KI Media: “Thai PM [PROPAGANDA]: UNESCO Agrees not to Let Temple Issue Raise Border Tension” plus 19 more |
- Thai PM [PROPAGANDA]: UNESCO Agrees not to Let Temple Issue Raise Border Tension
- UNESCO envoy arrives
- Cambodia, U.S. hold maritime exercise off Cambodian coast
- China: Jasmine Revolution protests to be held every Sunday
- China facing new calls for jasmine revolution
- Asian NGOs condemn defamation suit on activist
- Cambodia: Who Ordered the Blocking of Opposition Websites?
- The UK to strip aid to Cambodia
- A glimpse into Gaddafi's palace
- Siren escort ... for clothes shopping
- International Women’s Day
- Sayonara
- Brain Food
- My Rights, My Responsibility (ICCPR) Series
- My Rights, My Responsibility (Constitution) Series
- Indonesian officers visit disputed Thai-Cambodia area
- Indonesian military team visits disputed Thai-Cambodia border
- Khmer Rouge victims in U.S. to get their day in court
- 100 encroaching border posts by Vietnam in 2011
- 2 Thais jailed in Cambodia for espionage decide not to appeal
| Thai PM [PROPAGANDA]: UNESCO Agrees not to Let Temple Issue Raise Border Tension Posted: 27 Feb 2011 11:00 AM PST 2011-02-27 Xinhua Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Sunday that UNESCO had agreed that the issue of Preah Vihear temple, which is a World Heritage site, should not further raise tension on the Thai-Cambodian border. "UNESCO has agreed with us that the World Heritage issue should not become a problem that creates tension or increases the risk of clashes or using of violence again," Abhisit said in his weekly national televised address. Abhisit on Friday met with Koichiro Matsuura, special envoy of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) at the Government House in Bangkok on the border dispute over a 4. 6-square kilometer plot of land around the 11th century Preah Vihear temple, which belongs to Cambodia and was awarded as a World Heritage site on July 7, 2008. Cambodia plans to submit its proposal for administering the disputed border area to UNESCO's World Heritage committee in June this year. Abhisit said the administration plan covers territory claimed by both Thailand and Cambodia. "This is an idea to say that at the end, if UNESCO does not accept this fact, the tension will continue forever," the premier said. He said he has let Matsuura, who visited Phnom Penh after Bangkok, know about this position of Thailand. Last Sunday in the same program, Abhisit said UNESCO could help alleviate the tension along the border by not proceeding with the administration plan, and that the organization should first let Bangkok and Phnom Penh settle the demarcation of the troubled area through their bilateral mechanism. A series of crossfire between Thai and Cambodian soldiers earlier this month inflicted casualties on both sides and forced thousands of local villagers to flee their homes.  | ||||||||
| Posted: 27 Feb 2011 10:55 AM PST Sunday, 27 February 2011 Cheang Sokha The Phnom Penh Post A special envoy from UNESCO arrived in the Kingdom today to discuss the preservation of Preah Vihear temple following deadly clashes along the Thai-Cambodian border near the 11th-century site earlier this month. Koichiro Matsuura, formerly the head of UNESCO, will be in Cambodia until Tuesday to hold talks with Prime Minister Hun Sen, Deputy Prime Minister Sok An and other senior officials. Matsuura was originally scheduled to travel to Preah Vihear on Tuesday to assess the damage sustained by the temple over four days of fighting between Thai and Cambodian troops that left at least 10 people dead and displaced thousands of civilians. The envoy said today, however, that this visit had been delayed. Chuch Phoeurn, chairman of the Preah Vihear National Authority, said the trip had been postponed for two weeks to allow Cambodia to prepare for the arrival of military observers from Indonesia who will be monitoring the situation along the border as a result of an agreement reached between Thailand and Cambodia last week. On Saturday, an advance team of five Indonesians visited the border area to plan for the observers' arrival, Chuch Phoeurn said. Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan said UNESCO's role in the dispute was not to determine "who is right and who is wrong", but to "ease tension" and "seek cooperation to effectively protect the temple of Preah Vihear". The temple sustained damage to its staircases and exterior during this month's clashes, though early claims from the Cambodian government that a whole wing had collapsed later proved exaggerated. Matsuura came to the Kingdom from Thailand, where he met officials including Thai premier Abhisit Vejjajiva in relation to the dispute. Thai state media reported that Bangkok had stressed the importance of resolving the countries' border dispute before UNESCO approves Cambodia's management plan for the temple. Tensions along the border have been heightened since 2008, when UNESCO inscribed Preah Vihear as a World Heritage site for Cambodia. Chum Puy, governor of Kulen district in Preah Vihear province, said today that of the 2,678 families living near the border who had been evacuated to temporary shelters in the midst of the fighting, all but 30 had returned to their homes. "We see that the situation is now safe for them to return," he said.  | ||||||||
| Cambodia, U.S. hold maritime exercise off Cambodian coast Posted: 27 Feb 2011 10:30 AM PST
PHNOM PENH, Feb. 27 (AP) - (Kyodo)—Cambodia and the United States began a four-day maritime drill off the Cambodian coast on Sunday aimed at building capacity to deal with regional humanitarian disasters. Lt. Gen. Chhum Socheat, spokesman of Cambodia's National Defense Ministry, said the exercise, which will last until Wednesday, involves 500 troops from the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces and U.S. Marines. The U.S. military said elements of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit are participating in the exercise, which includes a port call, English engagement exchanges and community relations projects. The exercise "ensures that the region is adequately prepared for regional humanitarian disasters, such as the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and Cyclone Nargis in May 2008, by allowing partner nations to work together and build relationships before a critical need develops," the public affairs office of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit said.  | ||||||||
| China: Jasmine Revolution protests to be held every Sunday Posted: 27 Feb 2011 10:18 AM PST
February 23, 2011 Hanna Ingber Win Global Post Eager to have their own Jasmine Revolution, Chinese political activists have called for gatherings in protest of the government every Sunday. The call for weekly protests came via an anonymous statement posted on the U.S.-based Chinese language news site Boxun, which is blocked in China. The message was spread through Twitter, which is also blocked. The only Chinese who will get the message will therefore be those who use proxies to circumvent the government's fire walls. "We invite every participant to stroll, watch or even just pretend to pass by. As long as you are present, the authoritarian government will be shaking with fear," said Wednesday's statement. The call for demonstrators to gather silently at 2 p.m. in front of department stores and other public places in 18 cities across China comes days after the government successfully clamped down on a weekend attempt at a mass protest. Police overwhelmed protests in Beijing and Shanghai last Sunday and have boosted their intimidation campaign. "According to the Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy, three people were detained for 'inciting subversion of state power' after they reposted calls for protests last weekend. The detentions could not be confirmed independently, but they follow roundups of scores of dissidents and rights lawyers. Some well-known lawyers who handle sensitive cases were placed under house arrest and some beaten badly, according to human rights activists," reported the New York Times. China has also beefed up its online censorship and has blocked the word "jasmine" on social networking sites and in online chat rooms. The name Jasmine Revolution is inspired by the protests in Tunisia that set off the ongoing unrest across the Arab world. Meanwhile, Bloomberg News columnist William Pesek asks if China has not seen the kind of large-scale protests that have recently shaken other nations because of its one-child policy. ."A common thread linking events in Egypt, Bahrain, Tunisia, Libya and elsewhere is big populations of disaffected youth. They're angry about greed, corruption, the rich-poor divide and unaccountable leaders. Many Chinese harbor similar gripes, yet demographics works in the Communist Party's favor," writes Pesek. "Had China not instituted population control in 1979, there would be tens of millions more underemployed and aggrieved young men milling about in China's cities. Just the type to foment revolution -- a Tiananmen Square 2.0. Only, they were never born. Turns out, the policy is a boon for Chinese regime control." Others argue that China's one-child policy, coupled with a preference for boy children, have created a severe gender imbalance that risks destabilizing the country in the future.  | ||||||||
| China facing new calls for jasmine revolution Posted: 27 Feb 2011 10:13 AM PST
China is facing fresh attempts to foment a jasmine-style revolution after anonymous overseas activists called for non-violent demonstrations in 18 cities across China this weekend to press for an end to one-party rule. Beijing 23 Feb 2011 By Peter Foster The Telegraph The rallying call comes a week after a similar invitation posted on the overseas Chinese website Boxun.com, ended in near farce with journalists, curious onlookers and police far outnumbering any potential protestors. Despite this apparent initial failure, which was openly scorned by China's state media as "performance art", the boxun.com blog site asked again for what it called "strolling protests" against the ruling Communist Party at 2pm on Sunday. "We invite every participant to stroll, watch, or even just pretend to pass by. As long as you are present, the authoritarian government will be shaking with fear," it said. China's soaring economic growth in the last few decades, which has lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty, is often said to have dulled any appetite among ordinary Chinese for the kind of revolutionary chaos seen in the Middle East in recent weeks. However despite the apparent solidity of its powerbase, China's ruling Communist Party has shown signs of growing nervousness in recent weeks as street protests sweep away autocratic regimes across the Middle East. As well as the massive deployment of uniformed police, China's pervasive state security apparatus has worked to neuter the spread of dissent online as well as placing as many as 100 activists and potential organisers under house arrest. Hu Jintao, the Chinese president, in a highly unusual public intervention into the realm of social policy, made a speech to Party bosses urging tighter controls of the "virtual society" and greater efforts to guide public opinion in "healthy directions" or risk greater "social conflicts". That speech was followed in successive days by public warnings from senior Party figures for better management of the tensions and social grievances arising out of China's rapid economic transformation. "Many believe that China will emerge from its period of social transformation in a steady and peaceful manner," added an editorial in the party mouthpiece People's Daily, "But... it is not totally unfeasible that the nation could fall into social turmoil should its public governance fail." The call for the fresh Jasmine rallies was cast as an open letter to China's a rubber-stamp parliament, National People's Congress, which opens its annual meeting on March 5 and is always considered a sensitive moment in the Chinese political calendar. The activists, signing themselves anonymously as "organizers of China's Jasmine gatherings" urged people to shout, "We want food! We want work! We want housing! We want fairness!". The slogans aim at key issues in China at a time of rising inflation, a growing rich-poor divide and frequent outbursts of anger at the levels of official corruption and cronyism. "What we need to do now is to put pressure on the Chinese ruling (Communist) party," said the renewed appeal which listed locations in 18 cities across China for the protests. "If the party does not conscientiously fight corruption and accept the supervision of the people, then will it please exit the stage of history." Although the boxun.com website is blocked in China, news of the call did appear to be leaking onto some corners of the Chinese internet where some tech-savvy users employ special software to circumvent web controls. Attempts to search China's most popular microblog site, Sina Weibo for the word "jasmine" were blocked but Twitter users were discussing the Jasmine protest call under the generic prefix "£CN227" – a reference to Sunday's date, February 27. "I am planning to wander around Wangfujing [the designated protest site in Beijing] on Sunday," wrote one contributor, "Shall I bring light jasmine tea or honey jasmine tea?"  | ||||||||
| Asian NGOs condemn defamation suit on activist Posted: 27 Feb 2011 10:02 AM PST
ALIRAN More than two dozen Asian civil society groups have condemned the conviction of Sam Chankea, a Cambodian human rights defender, for the exercise of his right to freedom of expression. We, the undersigned human rights NGOs, human rights defenders and women human rights defenders of Asia, deeply regret the conviction of Mr. Sam Chankea, provincial coordinator of the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC). Mr. Chankea is a human rights defender active in land rights issues in Kampong Chhnang province. He was charged with defamation under Article 305 of the New Penal Code by the KDC International Company, a development company allegedly owned by Lauk Chumteav Chea Kheng, the wife of the Minister of Mining and Energy in Cambodia. On 25 January 2011, the Kg. Chhnang Provincial Court ruled against Mr. Sam Chankea and ordered him to pay a 1 million Riel fine and an additional 3 million Riel in compensation. If he does not pay the 4 million Riel (approximately US$1,000), he faces imprisonment. Mr. Sam Chankea was charged for defamation by the KDC International Company because of a statement he made during a radio interview on Radio Free Asia (RFA) on 26 December 2009. In this interview he expressed his opinion on an ongoing land case in Kampong Chhnang between 108 families and the KDC International Company. There is a pending case between the families of Kampong Chhang and the KDC International Company, but still, the KDC International Company sent in its machinery to undertake land levelling. Mr. Sam Chankea considered the activity of land levelling by the KDC Company as an unlawful act. He stated that "what the company has done is an act of violation since the court has yet to rule on the merits of the case. Therefore the company should suspend the activity and await the ruling on the merits of the case". Mr Sam Chankea was well within his rights as a human rights defender to speak publicly on his opinion on a human rights issue. Under Article 6(b) of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, he has the right to freely impart his views on all human rights and fundamental freedoms. Furthermore, Cambodia is a State party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and the right to freedom of expression is protected under Article 19(2) of the Covenant. It is expressly stated there that "everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression". The right to freedom of expression is also protected under Article 41 of the Constitution of Cambodia, which states that "Khmer citizens shall have freedom of expression, press, publication, and assembly". This right, however, can be subject to certain limitations, such as those provided by law and those that are necessary "for the protection of national security or of public order". Article 305 of the New Penal Code is meant to be a limitation of this right. However, calls have been made by several human rights groups for the review of this defamation law on the grounds that it is not a lawful derogation of the right to freedom of expression. A close inspection of Article 305 of the Penal Code reveals provisions that are too broad and ambiguous. This means that there would be great potential for the misuse and abuse of this law, which would lead towards an unlawful infringement of the very right itself. The UN Human Rights Committee, in its General Comment No. 10, explains that "when a State party imposes certain restrictions on the exercise of freedom of expression, these may not put in jeopardy the right itself". We, the undersigned human rights defenders and women human rights defenders, believe that the present case is an example of the abuse of the defamation law by a non-state actor. The statement of Mr Sam Chankea is a mere expression of opinion and a legitimate criticism of the acts of KDC International Company. A final verdict against Mr. Sam Chankea will have a chilling effect upon human rights defenders who work to expose abuses committed by businesses in Cambodia, especially those involved in land-grabbing and other acts in violation of the rights of Cambodian citizens. This case is a clear illustration of the defamation laws being used to silence dissenting and critical voices of human rights defenders. We strongly urge the Appeal Court to promptly review the case of Mr. Sam Chankea in conformity with relevant international human rights standards, and therefore overturn the verdict issued by the Kg. Chhnang Provincial Court and acknowledge the fact that the defamation charges against Mr. Sam Chankea was clearly intended to hinder his work as a human rights defender. We strongly urge the government of Cambodia to guarantee the protection of human rights defenders who face reprisals from state and non-state actors because of their exercise of the right to freedom of expression. We also call on the government to repeal Article 305 of the Penal Code which makes defamation a criminal offence and which has clearly been used largely to silence the voices of human rights defenders. The following groups endorse this statement: 1. Alliance of Independent Journalists Indonesia (AJI), Indonesia 2. Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR) 3. Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC), Cambodia 4. Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Right (LICADHO), Cambodia 5. Centre for Human Rights and Development (CHRD), Mongolia 6. Friends' Association for Rural Reconstruction (FARR), India 7. Globe International, Mongolia 8. The Indonesian Human Rights Monitor (IMPARSIAL), Indonesia 9. Indonesia's NGO Coalition for International Human Right Advocacy – Human Rights Working Group (HRWG), Indonesia 10. Indonesian Human Rights Committee for Social Justice (IHCS), Indonesia 11. INFORM Human Rights Documentation Centre (INFORM), Sri Lanka 12. Informal Sector Service Center (INSEC), Nepal 13. Judicial System Monitoring Programme (JSMP), Timor Leste 14. Korean House for International Solidarity (KHIS), South Korea 15. Law and Society Trust (LST), Sri Lanka 16. National Alliance of Women Human Rights Defenders (NAWHRD), Nepal 17. People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD), South Korea 18. People's Watch, India 19. Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA), Philippines 20. Sudhanthra, India 21. Tanggol Kalikasan, Philippines 22. The Observatory (FIDH-OMCT) 23. Think Centre, Singapore 24. Women's Rehabilitation Centre (WOREC), Nepal 25. World Forum for Democratization in Asia (WFDA)  | ||||||||
| Cambodia: Who Ordered the Blocking of Opposition Websites? Posted: 27 Feb 2011 09:53 AM PST
Written by Mong Palatino Global Voices Online Last month, an anti-government website was blocked by some Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in Cambodia. The ISPs later denied that it received an order from the government to ban the critical website. The government also insisted that it is not a policy to block the website of opposition groups. Fortunately, access to the website was restored immediately. But the issue of web censorship in Cambodia continued to sizzle this month as media groups leaked a letter by government information authorities asking ISPs to censor websites that allegedly harm Cambodian morality and tradition. Sieng Sithy, deputy director of the Directorate of Telecommunications Policy Regulation at the MPTC, wrote an email to Ezecom, Metfone, Citylink, Digi, AngkorNet, WiCam, TC, Camnet, Online and Camintel thanking them for "cooperation" in blocking access to several websites, including KI-Media, Khmerization and a site featuring the art of political cartoonist Sacrava. The government gave conflicting statements on the veracity of the letter. The Ministry continues to assert that web censorship is not being pursued by the government. Here are some parts of the controversial letter:
Internet users in Cambodia complained that the mentioned websites have been inaccessible for many times this month. The ISPs blamed it on technical problems. The Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO) condemns the reported blocking of critical websites …the Internet was the only audio or visual media not fully controlled by the government. The censoring of controversial Web sites marks a significant milestone in the march toward a more oppressive media environment The group also wants ISPs to explain to their customers why they agreed to comply with the government request to censor the websites Did the government simply make a "request" that ISP providers block certain sites? If so, ISPs owe their customers an honest explanation as to why they have chosen to comply. Hiding behind excuses simply makes them complicit in the censorship campaign. Concerned customers should call their ISPs and demand a legitimate explanation for the ongoing outage of political opposition Web sites. Better yet, all ISPs should decline the government's request and restore full Internet access immediately. The Committee to Protect Journalists is also worried about the intensifying media censorship in Cambodia. According to media reports, internet use in Cambodia increased by 500 percent in the past year.  | ||||||||
| The UK to strip aid to Cambodia Posted: 27 Feb 2011 09:43 AM PST
Britain freezes millions in aid to 16 countries after inquiry discovers they are actually no longer in poverty 27th February 2011 By Daniel Martin Britain is to stop giving aid to 16 countries after a major review found they were no longer in poverty. Countries such as Russia, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Moldova and Serbia will be stripped of millions of pounds a year, following the inquiry ordered by International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell. Aid to India - which can afford its own space programme - will also be frozen. But vast amounts of extra money - 30 per cent of the entire aid budget - will be pumped into unstable terrorist hotspots such as Yemen and Somalia, in a bid to help them to crack down on citizens exporting violence. Critics will ask whether that is a wise plan, seeing there will be no way for Britain to check whether the money being poured in is spent wisely, rather than being embezzled by corrupt officials. Britain's aid budget is one of the few areas, that is protected from cuts, unlike defence, education and the police which are having to make deep savings. The total amount being spent on aid will soar from £7billion to £11billion in 2015 - at the same time as front-line public services here at home are being slashed. In an interview at the weekend, Mr Mitchell admitted that many of his constituents 'go ballistic' about the amount of British cash spent on overseas aid at a time of belt-tightening at home. His aid review into Britain's aid spending will report later that week. Mr Mitchell said the plan was to 'buy results' rather than 'lob money at problems' - that is setting targets and stopping aid if they are not met. And he is also likely to order the removal of funding from international organisations which have not delivered. For example, the £12million given to UN cultural body Unesco is likely to be axed. 'From now on we will only give aid where we can follow the money and ensure that the British taxpayer is getting value for money,' he said. 'Most international organisations are doing a decent job but some need to be shown the yellow card; others will frankly get the bullet. It's the mission of my department to focus ruthlessly on results, on delivering 100 pence of development value for every hard-earned pound of taxpayers' money. 'If one of my constituents is watching television and hears these [aid] announcements, particularly now, they go ballistic because they think about how the money could be spent here. 'But if you determine it by results, about how you're going to get 200,000 more children cleaner water, people are up for that.' Mr Mitchell will also announce the first 'cash-on delivery' aid scheme in the world, with a scheme to get more Ethiopian girls into school. 'We will only release funds once firm evidence of results has been seen,' he said. The International Development Secretary defended the huge amount spent on international aid at a time of stringency at home. 'The reason why at this time of a dreadful economic inheritance, we made it clear that we won't balance the books at the expense of the poorest people in the world is because it is morally right to do so,' he said. 'It's part of the British DNA to be there for those in desperate straits. But it's also very much in our national interest to tackle these effects of dysfunctionality and poverty, such as piracy, migration, terrorism and disease in Somalia. Tackling the causes of poverty upstream is much less expensive than sending in the troops.' Other countries which will lose their aid money are Bosnia, Iraq and Kosovo. Resources will be concentrated on the 27 countries that account for three-quarters of the world's maternal mortality and malaria deaths, such as Ghana and Afghanistan. By 2014, 30 per cent of UK aid is expected to go to war-torn and unstable countries such as Somalia and Yemen. And the UN children's charity Unicef will also see its UK funding double to £40million. But the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, the UN Industrial Development Organisation and Unesco will all lose out. A source at the Department for International Development said: 'It's been very hard to find out what they spend our money on.'  | ||||||||
| A glimpse into Gaddafi's palace Posted: 27 Feb 2011 01:53 AM PST  | ||||||||
| Siren escort ... for clothes shopping Posted: 27 Feb 2011 12:28 AM PST Article originally posted at: http://khmersme.wordpress.com/ For additional article by Khmer Sme (Khmer Writing) click here    | ||||||||
| Posted: 27 Feb 2011 12:12 AM PST International Women's Day Moving Forward with Women for Women ''Development is not progress until it is equally shared and not until women can be safe from violence and exploitation.'' - Mu Sochua, President of the Sam Rainsy Pary Women's Wing.Please read the article below. SRP Cabinet
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| Posted: 26 Feb 2011 11:55 PM PST Sunday, February 27, 2011 By P. from Long Beach The wind of democratic revolution has swept through the Middle East and dictators are falling like dominoes. What was thought impossible is NOW possible. What was unthinkable is NOW reality. When a cat corners a mouse, the mouse has no choice left but to fight back and this will the reality that cannot be stopped, not even by a dictator who is protected a 3,000-bodyguard unit.  The democracy enthusiasm has also swept through certain quarters in Southern California: as I roam through the streets, my attention was caught by this impromptu sign mounted on a private truck. Hmmm, that gives me an idea, maybe I should set up my own sign to be mounted on my bicycle that would read: "Yesterday was Tunisia and Egypt, today is Libya, tomorrow? Cambodia". Well folks, if you happen to see such a sign on a bicycle, you know who the rider will be. Have you ever missed somebody so much that not hearing from that person makes silence sound deafening? If that happens to you also, please find below a lovely song from Sin Sisamouth expressing very well this heartache feeling: Sin Sisamouth – Cham Aun Raol Reatrey (Waiting for you every evening) Talking about heartache, here is another romantic song by Sin Sisamouth: Sin Sisamouth – Luoch Sneh Luoch Tukh (Stolen love, stolen heartache) Listening to Sin Sisamouth almost always put one into a romantic mood: Sin Sisamouth – Cham Nho-nheum Chea Thmei (Waiting for your smile) Sin Sisamouth – Veasna Khser Teuk Chhou (River destiny) Finally, one song that always brought fond memories to me is Sayonara by Mao Sareth. As far as I can remember, I was always looking to find this song again although I couldn't understand why I wanted to hear it so badly. A few years back, a friend told me that he found the song for me. After listening to it, my memory all came back to me: it was somewhere around the mid-60s, one afternoon, I overheard my older brother discussing his plan to go watch a movie with his friend. Being a little pest as usual, I asked and begged my brother to take me along. While usually he would be very accommodating with me, that time the answer was a categorical no. Undeterred, I pestered my mother, telling her how my older brother wouldn't let me go watch a movie with him. Finally, my mother gave in and she asked my brother why he refused to let me go. "Every time he goes to the theater, all that he does is sleep in the cool room, so it's a waste of money," he said. My mother had to cajole him and finally to the theater with him I went. I couldn't remember what movie it was, only that it was a foreign movie that I did not understand anything about. Sure enough, as predicted by my brother, it did not take long for me to fall sound asleep on my chair. When the movie was about to be over, my brother shook me up to wake me up and I still remembered very clearly the voice of Mrs. Mao Sareth singing: "Sayonara, Japanese goodbye…" Somehow, that song got stuck in my mind since then and every time I remembered my brother, that song came back to memory again and again. My older brother died under the KR regime and all that I have left of him was the memory of this song forever etched on my mind. It took me a while to finally find out that the movie I went to watch with my brother was no other than Irving Berlin's Sayonara (starring Marlon Brando among others). The title to the song is quite appropriate in the case of my brother: "Sayonara, brother! Hope to meet you again someday". I hope you would like this song as much as I do. Sayonara by Irving Berlin (1957): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TE69Tiw9Gt0 Mao Sareth – Sayonara Until next time... P. from Long Beach  | ||||||||
| Posted: 26 Feb 2011 10:40 PM PST We can never be sure that the opinion we are endeavoring to stifle is a false opinion; and if we were sure, stifling it would be an evil still.
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| My Rights, My Responsibility (ICCPR) Series Posted: 26 Feb 2011 10:36 PM PST International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights Ratified, acceded by UN General Assembly in December 1966, entry into force March 1976. Cambodia ratified the ICCPR (thus, a part of Cambodia's body of laws) and is obligated to submit regular reports to the United Nations. PART IV 1. A State Party to the present Covenant may at any time declare under this article that it recognizes the competence of the [Human Rights] Committee to receive and consider communications to the effect that a State Party claims that another State Party is not fulfilling its obligations under the present Covenant. Communications under this article may be received and considered only if submitted by a State Party which has made a declaration recognizing in regard to itself the competence of the Committee. No communication shall be received by the Committee if it concerns a State Party which has not made such a declaration. Communications received under this article shall be dealt with in accordance with the following procedure: (a) If a State Party to the present Covenant considers that another State Party is not giving effect to the provisions of the present Covenant, it may, by written communication, bring the matter to the attention of that State Party. Within three months after the receipt of the communication the receiving State shall afford the State which sent the communication an explanation, or any other statement in writing clarifying the matter which should include, to the extent possible and pertinent, reference to domestic procedures and remedies taken, pending, or available in the matter; (b) If the matter is not adjusted to the satisfaction of both States Parties concerned within six months after the receipt by the receiving State of the initial communication, either State shall have the right to refer the matter to the Committee, by notice given to the Committee and to the other State; (c) The Committee shall deal with a matter referred to it only after it has ascertained that all available domestic remedies have been invoked and exhausted in the matter, in conformity with the generally recognized principles of international law. This shall not be the rule where the application of the remedies is unreasonably prolonged; (d) The Committee shall hold closed meetings when examining communications under this article; (e) Subject to the provisions of subparagraph (c), the Committee shall make available its good offices to the States Parties concerned with a view to a friendly solution of the matter on the basis of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms as recognized in the present Covenant; (f) In any matter referred to it, the Committee may call upon the States Parties concerned, referred to in subparagraph (b), to supply any relevant information; (g) The States Parties concerned, referred to in subparagraph (b), shall have the right to be represented when the matter is being considered in the Committee and to make submissions orally and/or in writing; (h) The Committee shall, within twelve months after the date of receipt of notice under subparagraph (b), submit a report: (i) If a solution within the terms of subparagraph (e) is reached, the Committee shall confine its report to a brief statement of the facts and of the solution reached; (ii) If a solution within the terms of subparagraph (e) is not reached, the Committee shall confine its report to a brief statement of the facts; the written submissions and record of the oral submissions made by the States Parties concerned shall be attached to the report. In every matter, the report shall be communicated to the States Parties concerned. 2. The provisions of this article shall come into force when ten States Parties to the present Covenant have made declarations under paragraph I of this article. Such declarations shall be deposited by the States Parties with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, who shall transmit copies thereof to the other States Parties. A declaration may be withdrawn at any time by notification to the Secretary-General. Such a withdrawal shall not prejudice the consideration of any matter which is the subject of a communication already transmitted under this article; no further communication by any State Party shall be received after the notification of withdrawal of the declaration has been received by the Secretary-General, unless the State Party concerned has made a new declaration.  | ||||||||
| My Rights, My Responsibility (Constitution) Series Posted: 26 Feb 2011 10:25 PM PST Constitution of Cambodia (Sept. 1993) CHAPTER VI: EDUCATION, CULTURE, SOCIAL AFFAIRS The state shall establish a comprehensive and standardized educational system throughout the country that shall guarantee the principles of educational freedom and quality to ensure that all citizens have equal opportunity to earn a living.  | ||||||||
| Indonesian officers visit disputed Thai-Cambodia area Posted: 26 Feb 2011 10:02 PM PST 27/02/2011 VNA/VOVNews A five-member Indonesian military team visited the disputed Thai-Cambodian border area on February 26 to pave the way for deployment of Indonesian observers in the region, a senior Cambodian defence official said. Gen. Neang Phat, Deputy Minister of the National Defense of Cambodia, told Kyodo News by telephone that the Indonesian advance team visited the ancient temple of Preah Vihear and the surrounding area to find a suitable location for deployment of observers who will monitor the implementation of a ceasefire agreement between Cambodia and Thailand. He expressed his hope that the Indonesian observers will start their work soon. At an ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting in Jakarta on February 22, Thailand and Cambodia agreed to invite Indonesia, which is the current ASEAN Chair, to send observers to monitor the long-term ceasefire agreement between the two neighbours. Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said Indonesia will dispatch two separate teams to Cambodia and Thailand, each consisting of 15 to 20 military personnel and civilians. In related news, the Cambodian news agency AKP quoted Prime Minister Hun Sen at a annual meeting of the Ministry of Home Affairs on February 25 saying that he suggested Indonesia maintain its role as an observer until Cambodia takes over the rotating ASEAN Chair in 2012.  | ||||||||
| Indonesian military team visits disputed Thai-Cambodia border Posted: 26 Feb 2011 09:51 PM PST Sun, 27 Feb 2011 Radio Australia News An Indonesian military team has visited the disputed Cambodia-Thai border area to pave the way for deployment of Indonesian observers. A senior Cambodian defense official says the Indonesian advance team visited the ancient Cambodian temple of Preah Vihear and the surrounding area to find a suitable location. Cambodia and Thailand agreed during an ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting in Jakarta on Tuesday to invite Indonesia to deploy civilian and military observers to monitor a ceasefire agreement in the border area. Indonesian foreign minister Marty Natalegawa says Indonesia will dispatch two separate teams to Cambodia and Thailand, each consisting of 15 to 20 military personnel and civilians. The recent conflict left at least 10 people dead, nearly 100 wounded and more than 25,000 people displaced on both sides.  | ||||||||
| Khmer Rouge victims in U.S. to get their day in court Posted: 26 Feb 2011 09:40 PM PST
By John Boudreau Mercury News (San Jose, California) Many Cambodians have lived the lives of ghosts in Silicon Valley, not seen or heard from much, quietly tormented every day and every night with unbearable memories of the genocide that wiped out entire families -- parents, spouses, children, extended relatives. Now, finally, some of them will have their day in international court. When the second trial of alleged perpetrators of the Khmer Rouge genocide begins in a few months, members of the Cambodian community in the United States will be represented by attorneys at the proceedings. On Saturday, about 50 members of Silicon Valley's 10,000 strong sizable Cambodian community gathered at the Wat Khemara Rangsey Buddhist temple in East San Jose to hear about the upcoming trial of four senior Khmer Rouge leaders charged in connection with the deaths of 1.7 million people from execution, torture, starvation and disease from 1975 to 1979. "For our clients, who have waited so long for this, it can be overwhelming to revisit the past," said Andrea Evans, legal director at the Center for Justice and Accountability, a San Francisco human rights legal group that will represent scores of Cambodians living in the U.S. before the United Nations-backed tribunal. Sophany Bay, a 65-year-old San Jose counselor, is providing written testimony. "For more than three decades, I waited to see justice," she said in a statement to the international court. "We are getting old. We want to see justice before we die." The reason, Bay told a reporter Saturday, is that the nightmares never stop. "I lost all my family," said Bay, whose three children died, including her infant girl, Pom, after a Khmer Rouge soldier injected something into the baby's head. "I don't have any siblings," she said. "I don't have any nephews. They killed my whole family." Bay said she hasn't dreamed in the present ever since. All her dreams, she said, are of the past horrors in her homeland. The once powerful Khmer Rouge leaders who will stand before the tribunal as early as June are now in their late 70s and mid-80s. The complex trial could as long as last two to three years. The defendants are Ieng Sary, who was foreign minister; his wife, Ieng Thirith, minister of social welfare; Khieu Samphan, head of state; and Nuon Chea, known as Brother No 2. The top leader, Pol Pot, died in 1998. In the earlier trial, Kaing Guek Eav, known as Duch, was sentenced to 19 years in prison for the torture and death of at least 14,000 people in the Tuol Sleng prison in the capital of Phnom Penh. The regime took control in 1975 after the war in next-door Vietnam spread to Cambodia. Khmer Rouge leaders believed they could create a utopian communist society by purging the country of intellectuals, business leaders, government officials and anyone else considered a threat to their revolution. Approximately 157,500 Cambodians resettled in the U.S. from 1975 to 1994, the vast majority as refugees. Many still suffer serious mental health problems as a result of experiencing torture and witnessing killings of their family members. In 2009, researcher Leakhena Nou, a medical sociologist at California State University, Long Beach, began documenting the stories of genocide survivors in the United States. She discovered that Cambodian-Americans, like their countrymen, could offer testimony and have legal representation at the tribunal proceedings. During her research, she discovered that many Cambodians in America experienced the same symptoms of young people living in Cambodia. "I found the same hopelessness, helplessness and lack of trust in themselves, family and government leaders," Nou said. Nou's research is deeply personal. Her family escaped the reign of terror because her father, a Cambodian military officer who had been living in Thailand with his family when the Khmer Rouge took over, sensed grave danger when he and others were asked to return. Those that answered the call were executed immediately upon their return or taken to prison and tortured to death. "The instinct my dad had saved our lives," she said. The process of retelling stories can, at least in the short run, cause substantial emotional trauma for survivors, said Dr. Daryn Reicherter, an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine who treats many Cambodian emigres in San Jose. "They had this rough patch," he said. But, Reicherter added, "Not one of them had a regret" about their decision to retell their experiences in excruciating detail. So far, 30 Cambodians living in the United States, including five from the Bay Area, have been chosen as potential witnesses during the proceedings. Even those who did not provide testimony showed up at Saturday's forum in hopes of finding some solace with knowledge about the upcoming trial. "I am very hurt. I have suffered," said Khun Aun, a 70-year-old widow, her body bent from old age, her arms wrapped around a portrait of her husband. She wept as she recalled the last time she saw him. The Khmer Rouge led him away with his brothers to be executed. Hands bound, he turned and yelled back at her to take care of their eight children. But five of their offspring would later die, and Khun was tortured to unconsciousness. The forum lasted for more than four-and-a-half hours. The elderly Cambodians, faces strained with anxiety, listened raptly to the presentation that was told in English and their native tongue. They were told about Nou's research and heard from the legal team. As they watched videos from the trial of Duch, some gasped softly, others wiped away tears. At one point, a lawyer asked what they wanted from the prosecution of the Khmer Rouge leaders. One survivor cried out: "I want my family back."  | ||||||||
| 100 encroaching border posts by Vietnam in 2011 Posted: 26 Feb 2011 09:23 PM PST Vietnam, Cambodia strive to complete demarcation 27/02/2011 vietnamnet bridge  Vietnamese and Cambodian officials on border issues have affirmed a resolve to complete land border demarcation and landmark erection by 2012 as the two countries' leaders agreed. At the fifth round of the Vietnam-Cambodia Joint Committee on Border Demarcation in Phnom Penh on February 24-25, officials agreed to increase cooperation to fulfill six main tasks this year. The tasks include defining of at least 100 landmark positions, delineating 500km of border line, completing the switch to the UTM map on the 1/50,000 scale from the current use of the Bone map on the 1/100,000 scale, and identification of landmark positions on the map in March. The two sides also agreed to join hands to fulfill publication of a set of the Vietnam-Cambodia land border terrain maps and speed up compilation of a protocol on land border demarcation between the two countries. In 2010, the two sides identified 72 positions, built 73 positions and demarcated 155 km of border line. The Vietnamese delegation to the meeting was led by Ho Xuan Son, Deputy Foreign Minister and head of Vietnam's Joint Committee on Border Demarcation. The Cambodian delegation was headed by Var Kimhong, Senior Minister and head of Cambodia's Joint Committee on Border Demarcation.  | ||||||||
| 2 Thais jailed in Cambodia for espionage decide not to appeal Posted: 26 Feb 2011 09:11 PM PST February 27, 2011 Xinhua The two high-profile "Yellow Shirt" activists jailed in Cambodia for espionage have decided not to appeal against the verdict of Phnom Penh Municipal Court, the defense lawyers confirmed on Saturday afternoon. "They have quit the plan to file the complaint to the Court of Appeals against the verdict," one of the two defense lawyers Ros Aun told Xinhua by telephone. The duo is Veera Somkwamkid, one of the leaders of the People's Network against Corruption and a high-profile activist in the Thailand Patriot Network, and his secretary Ratree Pipatanapaiboon. The Phnom Penh Municipal Court, on Feb. 1, convicted Veera and Ratree of illegal entry, unlawful entry into military base and espionage and sentenced them to 8 years and 6 years in jail respectively. According to Cambodian law, the duo has one month to appeal, or the verdict will be in effect. Pich Vicheka, the defense lawyer for Veera, said that the duo is likely, through their Thai government, to ask Cambodian king for royal amnesty. According to Cambodian law, a prisoner can be granted a royal pardon only if he/she has served two third of the jailed term in prison; however, it is not impossible to ask for the royal pardon, he said. "It's up to the government of Cambodia if it will ask the King for royal pardon for them or not," he said. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen announced on Feb. 17 that he would not ask the King for royal pardon for the duo. "Don't come to persuade me to ask King Norodom Sihamoni for royal pardon, it's impossible at this time.. comply with the law properly--at least serving two third of the jailed term before being considered for royal amnesty," said the premier.  |
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