KI Media: “A Preventable Genocide - Un génocide évitable” plus 23 more

KI Media: “A Preventable Genocide - Un génocide évitable” plus 23 more

A Preventable Genocide - Un génocide évitable

Posted: 26 Jul 2011 02:34 PM PDT

A Preventable Genocide
(Sihanouk - Khmer Rouge)

By Leng Sovady
Unofficial translation from Khmer by Luc Sâr
Veuillez lire l'article en français à la fin du texte anglais
The Cambodian genocide might never take place. In fact, in early 1970, the Khmer Rouge movement virtually ceased to exist. The crackdown against them in 1967, 1968 and 1969 by Prince Sihanouk, then Head of State, had virtually eradicated them. It is estimated that, in January 1970, there were no more than 2,000 Khmer Rouge partisans left throughout Cambodia. They were very poorly armed. In January and February 1970, the situation in Cambodia was perfectly calm on the domestic front and we could travel safely throughout the country. Back then, the Khmer Rouge had no future.

However, an important event ended this happy situation. On March 18, 1970, Prince Sihanouk was removed from office by the Cambodian Parliament through a unanimous vote.

Then traveling abroad, Prince Sihanouk had only one thought in mind: revenge, and he said so himself during his outbursts of rage - a statement that was reproduced by the news media from that time. To get his revenge, he threw himself into the arms of the Khmer Rouge leaders in Beijing and gave them his unconditional endorsement.

We all know the tragic result of this disastrous alliance that brought dishonor to the Prince. It caused the Cambodian genocide where two million people died in less than four years.

Therefore, we can affirm that Sihanouk was the main responsible actor of this genocide. But, he has no remorse about that...

--------
Un génocide évitable
(Sihanouk – Khmers Rouges)

Le génocide cambodgien aurait très bien pu n'avoir jamais lieu. Au début de l'année 1970, en effet, le mouvement Khmers Rouges avait pratiquement cessé d'exister. La répression exercée contre lui en 1967, 1968 et 1969 par le Prince Sihanouk, alors Chef de l'État, l'avait virtuellement éradiqué. On estimait ainsi, en Janvier 1970, qu'il restait tout au plus 2.000 Khmers Rouges sur tout le territoire cambodgien. Et qu'ils étaient très peu armés. La situation au Cambodge, en Janvier et Février 1970, était donc parfaitement calme sur le plan intérieur et on pouvait circuler sans risques dans tout le pays. Les Khmers Rouges n'avaient alors plus aucun avenir.

Mais un évènement important allait mettre fin à cette heureuse situation. Le 18 Mars 1970, en effet, le Prince Sihanouk fut destitué de ses fonctions par le Parlement cambodgien par un vote unanime.

Alors en voyage à l'étranger, le Prince Sihanouk n'eut plus qu'une seule pensée en tête : se venger, comme il le déclara lui-même dans ses accès de fureur – déclaration reproduite dans les médias à cette époque. Et pour se venger il se jeta dans les bras des Chefs des Khmers Rouges à Pékin et leur apporta sa caution sans réserve.

On connait la suite tragique de cette funeste alliance, déshonorante pour le Prince. Elle allait, en effet, causer le génocide cambodgien : deux millions de morts en moins de quatre ans.

On peut donc affirmer que Sihanouk aura été le responsable premier du génocide. Mais cela ne lui cause aucun remords….

Leng Sovady

Court ruling is temporary relief

Posted: 26 Jul 2011 01:30 PM PDT

July 27, 2011
A. Gaffar Peang-Meth
PACIFIC DAILY NEWS

Deciding by an overwhelming majority (11 votes to 5) on July 18, the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, the International Court of Justice in The Hague, ordered Cambodian and Thai authorities to "immediately withdraw their military personnel" from what the court defined as the "provisional demilitarized zone," around the 11th century Khmer-built Preah Vihear Temple, "to ensure ... no irreparable damage" to the temple.

The decision brought a breath of fresh air to a mindless, politically motivated military standoff -- a welcome, if temporary, relief.

The Cambodian Center for Human Rights welcomed the decision: "Reason has at last ruled the day." It hopes the order will "ensure an end to the bloodshed and mass displacement" of Cambodian and Thai civilians on both sides of the border. It sees the order as a "breathing space to resolve the border issue once and for all" by Cambodia and newly elected Thai leaders.

However, Cambodian legislators of the opposition Sam Rainsy Party declared, "We are deeply disappointed" with the ruling, which orders Cambodian troops to withdraw from the area that "indisputably stands on Khmer territory and was placed under Cambodia's sovereignty" by the same International Court of Justice in 1962. The SRP lawmakers called the ruling "a shameful defeat for the Hun Sen government"; called on the government to step down; and called for the implementation of the 1991 Paris Agreements on Cambodia.

Thailand's "Yellow Shirts," the People's Alliance for Democracy, called on the Thai government and the military to reject the ruling, to keep Thai troops in the disputed area and to push Cambodian troops out.


If left in place, soldiers from Cambodia and Thailand, supplied with heavy weapons and equipment, will put the world's cultural heritage at a "real and imminent risk of irreparable damage." It won't matter who fires the first shot or why.

The court's "orders indicating provisional measures" do have "binding effect" and create "international legal obligations with which both parties were required to comply," the ruling said.

Those provisional measures include: No obstruction by Thailand to Cambodia's free access to, nor prevention of Cambodia's provision of fresh supplies to her "non-military personnel" at the temple; allowing observers appointed by ASEAN access to the Temple; and no action that might aggravate or extend the dispute or make it more difficult to resolve.

It's time to put the people's welfare and well-being above politics.

The Court voted by 15 to 1 "that each of the parties should inform it as to its compliance with the above provisional measures."

On April 28, Cambodia asked the International Court of Justice to clarify its judgment rendered on June 15, 1962, in the case concerning the temple. Cambodia also submitted an urgent request for the indication of provisional measures. Thailand asked the court to dismiss Cambodia's request, but the court "unanimously rejected" Thailand's request.

The Cambodian-Thai dispute over who owns the 1.8-square-mile area around the temple intensified after July 2008, when the temple was declared a World Heritage site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. But the Cambodian-Thai dispute involves "the entire Cambodian-Thai border (that) needs to be definitively demarcated," the CCHR stated.

I am encouraged by the CCHR's suggestion of a partnership between the incoming Thai government and the Hun Sen government to "put an end to the violence and resolve the border conflict once and for all."

I remain concerned about incoming Thai Premier Yingluck Shinawatra's and Cambodian Hun Sen's intention and capacity to keep each country's nationalist sentiment over Preah Vihear under control, and desist from stoking destructive nationalist fervor.

Both former Thai premier Abhisit Vejjajiva and Hun Sen have made use of nationalist extremism to serve their political interests.

Nationalism is not a bad thing. A person's love for, attachment and devotion to his/her nation or state is the definition of "nationalism." It's a feeling of kinship with the other "like" people who make up the nation; a sentimental attachment to the land where one is born, raised and lives; a sense of identity and self-esteem one has when one identifies with the nation and the land of one's birth. These factors motivate a person to act to help one's native land. Many leaders rally their people through appealing to their sense of nationalism/patriotism.

But love can be blind, they say; too much feeling and too strong an attachment can result in an us-vs.-them mindset. This can create a feeling of xenophobia -- suspicion, dislike, fear of people of other ethnic, racial, religious backgrounds -- which can lead to a sense of national superiority and superpatriotism.

Cambodians, Thais and Vietnamese are generally inclined to see one another in this way. Never mind that Lord Gautama Buddha teaches: "Fill your mind with compassion."

Despite the inclination of some Cambodians and Thais to focus on "who won" and what to do next, the court's decision gives no one a victory or a defeat. The decision provides both parties with a respite from tensions to concentrate on the best way to resolve the border issue until the court renders its judgment on Cambodia's request.
In the final analysis, Cambodians and Thais can choose the shootout and risk damaging the Temple irreparably, or work through the court's "provisional measures" to reach a peaceful resolution to the border problem.

A. Gaffar Peang-Meth, Ph.D., is retired from the University of Guam. Write him at peangmeth@yahoo.com.

COMFREL Release the Result of Workshop on Voter's Voice in Remote Areas; Poy, Ou Chum, Ratanakiri province

Posted: 26 Jul 2011 01:20 PM PDT

Dear all,

COMFREL is please to release its press release on the result of workshop on voter's voice in remote areas; Poy commune, Ou Chum district, Ratanakiri province was held on July 18, 2011.

Please see the attached document for details.

FYI : If you need releases or articles related to workshop on voter's voices, elections reforms, democracy/political reforms, decentralisation and governance, please feel free to visit our website:

Best regards,

COMFREL


http://www.box.net/shared/b9tf5ysg0sy7mo8yefre

Embassy investigates death [of Cambodian maid in Malaysia]

Posted: 26 Jul 2011 01:16 PM PDT

Tuesday, 26 July 2011
Chhay Channyda and David Boyle
The Phnom Penh Post

Cambodian embassy officials in Malaysia are investigating the death of a Cambodian domestic worker earlier this month and plan to interview neighbours of her former employer, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.

Koy Kuong, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said yesterday that embassy officials had been dispatched to Penang province to investigate the cause of woman's death, following allegations made last week that she was abused.

"We are seeking witnesses, especially from the neighbours at the house where she was working," he said. Malaysian police were cooperating with the Cambodian embassy to look into the death, he added.

The deceased woman's aunt, Sorn Chanthy, 38, from Phnom Penh's Dangkor district, said yesterday she did not believe her 19-year-old niece, Choy Pich, had died from pneumonia on July 17 as reported by labour recruitment firm AP TSE & C Cambodia Resource Co Ltd.


A medical check conducted before her niece left for Malaysia in September last year, she said, gave her a clean bill of health and the young woman had never previously suffered from any diseases.

"I asked the company not to cremate her body and wanted them to send the body to Cambodia and the company has agreed," she said.

Concerns were raised about the maid's death after an email was sent to news aggregation site Khmerization by a person familiar with the situation.

The email alleging abuse referred to the date of death, TSE and the area of Malaysia in which Choy Pich died but incorrectly identified the victim's name and age. Nevertheless, it sparked rights groups and politicians to call for an investigation into the worker's death. It also fuelled Sorn Chanthy's suspicions that abuse, not disease, was the cause of her niece's demise.

Seng Sithichey, president of AP TSE & C, yesterday reiterated his claim that a medical certificate from Malaysia showed Choy Pich had died from pneumonia and said he was unsure what to do with her body, which would be expensive to repatriate.

Military withdrawal depends on new gov't: Thai army

Posted: 26 Jul 2011 12:49 PM PDT

BANGKOK, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Second Army Region commander Lt Gen Tawatchai Samutsakorn said on Tuesday that the decision to pull Thai troops from the frontier now depends on the decision of the incoming government.

Now the troops from the 2nd Region Army which oversees northeastern region still remain at the Thai-Cambodian border, according to the commander.

Lt-Gen Tawatchai insisted that both Thai and Cambodian army will continue to coexist peacefully and avoid confrontation in order that some 100,000 residents along the border would not be affected.

Following the Cambodia's application in late April for reinterpretation of the World Court's 1962 ruling and provisional measure, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on July 18 ordered both countries to remove their troops from the disputed area.


Tensions have mounted between the two neighbors since 2008 when the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization listed the Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage Site, triggering sporadic clashes along the border, and periodic clashes between Cambodian and Thai soldiers have resulted in the deaths of troops on both sides.

"I remember…" - By Saumura Tioulong

Posted: 26 Jul 2011 12:46 PM PDT

I remember…

Saumura Tioulong
On 23 July 2011, I had to say good bye to the place we all call with affection "71", SRP headquarter at 71, Sothearos Boulevard. My heart was filled with sadness because I have so many memories accumulated over the 14 years when 71 has hosted us between December 1997 and July 2011.

I remember my first visit there with vice-president Kong Korm, after our return from Thailand end of 1997. He walked with me through grass as high as me. We reached the main building, a 1960-style house that used to be the residence of Australian ambassador Noel Deschamps, with a large living-room, 6 rooms, 2 lavatories, small closets, all in pretty good condition.

I remember my feeling of relief: we have a place for our Party offices! I don't know where the president was, not in Cambodia anyway, so I told the vice-president "Thank you for offering your land, it will be great for our Party!". When we started clearing the land, we found an enormous boa. Good omen, everybody rejoiced!

I remember the first mass meeting of the then-Khmer Nation Party at 71, on 9 November 1997. I was walking up and down the place, attentive to any sign of an attack. I was still traumatized by the grenade attack on a meeting of the BLDP the year before, and by our own grenade attack on 30 March 1997. I remember my feeling of relief at the end of the day when I was sure everything went OK.

I remember Yim Sokha: "We need more working space", my worries "Where am I going to find the money?", his shy smile –he rarely smiled "We raised the money among ourselves, I am not soliciting you, just informing". They raised 10,000$ among friends to build 8 rooms that would later house the Women's Wing, the Youth Wing, the Legal department, the Membership department, the Social Affairs department, and the Admin. At one stage, the president's office and cabinet were located in that wooden building.


I remember the cute baby-girl named Rathsophea born during a demonstration in front of the old National Assembly, to a woman who came from Poipet with hundreds of other farmers to protest the confiscation of their lands to build the future casino. Chased away by policemen from the park across the National Assembly or by the rain, turned away from overwhelmed pagodas, they came to our Party headquarters as the last resort, begging for a place to sleep. I remember giving the driest place in priority to mothers with infants –our place too was under the rain… I remember calling embassies, humanitarian NGOs, friends and donors, trying to find food, mosquito nets, mats and other basic necessities. I remember negotiating with doctors for the sick ones or the weakest ones. Wave after wave, between 2000 and 2003, 71 must have received thousands of persons, whether expropriated families or hungry villagers from different provinces. I remember the sadness at the thought of whole families sleeping under the rain with no shelter and the feeling of being powerless in front of such tragedies. Since then, when in the safety of my bedroom and the comfort of my bed, I hear the rain falling on the roof, I think of the crowds of people who do not have a dry place where to sleep.

I remember the activists arriving stained in blood after an armed attack, like this young man from Memot who was hit 7 times with an axe and lost one ear. I remember the monk who, sitting high on huge bags of rice, rode a cyclo to 71 flooded by monsoon rains. I remember the delivery of millions of vitamin pills to be distributed to the poorest to compensate for a deficient diet.

I remember the fever of the electoral campaign, 71 busy like a bee's house, phones ringing everywhere, leaflets and other electoral material arriving in and immediately dispatched, I remember the impatience for results from polling stations, the loud screams of joy at good figures, the anger at cases of fraud, the feeling of injustice against the biased electoral authorities, the discouragement at the announcement of the final results,…1998, 2002, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2009.

I remember the meeting room Thun Bunly filled with passionate debates in the steering committee. I remember voting for hotly contested leadership positions in the Party. I remember fascinating training sessions on canvassing, recruiting members, message creation and delivery, public speaking,…

I remember the euphoria on the return of Sam Rainsy in February 2006, 71 flooded with white-and-blue candle light tee-shirts and caps.

Yesterday, once again, the streets of Phnom Penh were flooded with white-and-blue shirts, walking from 71 to the new Party office in Chak Angre. As hundreds of SRP members were entering the new building, I was thinking that today, tomorrow, and every day after tomorrow, these new walls would, again, witness the excitement of the fight for freedom.

Good bye, 71! Thank you for having sheltered the most noble part of ourselves.

I will always remember.

Tioulong Saumura
Phnom Penh, 24 July 2011

"Je me souviens" - Par Saumura Tioulong

Posted: 26 Jul 2011 12:41 PM PDT

Je me souviens

Saumura Tioulong
Le 23 Juillet 2011, j'ai dit au revoir à l'endroit que nous appelons tous avec affection "chet muoy - 71", c'est-à-dire le siège du PSR au 71, boulevard Sothearos. J'avais le cœur serré parce que j'y ai laissé tant de souvenirs accumulés au fil des 13 ans et quelques que 71 nous a abrités entre Décembre 1997 et Juillet 2011.

Je me souviens de ma première visite avec le vice-président Kong Korm, juste après notre retour de Thaïlande fin 1997. Il a marché avec moi dans des herbes folles aussi hautes que moi, jusqu'au bâtiment principal, une maison des années 1960 qui avait été la résidence de l'ambassadeur d'Australie Noel Deschamps, avec un grand salon, 6 chambres, 2 salles de bains, des placards, le tout en plutôt bonne condition.

Je me souviens de mon soulagement: nous avons une place pour y mettre les bureaux du Parti! Je ne sais où le président était, pas au Cambodge en tout cas, et j'ai dit au vice-président "Merci de nous offrir votre terrain, c'est formidable pour le Parti!". Quand nous avons commencé à désherber, nous avons trouvé un énorme boa. Bon augure, se sont réjoui les autres!

Je me souviens de la première réunion de masse à 71, le 9 Novembre 1997. C'était encore le Parti de la Nation Khmère. Je ne cessais de faire des allées et venues, attentive au moindre signe d'attaque possible. J'étais encore sous le choc de l'attaque à la grenade contre un congrès du BLDP l'année d'avant, et de notre propre attaque à la grenade le 30 March 1997. Je me souviens du soulagement à la fin de la journée quand on était sûrs que tout allait bien.

Je me souviens de Yim Sokha: "Nous avons besoin de plus d'espace pour travailler", de mon inquiétude "Où vais-je trouver l'argent?", de son sourire timide –il souriait rarement "Nous nous sommes débrouillés tout seuls, nous n'avons pas besoin de votre aide, c'est seulement pour vous informer". Ils avaient collecté 10,000$ de leurs amis pour construire 8 pièces qui deviendront plus tard les bureaux de l'Aile féminine, de la Jeunesse, du département légal, du département des Admissions, des Affaires sociales, et de l'Administration. A un certain moment, le bureau du président et son cabinet ont été logés dans ce bâtiment en bois.


Je me souviens de l'adorable bébé nommée Rathsophea, née pendant une manifestation devant la vieille Assemblée nationale d'une femme venue de Poipet avec des centaines d'autres paysans protester contre la confiscation de leurs terres pour construire un casino. Chassés par les policiers du parc devant l'Assemblée nationale ou par la pluie, renvoyés par les pagodes déjà trop pleines, ils sont venus à notre Parti en dernier recours, quémandant une place où passer la nuit –certains sont restés des semaines voire des mois. Je me souviens avoir donné les endroits les plus secs en priorité aux mères avec des enfants –notre siège aussi était sous la pluie.… Je me souviens avoir appelé des ambassades, des ONG des amis et des donateurs, pour demander de la nourriture, des moustiquaires, des nattes et autres objets de première nécessité. Je me souviens avoir négocié avec des médecins pour les malades et les plus faibles. Vague âpres bague, entre 2000 et 2003, 71 doit bien avoir reçu des milliers de personnes, familles expropriées ou villageois affamés de différentes provinces. Je me souviens de ma tristesse à la pensée de familles entières dormant sous la pluie, sans abri et de mon sentiment d'impuissance devant de telles tragédies. Depuis, quand dans ma chambre tranquille et dans mon lit douillet j'entends la pluie tomber sur le toit, je pense à la foule de gens sans un endroit sec pour dormir.

Je me souviens des militants arrivant ensanglantés, comme ce jeune homme de Memot qui a reçu 7 coups de hache dont un lui a coupé une oreille. Je me souviens du bonze arrivant dans un cyclo-pousse, juché sur une pile de sacs de riz, dans un 71 inondé par la mousson. Je me souviens de la livraison des millions de capsules de vitamines destinées a être distribuées aux plus pauvres pour compenser une nutrition déficiente.

Je me souviens de l'effervescence des campagnes électorales, 71 comme une ruche, des téléphones sonnant partout, des prospectus et autre matériel électoral arrivant et immédiatement redistribués, je me souviens de l'impatience pour les résultats des bureaux de vote, des hurlements de joie à l'annonce de bons chiffres, de la colère devant les cas de fraude, le sentiment d' injustice devant le comportement biaisé des autorités électorales, le découragement à l'annonce des résultats finaux,…1998, 2002, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2009.

Je me souviens de la salle de réunion Thun Bunly résonnant des débats passionnés du comité directeur. Je me souviens des votes pour des postes de direction chaudement contestés dans le Parti. Je me souviens de séances de formation fascinantes sur l'organisation du part, le recrutement des membres, la création et la diffusion des messages, l'art de parler en public,…

Je me souviens de l'euphorie du retour de Sam Rainsy en Février 2006, 71 envahi par une mer de tee-shirts et de casquettes avec la bougie blanche et bleue.

Hier, encore une fois, les rues de Phnom Penh étaient envahies par les tee-shirts blancs et bleus marchant de 71 au nouveau siège à Chak Angrê. Je regardais les centaines de membres du Parti entrer dans le nouvel immeuble, je me disais que aujourd'hui, demain et tous les jours après demain, ces murs tout neufs seraient, de nouveau, les témoins des moments forts de notre combat pour la liberté.

Au revoir, 71! Merci d'avoir abrité la plus noble partie de nous-mêmes.

Je me souviendrai toujours.

Tioulong Saumura
Phnom Penh, 24 juillet 2011

Speak Truth to Power Series in KI-Media - Guillaume Ngefa Atondoko (Congo) “Political Rights”

Posted: 26 Jul 2011 09:20 AM PDT

Speak Truth to Power Series in KI-Media - Guillaume Ngefa Atondoko (Congo) "Political Rights"
http://www.scribd.com/fullscreen/60967049?access_key=key-nxlncbr4mwv5hkj1pvx

Angkor protesters slighted

Posted: 26 Jul 2011 09:08 AM PDT

A group of Angkor beer promoters protest outside the company's head office on Norodom Boulevard in Phnom Penh yesterday. (Photo by: Pha Lina)

Tuesday, 26 July 2011
Khoun Leakhana
The Phnom Penh Post

Trucks carrying Angkor beer yesterday morning pushed through a fragile blockade formed by "beer girls" trying to garner public support for what they described as an attempt to force one of the Kingdom's largest brewers to show more respect to them and the law.

Drivers had stopped in front of more than 30 women who gathered for almost five hours in front of Angkor Brewery's head office on Norodom Boulevard yesterday morning, but company executives ordered them to push through the group.

The women used loudspeakers and banners to draw attention to their protest. They said they were protesting because they could not survive on what the company paid them for promoting its brand in restaurants and nightspots.


Moreover, it was also ignoring a June 15 ruling by the Arbitration Council to double Sunday overtime wages to US$4 a day, they said.

The company all but ignored the protest, sending a single executive out to tell them to disburse because they were getting in the way of cargo.

"We didn't want to protest, but with a basic salary of only $50 a month we cannot cover survive, and we if we work on Sunday we only get $2 more," said beer-seller Si Noun.

She, along with her colleagues, said the company owed them back salary for three years because it had not been paying them overtime for working on Sundays and that the Council's ruling was retroactive.

Sin Chanthoeun, 32, said she and her colleagues wanted the company pay up by the end of the week.

"We are protesting because we want the company to respect the law," she said.

Cambodian Food and Service Workers' Federation president Ou Tep Phally said the women had been warned that if they tried to strike they would be dismissed.

About 200 beer promoters had planned to strike, but most became too afraid to join the protest after hearing rumours that police were searching for organisers, she said. Ou Tep Phally said the federation would file a complaint against the company if it failed to honour the Arbitration Council's ruling.

Sarin Denora, a lawyer for Angkor Beer Company, declined to comment, saying he was too busy.

Puma’s new dizzy spell

Posted: 26 Jul 2011 09:04 AM PDT

An employee of Hung Wah (Cambodia) Garment Manufacturing recovers at a hospital after a mass fainting episode yesterday. (Photo by: Heng Chivoan)

Tuesday, 26 July 2011
David Boyle and Kim Yuthana
The Phnom Penh Post

Sportwear giant Puma says it is taking a second outbreak of fainting at one of its Cambodian shoe suppliers "very seriously" after 49 workers at the Huey Chuen factory were hospitalised in Phnom Penh yesterday morning.

The clothing and shoe brand said it was taking immediate ''interim measures'' to address the incident, which occurred a few days after a report released last week by the Fair Labour Association found multiple breaches of labour laws had contributed to about 104 workers fainting at the same factory in April. The company did not detail the measures to be put in place.

The FLA report found that a possible exposure to hazardous chemicals – including toluene, a substance banned by Puma – along with excessive working hours and high temperatures in the factory, had caused mass fainting on April 9 and 10.


"Puma takes this fainting incident, the second within four months at the same factory premises, very seriously and has implemented a short-medium and long-term improvement plan while also taking interim measures immediately," yesterday's statement read.

It said an investigation had been launched but workers had been given sufficient rest and no "volatile chemicals" were being used at the time. Improvements had been made at the factory in the past two months, it added.

Puma also acknowledged that the situation for workers in Cambodian factories in general was problematic, and the statement vowed to open talks with industry peers to "tackle the issues on an industry-wide level".

Workers recovering at clinics throughout the capital were uncertain why they had fainted.

Pov Phalla, a worker from the Huey Chuen factory, said yesterday: "I got a headache and felt very dizzy."

But Dangkor district police chief Born Sam Ath said yesterday he believed the workers had fainted because of expos-ure to poisonous chemicals.

A representative from Huey Chuen declined to give his name yesterday or answer questions. Mouen Tola, head of the labour programme at the Community Legal Education Centre, shared his view. "It sounds like they [Huey Chuen] have not improved much. We suspect that the fainting was caused by chemical substances, not enough ventilation and also the storage of the chemical substances," he said.

Mouen Tola also questioned why an investigation into April's fainting by the Ministry of Labour had found nothing wrong with the Huey Chuen factory, contradicting the findings of the Fair Labour Association. Huey Chuen is not the only factory to have seen fainting incidents in the last week. About 300 workers also fainted over the past two days at the Hung Wah (Cambodia) Garment Manufacturing factory in Dangkor district, Born Sam Ath said yesterday.

Hung Wah factory administration chief Leav Chhay Meng told The Post tiredness and shock could be to blame.

Ken Loo, secretary general of the Garment Manufacturers Association of Cambodia, said yesterday he would leave it to relevant authorities to investigate the cause of the fainting at Hung Wah factory.

"The workers say its chemicals from the factory or insecticides, I think that's a little far fetched," he said, adding that harmful chemicals were not used in the manufacturing of garments, and if they were consumers would be equally affected. The Huey Chuen factory, he added, would very soon be absorbed under the umbrella of GMAC.

Chea Mony, president of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia, said yesterday he had sent a letter to relevant ministries complaining of fainting related to poor hygiene standards and corruption amongst investigators. Officials from the Minsitry of Labour and Vocational Training could not be reached for comment.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING MEAS SOKCHEA AND DON WEINLAND

CAMBODIA: Probe promised after garment workers faint

Posted: 26 Jul 2011 08:37 AM PDT

25 July 2011
Leonie Barrie
Just-style

An investigation has been ordered after nearly 100 garment factory workers fainted at the Hung Wah (Cambodia) Garment Manufacturing factory in Phnom Penh's Dangkor district.

Local media reports suggest chemicals or exhaustion are to blame, and the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training has vowed to investigate.

Earlier this year another mass fainting hit the headlines when several hundred workers were rushed to hospital after collapsing at Puma shoe supplier Huey Chuen, in Phnom Penh's Dangkor district.


A just-released report from the Fair Labour Association says there was a "strong possibility" the incident was caused by a combination of exposure to dangerous chemicals, inadequate ventilation, excessive working hours, and health and safety breaches.

As reported by just-style last month, Puma has accepted the criticisms made in the report and developed a comprehensive remediation plan that includes a clear timeline, as well as a process to verify its implementation.

Faintings at factory in Cambodia put big brands under pressure

Posted: 26 Jul 2011 08:33 AM PDT

Jul 23, 2011PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - One by one, the workers slumped to the floor of their garment factory in Cambodia's capital, overcome by the sweltering heat, long shifts and choking stench of chemicals.

The exact cause of the sudden illness overcoming about 300 workers at the Hung Wah textile factory this week is unclear. The factory owners said nothing as dozens of employees were treated in hospital.

"I looked around me and everyone was collapsing, everyone was scared and crying," worker Yan Chornai, 23, said from her hospital bed.

The faintings at Hung Wah, which produces clothing for Western brands, were not isolated incidents but part of a growing trend in the "sweatshops" that provide vital revenue for one of Asia's poorest countries.


In another Phnom Penh factory, King Fashion Garment, around 300 people fell ill over two days early last month for reasons still unknown.

Some of the big brands have launched investigations into what non-government organisations say are more than 1,000 faintings this year by garment workers while toiling for long hours, eking out meagre salaries that help feed hundreds of thousands of poor rural families.

Swedish fashion brand H&M said it was consulting state agencies, workers and independent factory inspectors to find out what happened at Hung Wah this week.

"Worker health and safety in our supplier factories is of high priority to H&M. Accordingly, we have immediately started investigations as soon as we received information," the company said in an e-mail to Reuters.

The increase in faintings this year is the latest in a glut of setbacks for an industry that grew 28 per cent and generated more than US$3 billion (S$3.6 billion) last year from its 300,000 workers at scores of factories, owned mostly by Chinese and Taiwanese companies.

The garment sector, Cambodia's third-largest currency earner after agriculture and tourism, has been plagued by strikes and protests over working conditions and pay.

The current monthly salary for Cambodian garment workers is about US$65, a figure employees complain is insufficient in the face of rising domestic food and fuel prices. Many take on excessive overtime to the point of exhaustion in overcrowded, poorly ventilated factories with low safety standards and high exposure to chemicals.

A report in April by Reuters about a spate of illnesses at a factory producing footwear exclusively for Puma prompted the German sports brand to commission an independent inquiry by the Washington-based Fair Labor Association.

It concluded there was a "strong possibility" that an estimated 104 faintings over a two-day period were caused by exposure to chemicals, poor ventilation and exhaustion from excessive hours.

Following the report's release on Monday, Puma moved swiftly, producing a plan limiting working time at the Huey Cheun factory employing 3,400 people to 60 hours per week and overtime to two hours daily.

It also promised health and safety training in the use and storage of chemicals and medical personnel on site at all times.

Second fainting incident at Puma factory in Cambodia sparks alarm

Posted: 26 Jul 2011 08:30 AM PDT

Jul 26, 2011
DPA

Phnom Penh - German sportswear manufacturer Puma AG has said the hospitalization of 49 workers who fainted at the factory of a Cambodian subcontractor was being taken 'very seriously.'

Monday's incident came weeks after more than 200 workers fainted over a two-day period in April at the same Huey Chuen factory in Phnom Penh, prompting Puma to commission an independent report into working conditions.

A report into the April faintings by US-based non-profit group Fair Labor Association (FLA), found an array of violations of national law, international practices and Puma's own rules.

The investigation found 'multiple hazardous chemicals' in use at Huey Chen, including toluene, which Puma explicitly bans its subcontractors from using.


The US government's Environmental Protection Agency says the solvent damages the central nervous system and may cause miscarriages or developmental problems for unborn children.

FLA concluded there was 'a strong possibility' that the April faintings were due to chemicals, adding that excessive overtime was also likely a contributing factor.

The investigation also documented unclear wage deductions, an inadequate health and safety programme, no fire safety plan, and cases of sick days being deducted from annual leave at the factory.

On Friday, Puma said it fully accepted the findings of the report, and has since implemented a comprehensive programme to improve practices and working conditions at Huey Chuen.

Spokeswoman Kerstin Neuber said Monday the firm was also considering providing meals for workers.

She added that 'the workers' situation in Cambodian factories - in the footwear as well as in the garment industry - is problematic in general and not limited to Puma production facilities.'

She said that the firm would work with industry peers to find solutions to the problems.

Huey Chuen, which employs 3,300 workers, has since 2006 made shoes for Puma, the world's third-biggest sporting goods maker after United States-based Nike and Germany's Adidas.

The manufacture of garments and shoes is Cambodia's largest foreign exchange earner and employs around 300,000 workers. Last year Cambodia exported 3 billion dollars' worth of garments, mostly to the United States and the European Union.

Rubber plantation protest in fourth day

Posted: 26 Jul 2011 08:25 AM PDT

Tuesday, 26 July 2011
May Titthara
The Phnom Penh Post

Villagers in Svay Rieng province's Romeas Hek district declined a meeting yesterday with local authorities out of fear for their arrest yesterday, instead choosing to extend their protest over a rubber plantation into a fourth day.

"All the villagers were afraid that the authorities would arrest their representatives, so I did not allow the other representatives to join the meeting," community leader Chap Sophat said yesterday.

Hem Sokun, Romeas Hek district deputy governor, said yesterday he had called the community representatives to negotiate a peaceful solution to the issue.

"I wanted both sides to succeed together to avoid a dispute, but if they did not come, how could I settle it?" he said.


Hem Sokun said that the company involved, Metapheap, had rightfully received a land concession from the provincial governor earlier this year, and he could only enforce the agreement.

About 100 villagers claiming to represent 10 villages in Krasaing commune have been protest in front of a factory belonging to Metapheap, which was granted the 1,230-hectare land concession to plant rubber.

Pol Sang, Krasaing commune chief, lamented the concession yesterday, saying the forested area brought many benefits to the local people.

Residents say nearly 3,000 people who make use of the land will be affected by the project. They say they have tilled the area since the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime and are accusing the company of bulldozing community forest. On Friday, protesters blocked Metapheap employees from clearing the area.

Split personalities revealed in Cambodia

Posted: 26 Jul 2011 08:19 AM PDT

Jul 27, 2011
By Sebastian Strangio
Asia Times Online

PHNOM PENH - As part of its ongoing release of leaked United States diplomatic cables, the anti-secrecy organization WikiLeaks this month released its small cache of Cambodia-related dispatches. The 777 cables from the US Embassy in Phnom Penh - an eagerly awaited bounty for Cambodia-watchers and local analysts - span the period from 1992 to 2010, nearly the entire life of democratic Cambodia.

While nothing in the Phnom Penh cables approaches the incomparable account of a wedding in the post-Soviet Republic of Dagestan in 2006 (a bacchanalia at which Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov "danced clumsily with his gold-plated automatic stuck down the back of his jeans") (06MOSCOW9533), certain of the dispatches shine a rare light on the faults, foibles and eccentricities of Cambodia's leadership.

It is surprising perhaps that strongman Prime Minister Hun Sen - the most prominent figure in Cambodia and the one whose personality would likely provide the most grist for analysis - is spared the harsher assessments of US officials. In one dispatch from 1995 (95PHNOMPENH3751), Hun Sen is described as showing evidence of "paranoia" after rumors of an assassination plot cropped up in the local press.

It describes a leader who "continues to show a near-obsession with his personal security" and would not travel outside the city unless accompanied by a retinue of around 60 bodyguards. In later years, Hun Sen showed signs of "increasing maturity", according to a 2008 cable (08PHNOMPENH694) signed by outgoing US ambassador Joseph Mussomeli, who cited the government's "restrained" reaction to provocations from Thailand on contested border territory and apparent commitment to democratic reform.


Overwhelmingly, however, the cables paint a picture of a leader adept at flattering and cajoling US officials while playing his own cards close to his chest. "The PM was on a charm offensive that encompassed an hour and a half of discussion peppered with jokes, historical references, and talking points that played to issues of [US government] interest," stated a cable (06PHNOMPENH361) documenting a meeting between Hun Sen and US Senate staffer Paul Grove.

In her first meeting with Hun Sen in 2009 (09PHNOMPENH79), current ambassador Carol Rodley recalled him "gushingly stating that he spends more of his time with the American ambassador than with any other members of the diplomatic community". Ahead of the 2008 Cambodian national election, however, another cable (09PHNOMPENH489) described Hun Sen as also presiding over an "autocratic nip-and-tuck" and a "sophisticated, rules-based campaign to chip away at free speech".

Unlike the prime minister, Cambodia's feckless royalists provide a target-rich environment for sharp-tongued US diplomats. "Cambodia's royal family", states one May 2006 cable (06PHNOMPENH839), "is a tragedy, comedy and melodrama all rolled into one that could have provided grist for at least a half dozen Shakespeare plays."

A particular target is Prince Norodom Ranariddh, then leader of the Funcinpec party, whose limelight-stealing antics following the October 2004 abdication of King Norodom Sihanouk and the accession of the prince's half-brother Sihamoni prompted some colorful take-downs from embassy officials.

One cable (04PHNOMPENH1701), titled "Cambodia's Man Who Won't Be King - Ranariddh's Snit Fit", paints a picture of a prince acting in "childish and petulant" manner, out of apparent pique at being "passed over for a younger half-brother as King".

In one instance documented in the cable, Ranariddh flew into a rage when he had the central palace gates closed in his face while he was attempting to follow the king's motorcade, ordering the dismissal of the palace's head of security; a few days later, he failed to attend a Buddhist coronation ceremony for royals.

"[R]ather than raising his stature," the cable concluded, "he is increasingly making himself a laughing stock." In a December 2009 cable (09PHNOMPENH920), following Funcinpec's implosion at the 2008 national elections, ambassador Rodley wrote that the moribund royalists "don't have much of a presence, or a future" in Cambodian politics.

In contrast, the cables paint a positive picture of King Sihamoni, describing his "regal" behavior during his coronation (04PHNOMPENH1701). Another dispatch following the coronation (04PHNOMPENH1985) claimed that he had brought "a new sense of dignity to the royal house" and was a welcome change to Sihanouk and the wayward Ranariddh.

"His careful, well-modulated speeches, though prompted as much by his lack of familiarity with his native Khmer as anything, have been a welcome change from the high-pitched speech characteristic of his father and older half brother," it stated.

The most controversial of the cables is a June 2002 dispatch (02PHNOMPENH1361) detailing long-standing Foreign Minister Hor Namhong's alleged activities during the murderous Khmer Rouge regime. The short cable, which cites an "undated, unattributed report" on file at the embassy, stated that Hor Namhong - described in a 2008 cable (08PHNOMPENH399) as "aged and sclerotic" - returned to Cambodia after the takeover of the Khmer Rouge in April 1975 and took charge of Boeung Trabek prison, a Khmer Rouge interrogation center in Phnom Penh.

During the Khmer Rouge regime, "he and his wife collaborated in the killing of many prisoners", the cable states, including members of the royal family, and sentenced one inmate to death for listening to a French radio broadcast. (The prison was liberated by the Vietnamese before the latter sentence could be carried out). Hor Namhong's wife is cited as saying she "helped [Khmer Rouge leader] Ieng Sary bring back a lot of people to be killed" and that she hoped in exchange that her daughter would be given a role in the communist government.

(Earlier this month, Hor Namhong issued a statement condemning the contents of the cable as "highly defamatory". He has twice sued opposition leader Sam Rainsy for defamation for making similar claims in his autobiography Rooted in Stone).

Perhaps the most illuminating of the cables, however, is one from August 2007 (07PHNOMPENH1034), titled "Cambodia's Top Ten Tycoons", illuminating the rich nexus of politicians, cronies and businessmen that undergirds the rock-solid rule of the Cambodian People's Party (CPP).

Among those profiled is Australian-born Kith Meng, who is described by one source cited in a cable as "a relatively young and ruthless gangster"; another source claims the head of the Royal Group conglomerate - who is blessed with the alias "Mr Rough Stuff" - is "notorious for using his bodyguards to coerce others into brokering deals".

Particularly close to the prime minister, according to the cable, is Mong Reththy - "Hun Sen's money man" - who has built a fortune from agriculture and construction, and owns a private port, naturally named after himself, near Sihanoukville on the country's south coast.

The two leaders reportedly spent time together at a Phnom Penh pagoda during secondary school; in 1997, when Mong Reththy's name was raised in connection with a seven-ton marijuana bust, Hun Sen "publicly shielded" him from the accusation, according to the cable.

Other tycoons mentioned include CPP Senator Ly Yong Phat, who maintains a formidable economic fief in the southwestern province of Koh Kong; Sok Kong, who heads Sokimex, the country's largest petroleum supplier that also controls the lucrative ticket revenues from the famous Angkor Wat temple complex; and Lao Meng Khin, a commercial jack-of-all-trades with a seat in the senate, a powerful, well-connected wife and lucrative construction, logging and agribusiness concessions.

According to another leaked cable, Cambodia's leading businessmen are linked to Hun Sen and the political leadership in a tight mesh of personal relationships and economic accommodations. Hun Sen enjoys a "mutually beneficial" relationship with the country's oligarchs who donate money towards the CPP in exchange for his personal backing in their business ventures.

This economic in-breeding, the cable concludes, acts to "reinforce the culture of impunity and limit progress on reforms such as Hun Sen's self-declared 'war on corruption'."

Except for Hor Namhong's angry missive protesting claims he played a significant role in the Khmer Rouge regime, the Cambodian government is unlikely to take the leaks - and their relatively mild disclosures - too seriously. "Information from WikiLeaks is unofficial ... [and] from the perspective of one person," said Phay Siphan, a government spokesman. "It does not represent the official interests of the United States."

Sebastian Strangio is a journalist based in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. He can be reached at sebastian.strangio@gmail.com

Brain Food

Posted: 26 Jul 2011 05:21 AM PDT

According to Christian teachers, the essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride. Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere fleabites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind...

The point is that each person's pride is in competition with everyone else's pride... Two of a trade never agree... Pride is essential competitive--is competitive by its very nature--while the other vices are competitive only, so to speak, by accident. Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man. We say that people are proud of being rich, or clever, or good-looking, but they are not. They are proud of being richer, or cleverer, or better-looking than others... It is the comparison that makes you proud: the pleasure of being above the rest...

Take it with money. Greed will certainly make a man want money, for the sake of a better house, better holidays, better things to eat and drink. But only up to a point. What is it that makes a man with [$500,000] a year anxious to get [$1,000,000] a year? It is not the greed for more pleasure. [$500,000] will give all the luxuries that any man can really enjoy. It is Pride--the wish to be richer than some other rich man, and (still more) the wish for power. For, of course, power is what Pride really enjoys...

The Christians are right: it is Pride which has been the chief cause of misery in every nation and every family since the world began...

A proud man is always looking down on things and people...

It is purely spiritual: consequently it is far more subtle and deadly... For pride is spiritual cancer: it eats up the very possibility of love, or contentment, or even common sense.

- C. S. Lewis

ECCC Law

Posted: 26 Jul 2011 05:16 AM PDT

Law on the Establishment of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia for the Prosecution of Crimes Committed During the Period of Democratic Kampuchea

("ECCC Law")

the inclusion of amendments as promulgated on 27 October 2004

CHAPTER XVII

ABSENCE OF FOREIGN JUDGES, INVESTIGATING JUDGES OR

PROSECUTORS

Article 46 new


In order to ensure timely and smooth implementation of this law, in the event any foreign judges or foreign investigating judges or foreign prosecutors fail or refuse to participate in the Extraordinary Chambers, the Supreme Council of the Magistracy shall appoint other judges or investigating judges or prosecutors to fill any vacancies from the lists of foreign candidates provided for in Article 11, Article 18, and Article 26. In the event those lists are exhausted, and the Secretary-General of the United Nations does not supplement the lists with new candidates, or in the event that the United Nations withdraws its support from the Extraordinary Chambers, any such vacancies shall be filled by the Supreme Council of the Magistracy from candidates recommended by the Governments of Member States of the United Nations or from among other foreign legal personalities.

If, following such procedures, there are still no foreign judges or foreign investigating judges or foreign prosecutors participating in the work of the Extraordinary Chambers and no foreign candidates have been identified to occupy the vacant positions, then the Supreme Council of the Magistracy may choose replacement Cambodian judges, investigating judges or prosecutors.

Hallo Siegfried! Hei Knut!

Posted: 26 Jul 2011 05:06 AM PDT

It's been awhile since we greeted UN Judge Siegfried Blunk and UN Chief Administrator Knut Rosandhaug.

Brain Food

Posted: 26 Jul 2011 05:01 AM PDT

Pride goes before destruction,
a haughty spirit before a fall.

- Book of Proverbs (the Holy Bible)

Clinton calls for pause on dams

Posted: 26 Jul 2011 12:52 AM PDT

Monday, July 25th, 2011
The Phnom Penh Post

United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for a "pause" on controversial hydropower dams proposed for the Mekong main stream at a summit in Bali at the weekend.

"This is a serious issue for all the countries that share the Mekong River, because if any country builds a dam, all countries will feel the consequences in terms of environmental degradation, challenges to food security, and impacts on communities," Clinton said on Friday during a meeting between the US, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.

"I want to urge all parties to pause on any considerations to build new dams until we are all able to do a better assessment of the likely consequences."

As many as 11 hydropower dams, nine in Laos and two in Cambodia, have been proposed for the Mekong main stream.


A study conducted for the Mekong River Commission, a regional body created to jointly manage the river, recommended a 10-year delay on decisions to build such projects due to a lack of information about potentially devastating consequences for the fish-dependent basin.

Clinton's comments come on the heels of a resolution introduced last month by three leading US senators calling on the US to wield its influence to delay the proposed dams.

In April, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam failed to agree on whether to end discussions on Laos' plans to build the first such proposal – the US$3.8 billion, 1,285 megawatt Xayaburi dam – instead deferring a decision on the matter until later this year. Both Cambodia and Vietnam have called for further study of the project's impact.

Letters leaked last month from the Lao Ministry of Mines and Energy and Xayaburi Power, a subsidiary of the Thai company backing the project, indicate that Laos has given the go-ahead on a power purchasing agreement with the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand.

Please don't try this

Posted: 26 Jul 2011 12:42 AM PDT

Three young refugees sew their lips together in Australia detention center 

July 26, 2011
Xinhua

Three young asylum seekers have sewn their lips together in a protest at the Broadmeadow Detention Center in Melbourne of Australia, Refugee Action Collective volunteer Daniella Olea said on Tuesday.
Olea, who has previously visited the teenagers, said they were aged between 16 and 18 and arrived alone from Kuwait, Iran and Iraq. They have been detained for about a year.

Immigration Minister Chris Bowen announced in last October that he intended to release all children from detention centers by June this year, but Olea said about 50 teenagers under the age of 18 were still at Broadmeadows.

Olea said some of these 50 children refugee have not heard from their case managers for months, and they are desperate and need immediate medical care and support.


She believed the boys, who sewed their lips shut on Sunday night, have seen a doctor outside the center and have had the stitches removed.

"These are children that have already gone through enough in their homeland and getting here," Olea told Australia Associated Press on Tuesday.

"They are already traumatized and we are destroying them even more by locking them up indefinitely without knowing when they will be released."

Meanwhile, the Department of Immigration confirmed that there were three asylum seekers engaged in self-harm over the weekend but have now "ceased their action."

"It would be inappropriate to go into details of the self-harm, however the injuries were minor," the spokesperson said.

"All detainees received appropriate medical attention following these incidents and have access to psychological support from the detention service provider."

On Monday, Immigration Minister Chris Bowen has officially signed a swap refugee deal with Malaysia, which will see Australia sending 800 asylum seekers to Malaysia and accept 4,000 verified refugees in return.

Economic integration of SE Asia DICTATORSHIPS

Posted: 26 Jul 2011 12:39 AM PDT

Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar seeking further economic integration

July 26, 2011
Xinhua

A seminar was held here on Monday among senior officials and delegates from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam who shared their experience in devising and implementing international economic integration policies to serve their countries' sustainable development.

According to Vietnam News Agency (VNA), participants agreed that their countries should promote cooperation in the sub-regional, regional and inter-regional frameworks to make the best use of opportunities and minimize challenges from international economic integration.

Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Doan Xuan Hung suggested the four countries continue to actively take part in international economic integration and closely coordinate to contribute to building the ASEAN community.


Asian Development Bank (ADB) Country Director Tomoyumi Kimura spoke highly of prospects for cooperation in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS), saying that 55 projects worth 14 billion U.S. dollars in total have been carried out in the GMS framework.

ADB will further cooperate with the four countries and assist existing sub-regional cooperation mechanisms to help them in their international economic integration and maintaining sustainable development, said Kimura.

The seminar is part of a cooperation project between the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Germany's Hanns Seidel Foundation to help Vietnam and regional countries in international economic integration, VNA reported.

Monk Sees US Pagoda as Central to Cambodian Community

Posted: 26 Jul 2011 12:33 AM PDT

Venerable Chan Horn, chief of monk at the Buddhikaram pagoda in Silver Spring, Maryland. (Photo: VOA Khmer)
Monday, 25 July 2011
Im Sothearith, VOA Khmer | Washington, D.C
"Very often in summer, many American students come to the Buddhikaram temple to learn about Buddhism and Khmer culture."
Venerable Chan Horn, chief of monk at the Buddhikaram pagoda in Silver Spring, Maryland, told "Hello VOA" recently that he believes pagodas are still at the heart of Cambodian-American communities.

They not only provide a place of worship, he said, but they serve humanitarian causes for local and Cambodian communities. They also preserve some of Cambodia's culture, he said.

The Buddhikaram temple is one of the largest Cambodian Buddhist temples in the US. It's 33rd anniversary will be held in August. It was built in Silver Spring, Md., in 1986, to serve Cambodians who had fled to the East Coast of the US. Chan Horn has served as its head since 1997.


"Very often in summer, many American students come to the Buddhikaram temple to learn about Buddhism and Khmer culture," he said. Main Buddhist scriptures have been translated into English, he said.

The temple also offers classes in Khmer language, culture and customs to Cambodian children raised in the US, he said. It is also a place where would-be US citizens can study for their citizenship exams. It serves as a job board for people seeking employment, and links citizens to government, he said.

"The temple provides humanitarian assistance for those who have no place to stay," he said. "They can stay at the temple temporarily. It has also held fundraising to help Cambodia on a few occasions. Vaccination has also been offered to community members at the temple free of charge."

The temple helps followers live the five precepts of Buddhism, which prohibit killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lies and intoxication.

"In addition to abstaining from taking life, we should have compassion," he said. "Naturally, the taking of a life is a serious mistake. Buddha said that killing others shortens our lives, but not killing provides longevity and comfort to us, as well as our families, communities, societies, and countries."

"If you can abstain from [stealing], your belongings will never be taken," he continued. "Also, you will have compassion toward those who have less advantage, and rescue them from starvation."

The third precept, against sexual misconduct, means no adultery, he said, and it means being honest with one's spouse. If this precept is violated, one will be reborn in hell or become a hermaphrodite.

Lying, meanwhile, means "one will be reborn with a bad mouth, bad teeth, and smelly breath," he said.

The fifth precept, abstinence from drinking, prevents heedlessness, he said. It also keeps desires tempered. "If one violates the fifth precept, in the next life one will be stupid or become a maniac or silly person," he said.

One caller to "Hello VOA," Sarith from Banteay Meanchey province, said Buddhism prohibits many vices.

"However, our leaders have allowed gambling, the sale of alcoholic drinks and even brothels," Sarith said. "My question is whether these leaders, who permit businesses that violate religious practices, will go to hell? If they do, what level?"

Sins committed by anyone, leader or common people, will be repaid in kind, he said.

"If you are drunk, you may run into a car on the street," he said. "If you commit adultery, you may be beaten by your spouse."

Bribery and corruption are also prohibited, he said.

Listener Pich Makara asked via Facebook whether monks have a right to engage in politics or to stop human rights abuses as they occur.

"If a monk explains things based on reasonable facts, based an dharma, and is not on any side, and does things for justice and social good, he has not violated the rules of Buddhism," Chan Horn said.

Union Wants Answers for Raft of Fainting Episodes

Posted: 25 Jul 2011 11:33 PM PDT

Chea Mony, president of the Free Trade Union said this year alone, some 2,300 workers have reported fainting in five Cambodian factories for reasons that are not fully explained.

Monday, 25 July 2011
Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer | Phnom Penh
"We think this is not enough for each worker. She eats a pack of rice with an egg, which lacks calories. The workers face a lack of vitamins."
The head of one of Cambodia's biggest independent union's said Monday he wants a government investigation into the fainting spells of thousands of workers this year.

Chea Mony, president of the Free Trade Union, sent letters to the ministries of Health, Environment and Labor, requesting they look into conditions at factories that are harming the health of workers.

This year alone, some 2,300 workers have reported fainting in five Cambodian factories for reasons that are not fully explained, he said.


Likely factors include toxic fumes from clothes, too many hours of overtime work, poor ventilation or other factory conditions, Chea Mony told VOA Khmer. "I want the three concerned ministries to hold acceptable inspections of workers' fainting, with professionalism and independence and without corruption."

Seng Savuth, cabinet chief for the Environment Ministry, said the ministry will send experts to assess the factories where fainting took place.

Pok Van Phath, deputy chief of the Ministry of Labor's medical center, said he had reports from 52 workers from two factories Monday who had fainted from a lack of sleep and food—not chemicals or poor ventilation.

Workers are spending only $0.25 on each meal, leading to fatigue, he said. "We think this is not enough for each worker. She eats a pack of rice with an egg, which lacks calories. The workers face a lack of vitamins."

Bun Ying, a spokesman for the International Labor Organization, said a number of factors are leading to the fainting episodes.

"We've observed problems relating to working conditions, chemicals in the clothes and the workers' health," he said. "There is the fear among workers when many other workers are fainting and having their health affected."

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