KI Media: “Invitation to the BKL Press Conference in village 22 of Boeung Kak Lake community on 1 August 2011 from 8.00 AM” plus 15 more

KI Media: “Invitation to the BKL Press Conference in village 22 of Boeung Kak Lake community on 1 August 2011 from 8.00 AM” plus 15 more


Invitation to the BKL Press Conference in village 22 of Boeung Kak Lake community on 1 August 2011 from 8.00 AM

Posted: 31 Jul 2011 04:00 PM PDT

Dear all

Tomorrow (01 August 2011) from 8.30AM: the residents of the Boeung Kak Lake are going to host the press conference with aim to present the thumb print of the residents to support the real BKL representative and aim to reject Mrs. Ly Mom as BKL representatives.

For more information please contact:
012604648; 0977968536; 012396579;

Pheakdey Sneh - Sung by Ros Serey Sothea and interpreted on screen by Vichara Dany

Posted: 31 Jul 2011 10:19 AM PDT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bx2_rH2ZVzI&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e55spipGKMI&feature=related

Chomney Khuor (Brain food): Krok Loeung Khmer! (Wake up Khmer!)

Posted: 31 Jul 2011 09:20 AM PDT

Kingdom of Wonder No More: A deceiving placid Phnom Penh on a Sunday - rest for the wealthy minority, violence and dire poverty for the mass

Posted: 31 Jul 2011 09:15 AM PDT





New children play place inaugurated last month
Quay Sisowath after sunset
Outdoor exercise group

Sacrava's Political Cartoon: The Funerals

Posted: 31 Jul 2011 09:05 AM PDT

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

Closing Order of Case 002 against Senior KR Leaders Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan, Ieng Sary, Ieng Thirith

Posted: 31 Jul 2011 06:39 AM PDT

In light of the start of trial hearings beginning on 27 June 2011 of Case 002 against the surviving Khmer Rouge senior leaders Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan, Ieng Sary and Ieng Thirith, KI Media is posting installations of the public document of the Closing Order of Case 002.  The Closing Order of the Co-Investigating Judges forms the basic document from which all the parties (Co-Prosecutors, Co-Lead Lawyers for all civil parties, Defense Lawyers) will be making their arguments before the Trial Chamber judges (one Cambodian President, 2 Cambodian Judges, 2 UN judges).  Up until now, the hearings involving these four surviving senior Khmer Rouge leaders have been in the Pre-Trial Chamber over issues of pre-trial detention and jurisdictional issues.  Beginning in June 2011, the Trial Chamber will hear the substantive arguments over the criminal charges (e.g. genocide, crimes against humanity, penal code of 1956).  Available in Khmer and French.  Contact the ECCC for a free copy.


CLOSING ORDER
of Co-Investigating Judges You Bunleng and Marcel Lemonde, 15 September 2010

Srae Ambel Worksite
Living and Working Conditions
376. Official Party sources state that approximately 5000 women and 500 former male combatants (mainly technicians) were working at Srae Ambel; this figure is confirmed by witnesses.1619 In Kampong Kandal, there were around 3000 female workers,1620 with about 1000 female workers at Trauy Koh.1621 Twelve witnesses were former female workers.1622 The vast majority of the workers were base people coming from Kampot Province1623 and Takeo Province.1624 Some workers also came from the provinces of Kampong Speue, Kampong Chhnang, Svay Rieng, Kampong Thom and Koh Kong.1625 It appears that some CPK cadres originally from the East Zone were sent to work at Srae Ambel when Soa Phim was accused of treason and arrested; these East Zone cadres had been working in hospitals in Phnom Penh up until this point.1626 Furthermore, witnesses explain that there were regular transfers of workers between Srae Ambel and Office K-2 of the Ministry of Social Affairs and other related hospitals of this Ministry, especially the 6 January Hospital and Po-1 Hospital, as well as laboratories, from late 1977 to late 1978.1621
377.           Workers lived together in common houses that were guarded at night by unarmed guards.1628 During the dry season workers undertook tasks such as erecting dykes in the salt fields, shovelling dirt, compressing the ground, farrowing the earth by hand instead of by ox in the salt water and carrying bags of salt into the warehouses or into vehicles.1629 During the rainy season they had to make, prepare and improve tools for the following salt production and were sent to work in the rice fields in the cooperatives throughout Kampot Sector.1630 Work started at 4 am or 6 am.1631 Sometimes workers had to continue working at night if they had not completed their work or to avoid the salt melting.1632 Workers had to work hard without complaint, so as not to be accused of being lazy.1633 For this reason, they worked even when they became very sick.1634
378.            Accusations of laziness or of being a traitor, illness and lack of food all resulted in some workers committing suicide.1635 Workers were not allowed to leave without permission. They worked and lived under the strict control of the CPK cadres.1636 Trey Koh salt field was surrounded by the sea, preventing people from escaping.1637 Regular criticism/self-criticism meetings were also convened1638 and biographies of workers were taken.1639
379.            Guards and technicians received larger food rations than regular workers.1640 Witnesses state that if someone was late or sick, his or her ration would be cut down or deprived as punishment.1641 One of them states that some workers caught stealing food were deprived of food for two days.1642 Workers were taken for bathing one or twice a week and, as a result, many suffered from poor hygiene.1643 They were treated using locally produced medicines, which were ineffective. Severely ill or injured workers were sent for medical treatment at Chhum Kreal Pagoda located in Chhum Kreal Subdistrict next to Kampong Kandal, whilst less sick workers were treated at the worksite itself.1644 Several witnesses saw many workers die of exhaustion or illness at either the Chhum Kreal Pagoda or at the worksite.1645 During this time, Phnom Penh radio broadcasts stated that the CPK paid attention to the living conditions and health of the salt field workers.1646

Cambodian awarded ‘Nobel prize’ of Asia

Posted: 31 Jul 2011 01:21 AM PDT

Koul Panha (2nd from Left)
Friday, 29 July 2011 15:01
Daniel Sherrell
Phnom Penh Post

Cambodian citizen Koul Panha has been awarded the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award, often referred to as Asia's Nobel peace prize, for his work with the Committee for Free and Fair Elections.

He is one of six people to receive this year's award, which will be presented to them at a ceremony in Manila on August 31.

He is being recognised for "his determined and courageous leadership of the sustained campaign to build an enlightened, organised and vigilant citizenry who will ensure fair and free elections – as well as demand accountable governance by their elected officials – in Cambodia's nascent democracy", the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation said.


In an interview with The Post, Koul Panha said he was "surprised" and "excited" to receive the award.

Koul Panha is executive director of Comfrel, which seeks to increase electoral transparency and voter participation.
Since 1997 it has enlisted more than 50,000 election volunteers and held election-related workshops for about 150,000 voters, he said.

Koul Panha said the award would encourage his organisation to work harder, especially in preparation for the commune elections next year and national elections in 2013.

"We will deploy our volunteers to inform people about the importance of elections and their right to vote, as well as advocating electoral fairness, integrity and an even playing field for all [political] parties," he said.

"The history of Cambodia is full of conflict. People want, finally, to enjoy democracy and fair elections."

The award is named after a president of the Philippines who died in a plane crash in 1957. The foundation that oversees the award was established by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund to "honour his memory and perpetuate his example of integrity in public service and pragmatic idealism within a democratic society".

Koul Panha will receive a certificate, a cash prize and a medallion emblazoned with the image of Ramon Magsaysay. A total of 290 people in 22 Asian countries have been given the award.

Cambodia: Human rights on a slippery slope

Posted: 31 Jul 2011 01:17 AM PDT


30 July 2011
By Arnaud Dubus
Liberation (France)
Translated from French by Luc Sâr
"Cambodia is slowly sinking into a predatory authoritarian regime like those established by Zine Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia and Muammar Qaddafi of Libya."
In the early 90s, there was an illusion that the massive operation undertaken by the United Nations to rehabilitate Cambodia after decades of war had "rooted" democracy there. A new constitution was drafted. The election, judged reasonably free and fair, took place in 1993 with a turnout of almost 90%. A civil society sprouted on the wasteland of a rejuvenated country. Cambodia was an exception in the region, leaping from an autocratic post-Khmer Rouge regime to a liberal government, a kind of "Cambodian miracle" that defies the lessons of history.

Since then, this dream has eroded steadily, especially since the Prime Minister, Hun Sen, has marginalized the political opposition following the 2008 election. The majority of local human rights representatives no longer wanted to be cited personally. The risk of being thrown in jail for criticizing the mighty Hun Sen and Bun Rany, his wife who bears the title "Honorable Wise Doctor," is just too much to bear. Christophe Peschoux, the director of the Phnom Penh office of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UN OHCHR), had to leave the country in May after Hun Sen asked all government agencies to stop cooperating with him.

Nothing illustrates better the deterioration of fundamental freedoms than the issue of farmers who face forced eviction from their lands to make way for rubber plantation or sugar cane companies whose owners are closely linked to the government. "When the victims complain against the powerful people, judges do not pay attention them. But when private companies complain about the victims, the judges and prosecutors rush in [to meet the companies' demands]," a Cambodian activist said.

The mixing of political and business interests is quite dizzy at times: for example, a senator who is a close friend of the Prime Minister grabs for himself a plot of land with the support of the military, next, he benefits from the passing of a law by the National Assembly that provides financial guarantee to the project on the plot of land. Cambodia is slowly sinking into a predatory authoritarian regime like those established by Zine Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia and Muammar Qaddafi of Libya.
------------
Au Cambodge, les droits de l'homme sur une mauvaise pente

30/07/11
Par Arnaud Dubus
Libération

Il y avait au début des années 90 une illusion selon laquelle l'opération massive des Nations unies pour réhabiliter le Cambodge après des décennies de guerre avait «enraciné» la démocratie. Une nouvelle constitution avait été rédigée. Des élections, jugées raisonnablement justes et libres, avaient eu lieu en 1993, avec un taux de participation de près de 90%. Une société civile vivace bourgeonnait sur les friches d'un pays rajeuni. Le Cambodge faisait figure d'exception dans la région, passant d'un bond du régime autocratique post-Khmers rouges à un gouvernement libéral, une sorte de «miracle cambodgien» qui défiait les leçons de l'histoire.

Ce rêve s'est effrité progressivement, particulièrement depuis que le Premier ministre, Hun Sen, a marginalisé l'opposition politique après les élections de 2008. La plupart des représentants des organisations locales de défense de droits de l'homme ne veulent plus, désormais, être cités nommément. Le risque de se faire jeter en prison pour avoir critiqué le tout puissant Hun Sen ou son épouse, Bun Rany, laquelle porte le titre d'«honorable docteure pleine de sagesse», est tout simplement trop important. Le directeur du bureau de Phnom Penh de la commission des Nations unies pour les droits de l'homme, Christophe Peschoux, a dû quitter le pays en mai, après que Hun Sen a demandé à toutes les agences gouvernementales de cesser de coopérer avec lui.

Rien n'illustre mieux la dégradation du respect des libertés fondamentales que la question des paysans expropriés manu militari de leurs terres pour faire place à des sociétés de plantations d'hévéas ou de cannes à sucre, dont les directeurs sont étroitement liés aux gouvernants. «Quand les victimes portent plainte contre un puissant, les juges n'y prêtent pas attention. Mais quand des firmes privées le font, les juges et les procureurs se précipitent», explique un militant cambodgien.

La confusion des intérêts est parfois confondante : tel sénateur, ami proche du Premier ministre, s'octroie un terrain grâce à l'appui des militaires, puis bénéficie du vote d'une loi par l'Assemblée nationale qui accorde une garantie financière au projet. Le Cambodge s'enfonce lentement dans un autoritarisme prédateur qui n'est pas sans rappeler l'édification des régimes de Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali en Tunisie ou de Muammar al-Kadhafi en Libye.

Cambodians must shape their own destiny - Op-Ed by Ven. Thach Cong Phuong

Posted: 31 Jul 2011 12:14 AM PDT

Japanese Tsunami captured from inside a car

Posted: 31 Jul 2011 12:02 AM PDT

Yu Muroga is a Japanese delivery man. He was on his delivery trip when the 11 March 2011 earthquake took place. Like most people in his area, he did not feel threatened by the Tsunami as he lives rather far away from the shore. Therefore, he was continuing to drive for his work. Not only did the High Def camera attached to his dashboard record the shaking, it also recorded the subsequent events where several drivers were caught in the Tsunami flooding. The camera was recently retrieved by the Japanese police near Yu Muroga's body in the car.

Tsunami japonais à l'intérieur d'une voiture

Yu Muroga est un livreur japonais. Il faisait sa tournée quand a eu lieu le tremblement de terre le 11 mars 2011. Comme la plus part des gens de son secteur, il ne se sentait pas menacé par le tsumani, vu qu'il se trouvait assez loin de la côte. Il a donc continué à conduire et faire son travail. La caméra HD installée sur son tableau de bord n'a pas seulement capturé les secousses mais aussi les moments qui ont suivi où plusieurs conducteurs se sont retrouvés bloqués par les eaux du tsunami. La caméra n'a été retrouvée que récemment par la police prés du corps du passager de la voiture.


http://www.koreus.com/video/tsunami-japon-interieur-voiture.html

Domnoeur Ney Kar Sangkhim - "Hope": A Poem in Khmer by Ven Thach Cong Phuong

Posted: 30 Jul 2011 11:39 PM PDT

Hun Xen’s regime continues to misrepresent Khmer Krom Associations

Posted: 30 Jul 2011 11:22 PM PDT

30 July 2011
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by O Keo
Click here to read the article in Khmer


http://www.box.net/shared/u58nc2148sg36n0idq02

Human rights problem is a problem that national and international opinions consider as a major issue in any country in the world. Furthermore, such problem should be protected from being violated. This is particularly true to minorities living in a country where they do not have their own ruling government because it is easy for them to face neglect when their rights are violated. Such is the case of Khmer Kampuchea Krom people.

Tin Zakariya reports below:

Is Asean now at sea?

Posted: 30 Jul 2011 11:03 PM PDT

Sunday July 31, 2011
By BUNN NAGARA
The Star (Malaysia)

Grouping continues to invite others to its feast, even if it may have too much on its plate.

ASEAN leaders need more self-esteem without constantly craving reassurance from others, if they are to live up to the promise of the regional organisation.

After all, self-reliance is supposed to be a buzzword for Asean. And like all the best regional organisations, it was conceived in hope – hope that it would help bring about better times for all.

Yet Asean has long treasured its international image, where to be ignored or deemed irrelevant by others seems worse than being trumped. It particularly seems to value approval by past colonial powers.

Thus the sense of triumphalism during the week that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) had mentioned Asean in deliberating over the Preah Vihear temple dispute between Cambodia and Thailand.


The dispute involves two Asean countries after all, so the court's mention of Asean is not exactly extraordinary. Actually, if the ICJ has indeed made Asean a factor in any impending dispute settlement, there might be reason for concern.

First, Asean will be put on notice that it needs to do all it can to solve the problem. But there is little assurance that Asean can deliver.

This means, second, that Asean's likely failure to satisfy will reflect badly on it and all that it represents. Questions about Asean's purpose, effectiveness and relevance may resurface.

There is no doubt that Asean wants the dispute settled, and anything it can do about it will be welcomed. The problem is that Asean's dispute-settling mechanism is still limited, if not inadequate, and certainly not as well equipped as a dedicated institution like the ICJ.

Cambodia and Thailand responded positively to the ICJ order to withdraw troops from the disputed temple area. As both countries may feel a sense of entitlement in Asean, however, it is doubtful if they would have acted similarly if a request for that came from the Asean Secretariat.

With Cambodia and Thailand jointly forming a fifth of the Asean membership, there is also the conflict of interest factor. Besides, there is no shortage of issues that Asean has to address.

Compared with the range of challenges confronting Asean, the strip of border territory around Preah Vihear is a trifling matter. The fact that both countries have allowed it to fester this far shows how far Asean collectively still has to go.

Naval manoeuvres in the South China Sea continue to be unsettling for some. Even if they are largely seen as initiated by China, some regional responses have not always helped.

Vietnam is among some half-dozen claimaints to disputed maritime territory in the area. But it has got ahead of itself, and of Asean preparedness, in meeting a perceived challenge.

Even the United States has been made uneasy with the tenor in the high seas. The Philippines, another claimant, is not far behind in lacing nationalism with bravado.

President Benigno Aquino III is prodding the rest of Asean to be firm with China, while seeking to add maritime purchases to the Philippine Navy. However, China will know that these are merely postures for home consumption by one of Asean's weakest naval powers.

But whether or not Beijing will soon launch its first aircraft carrier, neither the United States nor anyone else will want to make waves about it. Just as Asean does not want to have to choose between the United States and China, the United States also does not want to have to choose between Asean and China.

Instead of vying to propose peaceful solutions, claimants over disputed maritime territory are competing to strike combative postures. If that continues, all will be the poorer for it.

Another issue for Asean to consider is the still-tentative prospect of North Korea's controversial nuclear weapons programme.

Although the issue strictly lies outside South-East Asia, it is very much at the centre of Asean's larger East Asia perspective. It is also something of an obstacle for the Asean Regional Forum.

Several other countries – China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States – comprise the six-party formula with North Korea to resolve the issue, but the formula has been drifting into oblivion. It is now supposed to be back, but in a convoluted fashion with North-South dialogue first, then US-Pyongyang talks, and only then resumption of six-party talks.

Asean countries like Malaysia had in the past hosted North-South talks, and Asean had also served as impetus and catalyst for broader progress on the Korean peninsula. But distant as a six-party solution is for now, the other five countries are not expecting much, if any, contribution from Asean this time.

One issue that Asean cannot duck is Myanmar's intention to chair the Asean Standing Committee in 2014. When it was its turn to chair Asean before, Myanmar consented to pass over the privilege because of its political "problems" at home.

But now democratic icon Aung San Suu Kyi has been released from house arrest and there has been an election. The military junta has also retreated behind a semblance of civilian rule, although widespread disquiet over the recent election remains.

Naypyidaw is claiming "mission accomplished" and is about to collect on its Asean chairmanship. Suddenly, a very subjective judgment on its political reforms has to decide on the objective prospect of its Asean chair.

Not so very long ago, Asean was embarrassed for having Myanmar as a member. Now it has to cope somehow with the challenge of Myanmar's likely chairmanship.

The Philippines, Singapore and Thailand are most agitated over that prospect. But even if they are joined by another six Asean members, it is unlikely things will get any easier for Asean.

All these issues are set to be a liability for Asean's image if not also its substance. They challenge Asean to perform, deliver and otherwise succeed, stretching its capacities as well as its credibility.

Interview between Soy and De-chor: A Parody by Anonymous

Posted: 30 Jul 2011 09:53 PM PDT

Khmer Super Model Fashion Show again in Sdyney 6 August 2011 (?)

Posted: 30 Jul 2011 09:29 PM PDT

Due to a strong urge of Khmer community in Sydney, the Khmer Community of NSW State Inc., is again organizing the Khmer traditional fashion show on 5 August 2011. Attached is the information Poster.

Historical Context for Vietnamization of Cambodia (e.g. Viettel/Metfone; Hun Sen's rise to power)

Posted: 30 Jul 2011 09:18 PM PDT

Brother Enemy–the War after the War
A History of Indochina Since the Fall of Saigon
By Nayan Chanda
(MacMillan Publishing Co., New York, 1986)
Excerpts from Chapter 10 (A Red Christmas)


A Campaign Begins

The opening shot of the military campaign, however, was fired from the Central Highlands township of Ban Me Thuot.  Seizure of this town in a surprise attack in March 1975 marked the beginning of the "Ho Chi Minh Campaign," which ended with the capture of Saigon.  The strategically located town was again chosen for a place of pride in Vietnam's military history.  At midnight of December 24, as bells chimed in the cathedral dominating the small town, General Chu Huy Man, director of the General Political Department of the Vietnam People's Army (VPA), lifted his pistol to fire a shot in the air to officially launch the campaign.  General Man had come down from Hanoi for the ceremonial launching of an operation to be led by General Hoang Cam"General Cam knows eastern Cambodia like the back of his hand," a Vietnamese official later told me, "because he led all the major military campaigns against Lon Nol in the 1970s." Under a cold lit, starlit sky, columns of Vietnamese T-54 leading toward Cambodia.  Within five days, the Vietnamese forces had routed the Khmer Rouge garrison and captured the province capital, Kratie.

Kratie is one Cambodian town the Vietnamese knew well.  After "liberating" it from Lon Nol hands in 1970, the Vietnamese set up a military training school where they trained hundreds of Khmer Rouge in commando operations.  Now, nine years later, the Vietnamese snatched the town back from their old pupils to hand over to their newest Khmer allies.

By January 1, 1979, Vietnamese forces advancing from Laos along the Mekong captured the second provincial capital, Stung Treng.  Capture of the two major towns on the Mekong had effectively cut off all four provinces in the northeast from the rest of the country.  Though sparsely populated by Montagnards, the forest-covered hills of the northeast which were the anti Lon-Nol resistance base in the 1970s had again become a "liberated zone" for Cambodia's newest front.


Meanwhile, Vietnamese divisions from the Seventh and Ninth Military Regions, under the overall command of General Le Duc Anh, began a massive push along Route 1 and Route 7, both leading toward the Mekong River.  Four nearly a week before beginning the tank-led push, the Vietnamese air force mounted an intense bombing attack on the Khmer Rouge positionsBy concentrating some thirty thousand men—half of the Khmer Rouge regular forces—in an arc along the Parrot's Beak and Fishhook areas near the Vietnamese border, Pol Pot made their destruction easier.  These troops were decimated by a combination of artillery fire and aerial bombing after being picked up by spotter aircraft.  There was surprisingly little resistance from Pol Pol's peasant army, which knew how to kill with machetes but had not had time to learn fly fighter planes or were quickly pulled out by sea, leaving the untrained Khmers to fend for themselves.  Rows of brand-new MiG-19s painted with the Democratic Kampuchea colors sat in Pochentong Airport, some even in mothballs, when the Vietnamese reached Phnom Penh to claim booty.


Despite the bombing raids, the ground assault was not easyColonel Bui Tin, who watched the battles from a helicopter and took photographs, told me that the heaviest battle of the campaign before capture of Phnom Penh was fought in the Fishhook area.  Fighting raged for two days as the Vietnamese tried to go across a defense perimeter along irrigation canals and minefields.  Once that hurdle was crossed, the Vietnamese moved swiftly up to the Mekong River opposite the provincial capital of Kompong Cham.  The two other big battles of the operation were fought at Neak Luong, the Mekong ferry town on Route 1, and at Tani (Takeo Province) on Route 3, leading to the coast.  A Vietnamese commando unit managed to reach the banks of Tonle Sap River, facing Phnom Penh.  Their attempt on the early morning of January 2 to cross the river and "liberate" Prince Sihanouk from his guarded residence was however foiled.  "They came across the river to kidnap me, but they all got killed," Sihanouk told me with a sigh of regret.  "At that time I did not know why suddenly that evening [January 2] Khieu Samphan came to tell me, "You have fifteen minutes to get ready to leave.  I was then taken to Battambang and Sisophon."


By January 4 the Vietnamese had gained total control of the east bank of the Mekong, comprising seven provinces, but the prospect of putting Sihanouk at the head of the Salvation Front controlling this vast "liberated zone" had vanished.


After a day of lull the final order came from the Politburo on the night of January 4:  "Go to Phnom Penh." On January 6 the Vietnamese units crossed the Mekong at Neak Luong and north of Kompong Cham.  Soviet-built pontoon bridges and big U.S.-made ferryboats brought up the river from Vietnam carried tanks and troops to the western bank.  Soon nine of Vietnam's twelve divisions, accompanied by three regiments of front soldiers, would close in on Phnom Penh from the southeast and the north.  By the morning of January 7, Vietnamese artillery started hitting the outskirts of Phnom Penh.  All of a sudden two of the capital's important accesses—Route 1 and Route 7—were blocked by the advancing Vietnamese columns.

[to be continued]




Leave a Reply

If you have some guts to join or have any secret to share, you can get it published directly to this blog by using this address meaning once you send your article to this email, it will soon appear in this blog after verifying that it is not just spam!