a court to review the jailing of the 13 women on Thursday after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on Cambodia to free them in talks with her counterpart Hor Namhong earlier in the week.

Hor Namhong had denied that the review was related to pressure from the U.S.

But Yim Sawath said Friday that the court was unable to release the 13 women because they had already been sentenced and that their case is pending appeal. No date has been set for the appeal hearing.

The group is being held in Prey Sar Prison while they await their hearing.

Concessions rampant

The Boeung Kak villagers are just one of many groups petitioning the government over disputes with companies they say have been granted concessions that include land they have lived on for years.

According to Licadho, the government has given away nearly 4 million hectares (15,000 square miles), or 22 percent of the country’s land area, in mining or economic land concessions, in some cases pitting residents against developers and sparking protests as in the case of Boeung Kak Lake.

About 400,000 people have been affected by the concessions, Licadho says.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Hun Sen reiterated a call he had made earlier ordering officials to return land to villagers from companies who breached their concession contracts.

The prime minister had first given the order following a May 7 subdecree he issued outlining a temporary ban on new concessions.

He also ordered the Ministry of Agriculture to penalize companies that had encroached on villagers’ land.

Minister of Agriculture Chan Sarun responded Thursday, saying that officials are working in 18 provinces across the country to take back land from any companies that have had land disputes with villagers.

But land rights groups have questioned Hun Sen’s commitment to protecting the Cambodian people from illegal land grabs and forced evictions.

A group of civil societies on Friday published a purported Hun Sen directive showing that days after he ordered the Ministry of Agriculture to temporarily stop granting land concessions, he issued another directive on how to convert state land into non-public state land before handing it over to private companies.

Reported by Sok Serey and Samean Yun for RFA’s Khmer service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.

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Cambodian-Americans shouls protest against Hun Xen in Los Cabos, Mexico

Cambodian PM heads for Mexico to attend G20 Summit

Xinhua | 2012-6-16

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Chair of 2012 ASEAN, left Cambodia on Saturday for Los Cabos, Mexico to attend the G20 Summit to be held on June 18-19.

Senior government officials accompanying the premier to the meeting include Deputy Prime Minister and foreign minister Hor Namhong, secretary general of the Council for the Development of Cambodia Sok Chenda Sophea, finance secretary of state Aun Porn Moniroth and other officials, Srey Thamrong, a minister attached to the Prime Minister Hun Sen, told reporters at Phnom Penh International Airport before the departure.

"The participation is in the name of ASEAN," he said.

During the meeting, Hun Sen, on behalf of ASEAN, will deliver a speech expressing ASEAN stance on various topics raised in the summit, said Srey Thamrong.

The premier will also address the summit on the issue of food and fuel's price inequality, strengthening the international financial resources and promoting financial governance, according to a press release from the foreign ministry.

The G20 Summit will discuss topics including global economy, enhancement of international financial architecture, promotion of financial inclusion, green growth, infrastructure, food security and job creation, it said.

The Group of 20 (countries) comprises the world's biggest industrialized and developing economies.

Also, in Mexico, Hun Sen is scheduled to hold a bilateral talk with Mexican President Felipe Calderon Hinojosa.

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Mysterious disappearance to North Korean restaurant in Cambodia explained?

North Korean waitresses (Photo: The New York Times)

Jun 16, 2012

By Nathan Schwartzman

Asian Correspondent

Original article in Korean is at this link.

A man who defected from North Korea and now has South Korean citizenship has been arrested on charges stemming from the kidnapping of a female worker from a North Korean restaurant in Cambodia last year. However, the woman is shown in a video to have been not kidnapped but rather asking the South Korean man who has been arrested to take her to the border. The video is expected to free the man, who is currently detained by Cambodian authorities. Below is a TV Chosun report.

[Anchor]

Last year a female worker in a North Korean restaurant in Cambodia disappeared. A Korean man has been arrested by Cambodian police on charges of kidnapping the woman, and is currently detained. Appearing to have vanished, the woman was mistakenly thought to have been kidnapped.

[Report]

The Korean man, Mr. Kim visited Cambodia last month and was arrested by police at the airport.

One year ago, the woman, Ms. Mun, disappeared while working in the North Korean restaurant in Cambodia, apparently because of Mr. Kim. A North Korean official residence released the security camera evidence from the restaurant which led to Mr. Kim being accused of kidnapping and murder.

However, Ms. Mun has reappeared after one year — on video.

[Video] Ms. Mun

“Right now I am crossing the border into a third country where I will live in safety… I am thinking of the Korean who has been arrested and feel responsible for it, and so now I am releasing this internet video to explain everything so that this incident may be correctly understood although not every mystery can be explained.”

Ms. Mun says in the video that she feels sorry for Mr. Kim, who was her regular customer, and that she has not gone to South Korea.

[Video] Ms. Mun

“I asked him to take to a nearby shop, just asked it naturally, and once in the car I said I couldn’t return to the restaurant and thoughtlessly went near the border and sincerely asked him to help me…”

Mr. Kim is currently detained in Cambodia on kidnapping charges, and is waiting for his trial to begin at the end of this month.

Mr. Kim is a North Korean defector and is known to have received threats from North Korea since leaving. Our government is expected to speak with Mr. Kim to reach a solution once Ms. Mun’s video has been received by the court.

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[Thai] Transport Ministry to launch new Thai-Cambodian rail route in 2013 [-It's just a transit point for Thailand to reach Vietnam]

Saturday, 16 June 2012
By NNT
Pattaya Mail

BANGKOK, 16 June 2012 - Thailand is set to open a new rail route, which connects the country with Cambodia, to further boost the transportation connection with Vietnam.

Transport Minister Charupong Ruangsuwan said on Friday that Cambodia has recently asked Thailand to build a railway bridge to connect the country's Aranyaprathet District with its Poipet District.

Mr. Charupong stated that the project, which will link the two neighbors' railway service, is expected to be completed in 2013.

He said that the construction plan is a part of the policy to make Thailand and Cambodia become better connected by land, rail and water transport.

The Transport Minister noted that the new rail track will also strengthen the link between the 2 countries and Vietnam.

After completion, the entire route will enable passengers and goods to travel from Bangkok to Ho Chi Minh City, via Aranyaprathet, Poipet and Phnom Penh.

Meanwhile, Sa Kaeo Governor Sanit Naksuksi said that the Province is planning to open a new border checkpoint by the end of this year, to help alleviate the traffic flow at the Aranyaprathet -Klong Luk checkpoint, where 12,000 people pass through each day.

He said that the heavy traffic of people has made goods transport to start only after 10 a.m.

According to Mr. Sanit, the total trade value at this checkpoint is worth nearly 40 billion baht, or almost half of the country's total border trade value of 80 billion baht.

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Planning failures derail aid project

Link: Cambodians ride a bamboo train on a reopened a stretch of line. Photo: Reuters

June 17, 2012

Philip Heijmans and Tom Hyland

WA Today (Australia)

''In order to physically build the railway, more households may be affected and additional resettlement may be required''

AN AUSTRALIAN-funded rail project in Cambodia has been marred by poor construction, botched surveys leading to the evictions of families, infighting between contractors, delays and cost overruns, a leaked official report shows.

It also reveals that workers on the project endure unsafe working conditions without proper accommodation, clean water or hygienic toilets.

The disruption is exposed in a report by the international consortium funding the $143 million project - Australia's international aid agency AusAID and the Asian Development Bank.

Australia has pledged $26 million to the project, which is already at the centre of controversy over the resettlement of thousands of people forced to move by construction work.

Frustrated by delays, the Australian company Toll Holdings, part of a joint venture that was to operate the railway when construction was complete, suspended its role in March.

The project involves rehabilitating or building 641 kilometres of track, with the aim of integrating Cambodia with a regional network including Vietnam and Thailand.

It has come under fire from Cambodian human rights groups after disrupting more than 4000 families living along the tracks, of whom 1050 had to move home.

The report, prepared by AusAID and ADB experts in April and May, found existing problems were far from resolved, and also exposed new issues.

It reveals that botched survey methods on part of the line misjudged where construction would take place.

The mistake, discovered only in April, means more people might have to move.

''In order to physically build the railway, more households may be affected and additional resettlement may be required,'' it says. ''This is a major issue for all stakeholders and must be resolved as a matter of urgency.''

The report reveals defects and ''poor construction methodology'' on parts of the line and criticises foreign consultants for a ''lack of control and poor supervision'' early in the work. Construction is being carried out by France's TSO (Cambodia) Co Ltd and engineering by Japan's Nippon Koei Co. The French company declined to comment, while the Japanese company could not be contacted.

The report says the relationship between the two companies has become ''strained'' and it calls on them ''to develop a more amicable and mutually respectful mode of co-operation''. It urges Cambodia's railways department to take a more active role in promoting ''a non-adversarial environment focused on completing the works'' and managing the project - tasks the department is reluctant to take up.

The report says railway officials relied on consultants to do routine management, even though they were meant to take over day-to-day operations after Toll pulled out.

Toll has a 30-year concession to operate the network in a joint venture called Toll Royal Railways, with a conglomerate owned by Australian-Cambodian tycoon Kith Meng.

Toll has made no public statement on its withdrawal from the project.

''I am not in a position to comment at all,'' said Andrew Ethell, Toll's general manager for corporate affairs.

But in a leaked letter dated March 16, Toll Royal Railways informed the Cambodian government it would suspend operations until next year because delays meant the project was not profitable.

Work on the southern part of the line was due to be finished by May last year, but it is now 335 days behind schedule and will not be complete until October this year, although heavy rain could push this back until 2013.

Work on the northern part was due to be complete by the end of this month. The report says it is ''possible'' the work will be done by September next year.

On labour conditions, the report says, despite improvements, workers' camps in the south were ''mostly garbage-strewn and water supply in some camps [was] not regularly replenished''. Camps in the north ''lacked basic provisions (proper accommodation facilities, safe water supply, hygienic toilets, etc)''.

Last month the Australian embassy in Phnom Penh said it was aware of poor working conditions and inappropriate surveying methods and had asked the project's partners to investigate. Consultants on the project and the ADB have admitted to the Cambodian press that the project is running out of funding and requires between $50 million and $100 million to complete, a shortfall the ADB has refused to pay.

An AusAID spokeswoman said problems revealed by the report were not uncommon for such complex projects. Despite this, she said it was making good progress and was on track for completion by 2015.

The report highlighted a lack of accountability in Australia's overseas aid program, said Gareth Bryant, a campaigner with the AID/WATCH activist group.

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Evicted residents of Phnom Penh live in 'refugee' like camp

Residents from the Borei Keila community who were forcibly evicted from their Phnom Penh homes in January 2012 still live on a campsite which resembles a refugee camp, 45 km from the city. The Cambodian Company Phan Imex acquired the land to develop

16th of June 2012

Demotix

Residents from the Borei Keila community who were forcibly evicted from their Phnom Penh homes, still live on a campsite which resembles a refugee camp, 45 km from the city. The Cambodian Company Phan Imex acquired the land to develop.

Description:

The Phnom Penh Borei Keila community was, prior to 2003, a poverty dwelling for around 5000 men, women and children. In 2003 the Cambodian construction company Phan Imex acquired the Borei Keila land for re-development into luxury accommodation, offices and retail spaces. Phan Imex was given 50% of the land for their own development opportunities if they agreed to build new homes for some of the displaced residents on the other half. Apparently the company has still not yet built 20% the homes they promised, and may never do so, even though perhaps 99% of the dwellers have been evicted from the land. Phan Imex Company chief Suy Sophan is reputedly the 7th richest person in Cambodia and one of the best connected - networked - individuals in the country.

Hundreds of families originally living in the slum did qualify for one of the new homes to be built on the development and some were offered, in lieu, a land plot on a distant relocation site under Oudong mountain (Srah Po Phnom Bat Kandal province) 45km from Phnom Penh. In January 2012 around 300 families were forcibly evicted from Borei Keila and either taken to Oudong or a similar relocation site. Some families refused and were reportedly detained until they were persuaded to sign and accept the new plot at Oudong.

Six months later the relocation site is a dusty barren plot of land around 1.5 hours drive from Phnom Penh by tuk tuk. The homes are crudely constructed tents fashioned from blue ‘Korean’ tarpaulin sheets, old cardboard and wooden sticks. There are no basic sanitary facilities: toilets, showers or washbasins a distant memory. No electricity to power a fan or a night-light. No running water. Human faeces decompose oh so slowly on the ground around the site, just a stone throw from the shacks and sleeping babies. The nearby bushes stink of stale urine and excrement. Garbage blows in the eye rubbing dust filled air with every puff of wind. The land is awash when the rains arrive even though the residents have tried to carve tiny gullies around their tent homes to keep their feet dry.

An ill young woman, retching, spews her vomit as I walk around and her children try to bury it with an old adze. An old women sleeps alone in tiny box tent, a layer of bricks raises her cardboard mattress from the ground, as the space is not tall enough to fashion a wooden bed to sleep on. She boils her rice on a boy-scout fire and tin windshield outside her home, crouching in the dust, fanning the embers with a plastic paddle.

Soum Sokantay’s baby is little more than one month old. “He was born onto the dusty ground in our tent as there were no medical facilities close enough to get to,” she tells me, continuing that, “an NGO gave me a small mattress for him and a hammock,” which is proudly strung outside her tent.

Last month in May 2012 the Phnom Penh city hall provided and installed two deep water hand pumps for the site and now Mr. Cheany tells me: “We can drink water without becoming sick. The old pump did not work well and the water was bad when they tested it. They told us not to drink it but we had no choice.”

Many of the families are resigned to living on this desolate campsite. They have lost their work in Phnom Penh, as it is impossible for them to commute there: “I used to wash pots in a restaurant. Here there is no work. My husband goes into the bush to cut firewood so we can cook the rice the NGO gives us,” Soum Sokantay tells me as she fondly cradles her baby.

Some, perhaps two or three, lucky families still own a tuk tuk or moto for transport if they can afford the gas. They can collect garbage and junk clothes to sell in Phnom Penh when they have cleaned and patched them up. They recycle other peoples rubbish to make a little cash.

Nyen Sopha has no husband, just a young daughter who is 5 years old. “I am trying to make a little coffee shop in my home to get some money. I used to work in a laundry in Phnom Penh but now nothing,” she explains. Incredibly, the young boy from the “recycling family” turns up and buys a plastic bag of coffee from her, as do my driver and translator.

“There is a school [military] around here somewhere and I hope that my daughter can go there,” she comments as she pours the water through her coffee filter.

A number of NGO’s and charities that have visited the site have described it as: “an unfit area for humans to live in.” Many, I believe, would agree if they visited the ground that Phan Imex have awarded these families as compensation for the homes, work, friends and community, they evicted them from in the capital, poor as it was.

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Suu Kyi receives Nobel Peace Prize 21 years late

Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi gives her Nobel Lecture at City Hall in Oslo June 16, 2012. Aung San Suu Kyi finally accepted her 1991 Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo on Saturday after spending a total of 15 years under house arrest and said full political freedom in her country was still a long way off.

Sat Jun 16, 2012

By Balazs Koranyi

OSLO (Reuters) - Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi finally received her 1991 Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo on Saturday after spending 15 years under house arrest, and said her country's full transformation to democracy was still far off.

"What the Nobel Peace Prize did was to draw me once again into the world of other human beings outside the isolated area in which I lived, to restore a sense of reality to me," Suu Kyi said as the packed crowd, led by Norway's King Harald and Queen Sonja, rose in a standing ovation.

Suu Kyi, 66, the Oxford University-educated daughter of General Aung San, Myanmar's assassinated independence hero, said much remained to be resolved in her country.

"Hostilities have not ceased in the far north; to the west, communal violence resulting in arson and murder were taking place just several days before I started out the journey that has brought me here today," Suu Kyi said at the ornate Oslo City Hall, on her first visit to Europe in nearly 21 years.

"There still remain (political) prisoners in Burma. It is to be feared that because the best known detainees have been released, the remainder, the unknown ones, will be forgotten," she said, wearing a purple traditional Burmese dress and looking strong and healthy after falling ill on Thursday.

Still, Suu Kyi - elected to parliament in April - said she was confident President Thein Sein wanted to put the country on a new path.

"I don't think we should fear reversal," she told public broadcaster NRK. "(But) I don't think we should take it for granted there is no reversal."

Suspending rather than lifting sanctions was also the right move to keep pressure on the government, she said a day after arriving from Switzerland to a jubilant, dancing and chanting crowd, which showered her with flowers.

"If these reforms prove to be a façade, then the rewards will be taken away."

INSTRUMENTAL

Suu Kyi, who spent a total of 15 years under house arrest between 1989 and her release in late 2010, never left Myanmar even during brief periods of freedom after 1989, afraid the military would not let back in.

Her sons Kim and Alexander accepted the Nobel prize on her behalf in 1991, with her husband Michael Aris also attending the ceremony. A year later Suu Kyi said she would use the $1.3 million prize money to establish a health and education trust for Burmese people.

She was unable to be with Aris, an Oxford academic, when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and died in Britain in 1999.

On Saturday, Kim and Anthony Aris, her late husband's identical twin brother, attended the ceremony.

Suu Kyi thanked Norway, a nation of just 5 million people, for its support and the instrumental role it played in Myanmar's transformation.

In 1990, the Bergen-based Rafto Foundation awarded its annual prize to Suu Kyi, after a Norwegian aid worker in South-East Asia highlighted her work.

The award provided lasting publicity for her non-violent struggle against Myanmar's military junta, putting her in the international spotlight and setting the stage a year later for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Norway has also provided a home to the Democratic Voice of Burma, an opposition television and radio outlet, which broadcasts uncensored news into Myanmar.

Suu Kyi acknowledged that recent violence between Rakhine Buddhists and stateless Muslim Rohingyas in the northwestern Rakhine region was a test of Myanmar's transformation but she blamed lawlessness for the escalation.

The violence, which displaced 30,000 people and killed 50 by government accounts, flared last month with a rampage of rock-hurling, arson and machete attacks, after the gang rape and murder of a Buddhist woman that was blamed on Muslims.

"The very first time a crime was committed... they should have taken action in accordance with the rule of law," Suu Kyi told the BBC.

"If they had been able to do that, and to satisfy all parties involved that justice was done ... I do not think these disturbances would have grown to such proportions."

Tensions stem from an entrenched, long-standing distrust of around 800,000 Muslim Rohingyas, who are recognized by neither Myanmar nor neighboring Bangladesh, and are largely considered illegal immigrants.

Suu Kyi is also due to visit Ireland, Britain and France.

(Editing by Sophie Hares and Ralph Gowling)

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Political Persecution of SRP Elected Commune Councilor in Battambang

16 June 2012
By Mu Sochua

Battambang Court summons Mok Ra, a newly elected commune councilor from Sam Rainsy Party for more questioning.

Mok Ra won his complaint against a CPP official who attempted to buy his vote at the past senatorial election in January 2012.

http://sochua.wordpress.com/2012/01/28/cambodian-peoples-party-fined-for-vote-buying/

Mok Ra is the second SRP commune councilor to be summoned by the court following the commune elections on 3June. A SRP Kandal commune councilor was arrested this week.

This shows a clear attempt by the ruling party to use the courts to threaten SRP local officials. It is a very disturbing sign for democracy.

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Mu Sochua Summoned by Appeal Court

16 June 2012
By Mu Sochua

MP Mu Sochua is summoned by the Appeal Court concerning her "rehabilitation by the courts", on 27 June, 2012.

I will ask for a delay as I am outside of the country till 10July.

My parliamentary immunity has still not been restored, pending the decision of the Appeal Court.

Is this political persecution or not?

I was put on trial for 15 months and after deducting the fine from my salary, the procedures to reclaim my immunity as a parliamentarian is still dragging to this date.

What comes next remains to be seen.

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Sacrava's Political Cartoon: Honeymoon?

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3D Animation Production Kicks Off in Cambodia

Penulis : bang Sreymom on Friday, June 15, 2012 | 7:51 PM

Friday, June 15, 2012

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Cambodia Sun Bears, World's Smallest Bears Under Threats

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3ThXt2s70I

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Truth in Environmentalist’s Shooting Remains Shrouded

Chut Wutty, Director of the Natural Resource Protection Group, gestures at Botum Sakor National Park in Koh Kong province, Cambodia, February 2012. (Reuters file photo)

Friday, 15 June 2012

Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer | Phnom Penh

A rights activist in Koh Kong province said Friday an investigation into the killing of environmental activist Chut Wutty in April had made some progress. But much of the case remains a mystery, said In Kong Chit, a rights investigator in the province for Licadho, who has met with all five witnesses of the April 26 shooting.

Chut Wutty and a military policemen were both shot dead in the incident. Witnesses have not been able to clarify what happened at the moment of the dual shooting, In Kong Chit said.

A special government committee concluded its own investigation shortly after the killing, claiming military policeman In Rattana was accidentally killed by a security guard for Timber Green, Rann Borath, after shooting Chut Wutty. That theory was met with skepticism by rights workers, however.

Min Makara, investigating judge for the Koh Kong provincial court, said the case against Rann Borath was moving, as witnesses are questioned over the incident.

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Lon Nol's curse on Hun Xen: Let Hun Xen pay the Khmer Republic debt from his corrupt pocket!!!

Cambodian foreign minister Hor Namhong meeting with US Senator Jim Webb at the Senate on Wednesday, June 13, 2012, during his official visit to the United States. (Photo: Kimseng Men, VOA Khmer)

Foreign Minister Meets US Senator Over War-Era Debt

Friday, 15 June 2012

Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer | Washington

“I have also suggested a review on the possibility of renegotiating on the schedule of payment on the debt and its arrears in a fair way so that we can completely solve the debt between the two countries.”

Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong met with Senator Jim Webb, of Virginia, this week, to discuss how Cambodia might be forgiven war-era debt to the US or find a better way to pay it off.

“I proposed through the senator to urge the US government to send a delegation to negotiate the debt issue with the Cambodian Ministry of Economy and Finance,” Hor Namhong told VOA Khmer in an exclusive interview after the meeting on Wednesday. “I have also suggested a review on the possibility of renegotiating on the schedule of payment on the debt and its arrears in a fair way so that we can completely solve the debt between the two countries.”

Hor Namhong is on a swing through the US this week, during which time he has met with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other US officials.

Cambodia owes nearly $450 million on pre-Khmer Rouge borrowing. Cambodian officials have said they should not have to repay the money, which was loaned to the US-backed regime of Marshall Lon Nol. It was used for the purchase of cotton, tobacco, cooking oil, flour and rice.

Hor Namhong told VOA Khmer he also requested tax-exempt status on Cambodian exports to the US. “I told the senator that economic development in the past few years was due to exports to the US,” Hor Namhong said.

Cambodia currently exports around $2 billion in goods to the US, while importing around $200 million in goods each year.

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Information Meeting on 17 June 2012 in Saint Genis Laval, France

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The real question is...

An anonymous reader's comment on donation to Chut Wutty's family:

This is BS...it is over now [meaning Chut Wutty's life?]. It's part of life. We all will die some day, so let it goes, take care of yourself and families. I feel so sorry for the death of Chut Vutty, but let it goes. (sic!)

former KR soldier

But to us, the real question is:

Why can't this reader let go of his KR soldier stigma? Why does he have to drag it around like a blood-stained chain wrapped to his neck? Do you think you can scare us with your KR prowess? You once killed our parents, our siblings, but now you live in fear of us finding you! Remember: if we can't find when you are alive, we will find you in your grave if we have to!

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Demonstration in Paris on Saturday 16 June against the Viet invasion of Laos and Cambodia

Dear All,

I just got the invitation below, so I wish to forward it to you all.

For those who can participate, please go to Paris in a very large number for the very common cause of Lao and Khmer people against the Vietnamse colonization of Cambodia and Laos.

K. C.

----

Original appeal message:

Chers compatriotes,

Vous êtes cordialement invités au Rassemblement , le Samedi 16 juin à 15 H , devant le Ministère des Affaires étrangères, Quai d'Orsay Paris, en face Air France, Métro Invalides, contre l'invasion des communistes Viêts au Cambodge et au Laos.

----

English translation of the original appeal:

Dear Compatriots,

You are cordially invited to a Rally on Saturday 16 June at 3PM in front of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Quai d'Orsay Paris (located in front of Air France, Metro station: Invalides), to protest against the communist Viet invasion of Cambodia and Laos.

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Killer Hor Nam Hong Meets US Senator Over War-Era Debt

Cambodian Foreign Minister Killer Hor Namhong met with Senator Jim Webb, of Virginia, this week, to discuss how Cambodia might be forgiven war-era debt to the US. "I proposed through the senator to urge the US government to send a delegation to negotiate the debt issue with the Cambodian Ministry of Economy and Finance," Hor Namhong the Killer told VOA Khmer in an exclusive interview after the meeting on Wednesday. "I have also suggested a review on the possibility of renegotiating on the debt and its arrears in a fair way so that we can completely solve the debt between the two countries." Cambodia owes more than $400 million on pre-Khmer Rouge borrowing. (Men Kimseng in Washington with exclusive TV interview.)

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New Thai-Cambodian land transport route officially opened to accommodate AEC

Friday, 15 June 2012

By NNT

Pattaya Mail

SA KAEO, 15 June 2012 – A new official route connecting Thailand and neighboring Cambodia has been opened ahead of the realization of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 3 years’ time.

On Thursday, the Thai Ministry of Transport joined Cambodia’s Ministry of Public Works and Transport in the official opening of the Thai-Cambodian Friendship Bridge, which connects the country’s Sa Kaeo Province with PoiPet town across the border.

The opening ceremony was co-chaired by Thai Transport Minister Charupong Ruangsuwan and Cambodian Minister of Public Works and Transport Tram Iv Tek, who were joined by Asian Development Bank’s executives from both countries and locals as well as state servants, military personnel and the police from the 2 neighbors, amidst an army of Thai, Cambodian and foreign members of the press.

The new route has been planned to facilitate trade and travelers from the two nations through the Aranyaprathet-Poipet border crossing, while further strengthening the Thai-Cambodian relations.

Sa Kaeo Governor Sanit Naksuksi pointed out that the newly-open route will benefit Thai travel business operators greatly and prepare the country for the emergence of the AEC in 2015.

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New U.S. envoy pledges to cement ties with Cambodia [... hopefully NOT in providing military aid used in REPRESSION!!!]

Willian E. Todd

PHNOM PENH, June 15 (Xinhua) -- The newly-designated Ambassador of the United States to Cambodia William E. Todd on Friday pledged to strengthen and expand the relations and cooperation with Cambodia in all fields for mutual interests.

He made the remark during a meeting with President of Cambodia' s National Assembly Heng Samrin, Kaim Sokal, the spokesman for Heng Samrin, told reporters after the meeting.

Todd said the United States would still continue helping Cambodia strengthen democracy and human rights.

He added that the visit of Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Hor Namhong to the United States on June 12 was a new testament of growing relationship between the two countries and that in July, the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will make a visit to Cambodia to attend the 19th ASEAN Regional Forum.

Meanwhile, Heng Samrin said the two countries' relations and cooperation have gradually strengthened and expanded, especially in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, military, trade, education, health and demining.

On bilateral trade, he said, Cambodia exported garments and footwear to the United States equivalent to 2 billion U.S. dollars last year. In return, the United States exported to Cambodia an amount of 180 million U.S. dollars.

Todd substituted the outgoing U.S. ambassador to Cambodia Carol A.Rodley. He had presented his credentials to Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni to mark his official start of diplomatic mission in the kingdom last Friday.

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Migrant abuse trending up

Bun Ly (centre), a 36-year-old trafficking victim who was forced to work on a Thai fishing vessel under slave-like conditions, with other trafficking victims at an Adhoc office yesterday. Photograph: Heng Chivoan/Phnom Penh Post

Friday, 15 June 2012
Sen David
The Phnom Penh Post

Human rights group Adhoc released a report on the state of Cambodian migrant workers yesterday, saying that tales of abuse from migrant workers and their families have increased five-fold compared to the same period last year.

Seventy per cent of this year’s 141 complaints concerned domestic workers abroad, Adhoc says, and the government’s moratorium on sending maids to Malaysia may be partially to blame for the spike in incidents.

According to Adhoc president Thun Saray, when recruitment companies closed after the government ban, their former clients were essentially set adrift.

“We noticed [incidents] were increasing, because rights violations against male and female migrant workers in Malaysia have deteriorated even more since the government banned companies from sending workers last year,” he said. "The company is no longer responsible for the workers, so the loss of contact is increasing almost every day.”

Chea Sokha, 27, who was a maid in Malaysia for nearly two years, said she found the job through a recruiter.

She and another maid were overworked, underfed and were beaten or tortured if their work was deemed unsatisfactory.

“My employer took a [bathroom] scale and beat my head,” she said. “I am hurt. They look down on us Khmers as lazy and foolish.”

Chea Sokha was also arrested and detained for nearly seven months after her employer forced her to work in the market, a violation of her visa.

“What could I do?” she asked. “My employer doesn’t seem punished. Anyway right now, I’ve come back to my homeland. It is my new birth.”

Bun Ly, 36, a fisherman from Kampong Speu who was recently repatriated, said he was cheated by a broker in Thailand and sold from place to place before ending up on a Malaysian boat, where he was a virtual slave.

“I escaped from the boat,” he said. “I swam with my two friends, but they died. I was panicking, but I...was saved.”

Lim Mony, deputy head of Adhoc’s women’s section, emphasised the urgency of signing a Memorandum of Understanding between Cambodia and Malaysia that will protect migrant workers’ rights.

San Arun, a secretary of state with the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, said that the two governments will discuss the MoU at the end of June or July.

“The [Cambodian] government, via related ministries and the Ministry of Labour, is preparing to defend our residents who suffer abroad,” she said.

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Human trafficking must be stopped

Friday, 15 June 2012

Soma Norodom

The Phnom Penh Post

Stories of physical and sexual abuse, beatings and starvation by employers of Cambodian maids have recently been in the news.

Modern-day slavery is alive and well, and it is happening to our Cambodian people.

Human trafficking, the buying and selling of human beings, is a connection of evil, as traffickers perform all acts of cruelty. The International Labour Organization (ILO) puts the global number of slaves at between 10 and 30 million worldwide. The levels of slavery and people-trafficking today are greater than at any point in history.

Human trafficking can be compared to a criminal enterprise; greed, quick returns on investment and government ineffectiveness.

The United Nation’s Office on Drugs and Crime reports that human trafficking is the fastest-growing criminal enterprise in the world (US$15.5 billion), ranking third behind illegal drugs and trafficking in arms.

People in rural and remote regions of Cambodia are often the victims, as they can be easily kidnapped, with next to no chance of the crime ever being properly investigated, as one of the main problems is the issue of identification of victims.

Because of Cambodia’s image as a “cheap labour” country, traffickers go to the provinces and recruit people in the countryside.

Poverty and lack of education are the reasons why many of them are easily influenced and agree to leave Cambodia to work in other countries, after being promised by their recruiters that they will make a lot of money.

Organisations like Licadho, the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defence of Human Rights, are one of the main sources of information on human rights in Cambodia.

Their main responsibilities are to monitor, document and investigate human-rights violations and violations made against women and children, and provide assistance through interventions with local authorities.

In addition, Adhoc, the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association, founded by former political prisoners in 1991, provides free legal assistance, empowers people to defend their rights and advocates for human rights.

Halting human trafficking requires the will of governments, and governments around the world.

Last week, the Cambodian government, in co-operation with Malaysian authorities and the International Organisation for Migration, sent four Cambodian maids back to Cambodia. A representative of Adhoc stated that the families of the victims had filed complaints with NGOs.

But there are more trafficked victims, many more, and the government needs to pay much more attention to this issue.

Why don’t we create jobs in Cambodia, instead of exporting our labour overseas? The prime minister has stated this several times, so why isn’t the government following his orders?

Cambodian maids are being treated like animals instead of human beings. The effects and aftermath of the victims are the concerns, as many are physically and psychologically traumatised.

Many organisations are raising awareness and confronting the injustice of human trafficking, but it takes the government to intervene by creating jobs and vocational training programs in which the much-needed skills in hospitality, construction and maintenance industries can be applied.

Many can learn these skills and don’t have to go overseas to work. They can stay in Cambodia and be closer to their families and friends.

It’s time to do more and defend our human rights, as people are our country’s most precious commodity.

-----------------

The Social Agenda with Soma Norodom

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Obama administration won't seek deportation of young illegal immigrants

"Our nation's immigration laws must be enforced in a firm and sensible manner," said Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, seen here with President Barack Obama in a May 15, 2012 file photo. Mandel Ngan / AFP - Getty Images

15 June 2012
By Michael O'Brien, msnbc.com

Updated 10:58 a.m. - The Obama administration announced on Friday that it would no longer seek the deportation of most young illegal immigrants, and would instead allow them to apply for work permits, a significant policy shift with potentially major electoral implications.

The Department of Homeland Security said that, effective immediately, the government would no longer seek the deportation of illegal immigrants who were brought to the United States as children, and would allow them to apply for work permits if they meet certain criteria.

“Our nation’s immigration laws must be enforced in a firm and sensible manner,” said Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano in a statement Friday.

A senior administration official said in a conference call with reporters that as many as 800,000 undocumented immigrants stand to benefit from this change. Napolitano said that the shift represented neither immunity nor amnesty -- buzzwords for conservatives who oppose illegal immigration -- but instead represented an instance of "prosecutorial discretion" in which the government had re-evaluated its priorities in enforcing the law.

The announcement represented a major policy shift, and its political implications will be significant.

The shift essentially accomplishes many of the legislative intentions of the DREAM Act, an immigration reform bill that had stalled in Congress due to Republican objections. President Barack Obama favors the legislation, while presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney has said he would veto that law.

The new rule comes amid a bruising election year fight between Obama and Romney, in which the Latino vote could be decisive. Obama enjoys a strong advantage with Latino voters, winning 61 percent of Latinos vs. 27 percent for Romney in a mid-May NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Telemundo poll.

The Hispanic vote is of particular importance in swing states like Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico and Florida, among others. Those states could swing the election toward Obama or Romney, elevating the importance of the margin between the two candidates with Latino voters.

Obama's biggest challenge, though, has involved motivating Latino voters to turn out for him with the same strength they had in 2008. The president had faced lingering complaints stemming from his inability to advance the comprehensive immigration reform he had promised as a candidate in 2008.

The president was scheduled to make remarks about the immigration policy change at the White House at 1:15 p.m. ET on Friday.

In a memorandum to immigration enforcement officials, Napolitano wrote that immigrants who were illegally brought to the United States as children "lacked the intent to violate the law," and pose few national security risks.

The memo said the government would not pursue immigrants who met five criteria. Individuals must:
Have come to the United States under the age of 16,
Be no older than 30,
Be currently enrolled in school, have graduated high school or served in the military,
Have been in the country for five continuous years, and
Have a clean criminal record.
A senior administration official noted that the new rules were not permanent, though, and conceded that a different administration with a different policy could conceivably choose to withdraw this regulation.

"The executive can always change its mind about how to exercise discretion," said the official.

The policy shift presents a challenge for Romney, who ran to the right of some of his opponents on the issue of immigration during the Republican primary. He had opposed the DREAM Act, and explained during a debate that his immigration policy involved "self-deportation."

That hard-line stance prompted handwringing among Republicans who have long worried about the long-term political fallout associated with alienating Latino voters. Florda Gov. Jeb Bush suggested earlier this week that much of the Republican rhetoric surrounding immigration had been "insulting."

"Change the tone would be the first thing," he said of his advice to Republicans. "Second, on immigration, I think we need to have a broader approach."

Ironically, the Obama administration's new rule would accomplish many of the same goals of a limited version of the DREAM Act proposed by Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, which stops short of offering young illegal immigrants citizenship, but gives them a type of legal status. Romney said he was considering the proposal from Rubio, a popular choice of conservatives to round out the Republican ticket as a vice presidential nominee.

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Cambodia Celebrates 50th Anniversary Of Victory Over Preah Vihear Temple

PHNOM PENH, June 15 (Bernama) -- Some 1,000 students from various schools and universities gathered here Friday to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the country's victory over the Preah Vihear temple dispute with Thailand, Xinhua news agency reported.

The temple was awarded to Cambodia on June 15, 1962 by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) which ruled that the temple was situated in a territory under the sovereignty of Cambodia and not Thailand.

"Today's gathering is to express our deep gratitude to former King Norodom Sihanouk for his legal battle with Thailand over the Preah Vihear temple dispute at ICJ 50 years ago," said Soy Sopheap, director general of Deum Ampil Media Centre which organised the event.

"It is also to promote awareness of the temple to Cambodia's young generations."

The territorial dispute between the two nations reoccurred on July 7, 2008 when Preah Vihear temple was listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, but Thailand had claimed ownership of a 4.6-sq. km scrub next to the temple.

The conflict had led to several occasions of deadly armed clashes since then but military tension had eased since the Pheu Thai Party led by ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's youngest sister Yingluck Shinawatra won a landslide victory in the general elections in last July.

The 11th century Preah Vihear temple is located on the top of a 525-metre cliff in the Dangrek Mountains bordering Thailand.

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Witness duo no-show amid safety concerns

Chhouk Bandit
Friday, 15 June 2012
Chhay Channyda
The Phnom Penh Post

Two witnesses to the Bavet town factory shooting in February failed to show up at Svay Rieng Provincial Court yesterday despite being summoned by an investigating judge, with one citing fears for his safety.

Sok Vuthy, a 28 year-old worker, told the Post yesterday that he did not obey the court summons from investigating judge Pech Chhoeut because his family had forbidden him for fear it would put his life in danger.

“My father, mother and all my relatives did not allow me to go to the court. I wanted to help my friends [the victims], but I could not go against my family,” he said.

The fact that suspected shooter Chhouk Bandith is still on the loose was Sok Vuthy’s main cause for concern, he said, adding he that feared any testimony he gave might provoke an act of retribution.

On February 20, about 6,000 workers at the Kaoway Sports factory in Svay Rieng’s Bavet town were protesting poor working conditions when the sound of gunshots was heard and three female workers sustained bullet wounds.

Sok Vuthy, who did not see who shot the workers, saw a man with a gun running out of the factory, accompanying by several police officers. He later discovered that the man he saw with the gun was former Bavet town governor Chhouk Bandith.

The second witness to disregard the summons, female factory worker Un Sam Onn, could not be contacted yesterday.

Judge Pech Chhoeut said that “the two witnesses did not ask him for a delay” and simply did not come to the court, so he would discuss with lawyers of the victims how to proceed.

Nouth Bopinnaroath, provincial co-ordinator for human rights group Licadho, said the two were important witnesses in the shooting because of their vicinity to the victims at the time of the shooting.

“One of the witnesses could not be contacted, and another one feared presenting. In fact, they all agreed to be the witnesses. So the court will set a date for new testimony,” he added.

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US calls for release of Boeung Kak activists

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks during a visit to Phnom Penh in 2010. Photograph: Sovan Philong/Phnom Penh Post

Friday, 15 June 2012

Shane Worrell and Khouth Sophak Chakrya

The Phnom Penh Post

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has urged the Cambodian government to release 13 Boeung Kak lake women imprisoned after a three-hour trial last month, telling Foreign Minister Hor Namhong at a meeting in Washington that such a move would support freedom of expression.

“The secretary expressed concern over recent protests regarding land-rights issues and urged Cambodia to allow Boeung Kak lake detainees full access to due process, noting that their release would be a sign of support for freedom of expression,” Sean McIntosh, spokesman for the US embassy in Phnom Penh, said yesterday.

The women were arrested during a land eviction protest at Boeung Kak on May 22 and charged two days later with disputing authority and trespassing on land awarded to CPP senator Lao Meng Khin’s development firm Shukaku. Two others were arrested while protesting at the trial.

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court tried and sentenced the women, including a 72-year-old, to between one and two-and-a-half years in Prey Sar prison.

Sam Rainsy Party lawmaker Mu Sochua, who in the wake of the trial urged the international community to take action, said Clinton’s comments were “very positive”.

“There are clearly grounds for her to question the lack of due process,” Mu Sochua said from the US, where she too has been meeting with government officials.

“I am positive progress will be made. Let’s watch the Appeal Court. I am confident they will be released before Hillary gets to Phnom Penh in July [for the ASEAN Regional Forum].

“I am confident Mr Hor Namhong heard [Clinton’s] message. It is a win-win situation to end the case at appeal.”

Clinton’s comments gave some hope to the Boeung Kak lake community, whose protesters took to the streets again yesterday to urge the authorities to intervene.

“I am very happy [she] is concerned with our community,” Ou Kong Chea, the husband of imprisoned activist Tep Vanny, said.

“I hope the Cambodian government will think about her comments and free our 15 friends.”

Seak Heng, whose wife Kong Chantha is also in Prey Sar, said the issue could no longer be ignored.

“News of this dispute is spreading all over the world, so the authority must resolve it,” he said.

Protester Yom Bopha said police blocked and threatened her 100-strong group with arrest as they marched to Prime Minister Hun Sen’s house with a petition, which they ended up not giving to waiting officials.

“We feared they would put it in the bin,” she said.

Police refused to comment when asked if they had threatened to arrest anyone.

Independent analyst Lao Mong Hay said the government should have the case heard in the Court of Appeal as soon as possible.

“I think the government should implement its ‘win-win’ policy to resolve this problem for Boeung Kak villagers,” he said.

Clinton also reportedly praised Cambodia for not proceeding with its proposed NGO law, which has received widespread criticism, and made comments about the importance of a free and fair national election next year.

It was up to Cambodians, however, to decide whether the Sam Rainsy Party’s self-exiled leader – who faces an 11-year jail sentence on incitement charges – should take part in the ballot, she said, according to the Associated Press.

Mu Sochua said her party would continue to push for his return, adding she was mostly satisfied US government officials had taken her issues seriously when she had met with them.

She will, however, keep pushing for the US to cut military aid to Cambodia when she attends more meetings in Washington next week.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Koy Kuong declined to comment.

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US calls for release of Boeung Kak activists