KI Media: “Celebrating the Dignity, Rights, Contribution of Women” plus 24 more |
- Celebrating the Dignity, Rights, Contribution of Women
- My Rights, My Responsibility (Constitution) Series
- Photo: new vipers discovered in Asia's rainforests
- ... meanwhile in the deep jungle of Tuol Krasaing, an old one-eye viper is re-discovered. It's venom: cursing its enemies!
- [Thai] Govt caught in JBC tangle
- Tea Banh: Prawit will attend GBC
- Dispute Over Sentence of Khmer Rouge Prison Chief
- SRP commemorates the 14th Anniversary of the 30 March 1997 Grenade Attack
- Khmer Rouge torture victims seek justice in appeal
- Khmer Rouge jailer Duch seeks acquittal & forgiveness
- Website carrying ancient Cambodian manuscripts launched
- Tea Banh: Prawit agrees to Indonesia GBC meeting
- [Thai] Constitution Court refuses to rule on JBC minutes
- Cambodia's riel survives alongside the dollar
- Distressed maid set to return
- Thai investors 'welcome in Cambodia' [-The smell of money is irresistible to the CPP?]
- Tea Banh: Prawit agrees on Indo GBC
- CCHR calls for clarification of legal basis for government refusal to restore Mu Sochua’s parliamentary immunity (in Khmer)
- "Peal neung Pandit" a Poem in Khmer by NhiekKiri
- Victims of KRouge torture prison seek justice in appeal
- Risks, Rewards as Economic Corridor Develops
- North Korean Military Makes Rare Visit
- Monk flees pagoda over fears of arrest
- CCHR calls for clarification of legal basis for government refusal to restore Mu Sochua’s parliamentary immunity
- Workers face off with police
| Celebrating the Dignity, Rights, Contribution of Women Posted: 30 Mar 2011 03:39 PM PDT CEDAW signed by Cambodia in 17 Oct. 1980, acceded to on 15 Oct. 1992 The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), adopted in 1979 by the UN General Assembly, is often described as an international bill of rights for women. Consisting of a preamble and 30 articles, it defines what constitutes discrimination against women and sets up an agenda for national action to end such discrimination. PART IV Article 16 1. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in all matters relating to marriage and family relations and in particular shall ensure, on a basis of equality of men and women: (a) The same right to enter into marriage;(b) The same right freely to choose a spouse and to enter into marriage only with their free and full consent;  | ||||
| My Rights, My Responsibility (Constitution) Series Posted: 30 Mar 2011 03:30 PM PDT Constitution of Cambodia (Sept. 1993) CHAPTER VII: THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY Article 89 Upon the request by at least 1/10 of its members the National Assembly shall invite a high-ranking official to clarify important special issues.  | ||||
| Photo: new vipers discovered in Asia's rainforests Posted: 30 Mar 2011 02:25 PM PDT
March 30, 2011 Jeremy Hance mongabay.com Researchers have discovered two new species of pitviper in Southeast Asia. After collecting snakes throughout the Asian tropics—Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia—researchers were able to parse out a more complex set of species than had been recognized. One of the new vipers has been dubbed Cryptelytrops rubeus for its ruby-colored eyes. Over 12 years of work researchers conducted genetic tests, looked at physical differences, and then geographical separations of various viper populations that were all considered big-eyed pitviper (Cryptelytrops macrops). Out of the various population two new distinct species have been described: Cryptelytrops rubeus and Cryptelytrops cardamomensis. "They are genetically distinct at mitochondrial and multiple nuclear genetic markers, and are geographically separated, occupying different mountainous areas […] There are some superficial differences involving the color of the eye, the presence and width of lateral stripes on the head and body and so on, but they are quite subtle," co-author Anita Malhotra, a molecular ecologist at Bangor University, explained to mongabay.com. Although little more is known about the behavior or status of the species in the wild, Malhotra says it is possible they are threatened. "Depending on the species, the main threats are habitat destruction, and over-collecting (the vast majority of the latter is for traditional medicinal use, in some cases also for other purposes such as leather and the captive trade)," she told mongabay.com Each of these pitviper species are poisonous and dangerous, although a bite is not usually fatal to humans. The paper will appear in Zootaxa. ------------ CITATION: Malhotra, A., R. S. Thorpe, Mrinalini and B. L. Stuart. 2011. Two new species of pitviper of the genus Cryptelytrops Cope 1860 (Squamata: Viperidae: Crotalinae) from Southeast Asia. Zootaxa 2757: 1–23.  | ||||
| Posted: 30 Mar 2011 02:24 PM PDT   | ||||
| [Thai] Govt caught in JBC tangle Posted: 30 Mar 2011 02:20 PM PDT ANALYSIS: There's no light at the end of the tunnel. 31/03/2011 Nattaya Chetchotiros Bangkok Post It will be a long bumpy road for the government in dealing with issues surrounding the minutes of the Thai-Cambodian Joint Boundary Commission. A major hurdle came yesterday when the Constitution Court threw out a petition seeking the court's ruling as to the status of the JBC minutes. The court reasoned the petition submission was not in line with the regulations of petitioning the court to give a final ruling on a particular dispute under Sections 190 and 154 of the constitution. The court also said more steps would have to be completed in parliament before a request for the court to give a final ruling on whether the JBC minutes could be lodged properly. Led by Democrat MP for Songkhla Sirichoke Sopha, a group of about 80 MPs jointly submitted the petition to the court through Parliament Speaker Chai Chidchob. Mr Sirichoke, who is also a close aide to Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, believes that since the minutes were signed by both Thai and Cambodian officers, the documents should be regarded as an international treaty under Section 190 of the constitution. Before the court made its decision not to consider the documents yesterday, Mr Sirichoke still hoped the court would consider the petition and rule on the case to end arguments over the status of the JBC minutes. The court decision to not consider the petition for the time being came as a major blow to the Foreign Ministry as well. The ministry wants the minutes of the three JBC meetings to be approved by parliament as soon as possible, to prove to Cambodia that Thailand was not dragging its feet over the JBC documents issue. If the documents are still left without parliamentary approval, Cambodia will likely press ahead with its intention to use a multilateral mechanism to settle the border conflict. The effort to seek parliamentary approval on the JBC minutes began in August last year. But the same problem of lacking a quorum happened over and over. In deputy government chief whip Wirat Kalayasiri's view, the JBC issue itself was complicated and those MPs who might have failed to catch up with the development of the issue could not truly understand it. And since it is also a political problem between the two nations, many members of parliament could easily be deterred by the assertion from the yellow shirt People's Alliance for Democracy that to acknowledge the JBC minutes would be tantamount to giving the Thai territory to Cambodia. As a result, many MPs do not dare raise their hands to approve of the JBC documents, especially during a time when a new general election is expected soon. Under the circumstances, the parliament's decision on the JBC minutes is likely to be delayed until the end of April because most MPs still do not understand the issue. Neither do they realise what could be the possible advantages and disadvantages of approving the JBC minutes.  | ||||
| Tea Banh: Prawit will attend GBC Posted: 30 Mar 2011 02:12 PM PDT
31/03/2011 Wassana Nanuam Bangkok Post Phnom Penh: Cambodian Defence Minister Tea Banh is optimistic that his Thai counterpart Prawit Wongsuwon will attend the Thai-Cambodian General Border Committee meeting on April 7-8 in Bogor, Indonesia. Gen Tea Banh yesterday quoted Gen Prawit as saying he had agreed to attend the meeting in Indonesia after they spoke over the phone recently. Gen Tea Banh said he would leave Cambodia for Indonesia on April 6 to attend the meeting. "The Thai side can no longer be stubborn because it is the resolution by the UNSC [United Nations Security Council] and Asean that Indonesia should play a role as mediator," he said in Thai. "[Thailand] cannot simply change its mind and it has to follow what it has promised to do. "I still believe that Gen Prawit will surely go to the meeting in Indonesia on April 7-8. I'll wait [for him] there," said Gen Tea Banh. Meanwhile, a Cambodian military source said Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen had decided not to withdraw the country's troops from the 4.6-square-kilometre disputed area near the Preah Vihear temple as it was their duty to protect territory that Cambodia claims as its own. Even so, Cambodia also wanted Thailand to let Indonesian observers join a new joint border survey to be conducted by Thailand and Cambodia, the source said. The source also said Hun Sen would be unhappy if he found out that any Cambodian soldiers spoke Thai with Thai soldiers. "He doesn't prohibit [them from speaking Thai to Thai soldiers] but he dislikes it as Cambodian soldiers should speak Khmer and if [the Thai soldiers] don't understand, then they must have a translator," said the source.  | ||||
| Dispute Over Sentence of Khmer Rouge Prison Chief Posted: 30 Mar 2011 02:08 PM PDT March 30, 2011 By SETH MYDANS The New York Times BANGKOK — Prosecutors and defense attorneys both asked for drastic changes this week in the sentence given to the former commandant of the Khmer Rouge's main prison and torture center. In a three-day appeal hearing outside Phnom Penh prosecutors asked for a maximum sentence of life in prison. The defense asked for an acquittal that could allow the immediate release of the defendant, Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Duch. He is the first Khmer Rouge official to stand trial for atrocities committed when the radical Communist regime held power in Cambodia, causing the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million people from 1975 to 1979. Four senior Khmer Rouge leaders are in custody in what is known as Case Two, which court officers say is expected to start this summer. Last July Duch was sentenced to 35 years in prison for war crimes and crimes against humanity after an emotional and sometimes lurid trial describing the torture and killing of inmates at the Tuol Sleng prison. The sentence was reduced to 19 years for time served and because of technicalities, arousing an outcry from survivors of the Khmer Rouge regime. It meant that Duch, now 68, could possibly walk free one day, particularly if the sentence is reduced for good behavior. More than 14,000 prisoners were held and interrogated at Tuol Sleng; only a handful survived to see the Khmer Rouge driven from power by a Vietnamese invasion. The trial included vivid testimony, mostly from Duch, about prisoners' torture and execution. During the trial Duch acknowledged and apologized for his crimes in what many analysts saw as a tactic to obtain a lighter sentence, though some observers also saw genuine remorse. Then, on the final day of the trial, he fired the French lawyer who had constructed this defense. His Cambodian co-counsel said Duch was not guilty and demanded his immediate release. During the appeal hearings this week his lawyers repeated that demand using a familiar defense — that Duch had obeyed his superiors for fear of execution. They called the tribunal, which is supported by the United Nations, "nothing but a venue for vengeance." "He had no other choice than to implement the orders, otherwise he would have been killed," said one of his lawyers, Kang Ritheary, addressing the judges. "If you were in his shoes in 1979, what would you have done?" Prosecutors, meanwhile, had their own criticisms of the court's sentence last year. They said too much weight had been given to mitigating factors like Duch's cooperation and his qualified expressions of remorse. "We call for the imposition of a life term, reduced to 45 years," said a prosecutor, Andrew Cayley. That figure takes into account 11 years Duch spent in illegal detention in a military jail. "For the purposes of history, a life term must be imposed," Mr. Cayley said. Duch's unexpected declaration of innocence at the end of the trial undercut his claim of remorse, Mr. Cayley said. A ruling is expected this summer. Also this summer the second trial is due to begin, focusing on the four surviving senior members of the Khmer Rouge, all in their 70s and 80s and in poor health. The top Khmer Rouge leader, Pol Pot, died in 1998. The defendants in Case Two are Nuon Chea, known as the movement's chief ideologist; Khieu Samphan, the former head of state; Ieng Sary, who was foreign minister; and his wife, Ieng Thirith, who was minister for social affairs. Although much of the world's attention has moved far away from the decades-old crimes of the Khmer Rouge, the atrocities still arouse intense feelings in this traumatized country. Norng Chan Phal, who was rescued as a child from Tuol Sleng when it fell to the Vietnamese in 1979, burst into tears on the first day of testimony Monday when he heard defense lawyers arguing for acquittal, according to Reach Sambath, chief spokesman for the tribunal. "This is crazy," he shouted, flinging a plastic bottle of water to the ground. "He lost control," Mr. Sambath said. "He said: 'There is no justice! This is not justice for my father and mother who died in Tuol Sleng.' " Mr. Sambath said he had comforted him saying that he, too, had lost his parents and that it was time to move forward and to let the law take its course.  | ||||
| SRP commemorates the 14th Anniversary of the 30 March 1997 Grenade Attack Posted: 30 Mar 2011 02:02 PM PDT http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wq_TdT5c0XI&feature=player_embedded  | ||||
| Khmer Rouge torture victims seek justice in appeal Posted: 30 Mar 2011 09:40 AM PDT 30 March 2011 AFP PHNOM PENH : Survivors and relatives of some of the 15,000 people who died in a Khmer Rouge prison listened as its torture chief Duch pleaded for absolution on the last day of his appeal on Wednesday. "I still maintain my position to ask for forgiveness for the souls of the victims... and for the families of those victims to accept my apology," he told the hearing, which also saw a last attempt by those affected to win increased reparations. Cambodia's UN-backed court sentenced Duch in July to 30 years in jail for war crimes and crimes against humanity for overseeing mass murder at the notorious prison Tuol Sleng - or S-21 - in the late 1970s. Reading from a handwritten note, the bespectacled 68-year-old, who is seeking acquittal, told the court he only survived the brutal regime "because I respectfully and strictly followed the orders", even if at times he felt "very depressed". The only reparations the court awarded the victims, known as the civil parties, werer to include their names in the judgement and agree to publish Duch's apologies. Financial compensation for victims is not an option but their lawyers on Wednesday called for other forms of collective and moral redress, such as memorials or free psychological support. Their appeal followed those of the defence and the prosecution earlier this week and marked "the last moment for civil parties to get justice", Brice Poirier from Avocats Sans Frontieres France, which represents some of the victims, told AFP. Lawyers also asked for more civil parties to be admitted after the lower court rejected 24 of the 90 applicants, saying they had failed to prove their harm was closely linked to Duch's actions. This had caused "distress" to individuals already "traumatised once by the actions of the accused", lawyer Karim Khan told the Supreme Court Chamber. Duch maintained that he was acting "under duress" and fell outside the court's jurisdiction in his final address to the court at the end of the session on Wednesday. In their appeal on Monday, the defence team called for Duch's acquittal and release. They said the court had no right to try him in the first place because he was "just a minor secretary" following orders and not a senior leaders nor one of those most responsible for the crimes committed. The prosecution argued on Tuesday that Duch had failed to show "real, sincere remorse" and demanded life imprisonment, to be reduced to 45 years for time spent in unlawful detention before the tribunal was established. A ruling on the appeals is expected in late June. Duch was originally given a 35-year jail sentence but this was reduced for the period of illegal detention. Given time already served, he could walk free in less than 19 years, to the dismay of many victims of the brutal 1975-1979 regime. Led by "Brother Number One" Pol Pot, who died in 1998, the Khmer Rouge wiped out up to two million people through starvation, overwork and execution. S-21, in Phnom Penh, was at the centre of the regime's security apparatus and thousands were taken from there for execution at a nearby "killing field". Duch has been detained since 1999, when he was found working as a Christian aid worker in the jungle. He was formally arrested by the tribunal in July 2007. Court observers told AFP the defence team had presented a weaker appeal case than the prosecutors. "The prosecution has been more convincing legally," said Anne Heindel, a legal advisor to the Documentation Centre of Cambodia, which collects evidence of Khmer Rouge atrocities. "The defence arguments sounded disjointed and are largely unsupported." Clair Duffy, a court monitor with the Open Society Justice Initiative added that the defence failed to respond to many of the prosecution's "extensive arguments" for a longer sentence, "other than by repeatedly coming back to the argument that Duch wasn't 'most responsible'."  | ||||
| Khmer Rouge jailer Duch seeks acquittal & forgiveness Posted: 30 Mar 2011 09:37 AM PDT 30 March 2011 AFP PHNOM PENH : Ex-Khmer Rouge cadre Duch asked for forgiveness for running a feared jail where thousands died, but maintained he was only following orders as he took the stand for a final time on Wednesday. Cambodia's UN-backed court sentenced Duch, 68, in July to 30 years' jail for war crimes and crimes against humanity for overseeing the deaths of some 15,000 people at the notorious prison Tuol Sleng - or S-21 - in the late 1970s. Reading from a handwritten note, Duch said he only survived the brutal regime "because I respectfully and strictly followed the orders", even if at times he felt "very depressed". He asked "for forgiveness of the souls of the victims" and "for the families of those victims to accept my apology", echoing statements made at his original trial before his shock demand to be acquitted in his closing speech in November 2009. In three days of hearings this week, the defence, prosecution and civil parties all appealed against the punishment. In his final address to the Supreme Court Chamber on Wednesday, Duch said "the senior leaders and those most responsible were others, not me". Duch's lawyers are seeking a full acquittal and release, arguing that he falls outside the court's jurisdiction because he was "just a minor secretary". The prosecution wants a life term, commuted to 45 years in jail for time spent in unlawful detention. He also urged former regime members "to recognise that we joined the movement... to liberate the country, however the party's line was criminal". Led by "Brother Number One" Pol Pot, who died in 1998, the Khmer Rouge wiped out up to two million people through starvation, overwork and execution. S-21, in Phnom Penh, was at the centre of the regime's security apparatus and thousands were taken from there for execution at a nearby "killing field". Duch has been detained since 1999, when he was found working as a Christian aid worker in the jungle. He was formally arrested by the tribunal in July 2007.  | ||||
| Website carrying ancient Cambodian manuscripts launched Posted: 30 Mar 2011 09:35 AM PDT  By Monica Kotwani Channel News Asia (Singapore) Click here for www.khmermanuscripts.org SINGAPORE: The Singapore Embassy in Cambodia, together with UNESCO, has launched a website, carrying contents of ancient Cambodian manuscripts. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the Embassy has been supporting UNESCO, through a fund, for the last two years in its work to digitise the manuscripts. The manuscripts, written on latania leaves, faced extinction in the 1990s. They are Cambodia's only written heritage available, apart from stone inscriptions, and an information source for researchers on the country's religious and cultural practices and customs. The website was launched on Wednesday evening at the French Cultural Centre in Phnom Penh.  | ||||
| Tea Banh: Prawit agrees to Indonesia GBC meeting Posted: 30 Mar 2011 09:28 AM PDT
30/03/2011 Wassana Nanuam Bangkok Post Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon has agreed to attend the General Border Committee (GBC) meeting in Indonesia, according to Cambodia's Defence Minister Tea Banh. Gen Tea Banh announced the agreement in an interview with the Bangkok Post in Phnom Penh on Wednesday. Gen Prawit has repeatedly said he would not go to the GBC meeting, scheduled to be held in Bogor, Indonesia, on April 7-8. He has said the GBC should be purely bilateral and the meeting held in either Cambodia or Thailand, not in Indonesia or any other third country. Gen Tea Banh claimed he had talked over this matter with Gen Prawit and that the Thai minister had agreed to go to the meeting in Indonesia. He said he would himself leave for Indonesia on April 6. "The Thai side can't insist not going because it has agreed with the United Nations Security Council and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to let Indonesia mediate talks with Cambodia," Gen Tea Banh said. "I still believe Gen Prawit will definitely go to Indonesia for the April 7-8 meeting. I'll be waiting for him over there," he added. An informed source said Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has made it a policy for the Cambodian army that in talks with their Thai counterparts they must insist on not withdrawing Cambodian troops from the 4.6 square kilometre disputed area. Hun Sen has said Cambodian soldiers were duty-bound to remain in the area, regardless of for how long. His objective is for Thailand to accept observers from Indonesia into the disputed area for inspections, the source said. The source also said Hun Sen would not be happy if he happened to see a Cambodian soldier talk to a Thai soldier in the Thai language. "The prime minister said Cambodian soldiers must speak Cambodian, and use an interpreter if necessary," the source said. Meanwhile, the Phnom Penh government insists Thai investors are welcome in Cambodia despite the long-standing border conflict between the two countries. Thai investors, too, are confident the tense border conflict will not affect their investment plans. Cambodian Minister of Tourism Thong Khon said Thai investors are eligible for tax privileges and Thai products imported by them are exempted from taxation for a period of three to eight years. Mr Thong Khon was full of praise for such Thai businessman as Supachai Verapuchong, managing director of the Sofitel Phnom Penh Pookeerhra Hotel, for his continued investment in Cambodia even though the hotel, formerly known as the Royal Phnom Penh, was severely damaged in an anti-Thai rioting in Phnom Penh in December 2006. Prime Minister Hun Sen's policy is to encourage more foreign investment in Siem Reap, Phnom Penh and Koh Kong. Countries in this region which have invested in Cambodia are China, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand. Those from elsewhere include Australia, Portugal, England, the United States and France. Mr Supachai, who invested more than two billion baht in the five-star Sofitel Phnom Penh Pookeethra Hotel, said even though the relations between Thailand and Cambodia are plagued with uncertainty he has confidence in the Cambodian government's policy toward investors, including those from Thailand. In 2006, Mr Supachai invested US$40 million in the Sofitel Ankor Hotel and a golf course in Siem Reap. "Despite turbulence, Thailand and Cambodia are neighbours. We have to walk together as friends," he said. "In four years from now, there will not be a tariff wall in Asean. The question is whether Thai investors and the Thai government are ready for the days ahead, when business competition will be tougher. "So we should establish business ties, which will subsequently lead to improvement of relations in other fields," Mr Supachai said.  | ||||
| [Thai] Constitution Court refuses to rule on JBC minutes Posted: 30 Mar 2011 09:20 AM PDT 30 March 2011 The Nation The Constitution Court Wednesday rejected a request by lawmakers to rule whether the Thailand-Cambodia Joint Boundary Commission (JBC)'s minutes of meeting saying it was not the stage for the court to have any injunctions on this matter. By the consequence of the court's decision, the parliament needed to resume its consideration of the JBC's documents, according to the Parliament President Chai Chidchob. The parliament was scheduled to discuss the issue on April 5.  | ||||
| Cambodia's riel survives alongside the dollar Posted: 30 Mar 2011 09:19 AM PDT
30 March 2011 By Guy De Launey BBC News, Phnom Penh In Cambodia, money talks as loudly as it does anywhere else in the world - but at least it never burns a hole in your pocket. That's because there aren't any coins. You can't talk about coppers or nickels in Cambodian riel. The national bank gave up striking anything metallic more than a decade ago. Instead there's a lot of paper. Right down to the seldom-seen 50 riel note. That's worth all of a cent and a quarter - and it's regarded with about as much affection as the pitifully lightweight one yen coin in Japan. So wallets, billfolds and purses bulge with dozens of notes - ranging from the crisply-minted to the well-used and filthy. But to many people, the riel is simply small change. Almost all significant transactions are priced - and paid for - in US dollars. For the visitor it starts with the visa fee on arrival at the airport. But it continues everywhere else in the country. ATMs pay out in dollars - and all but a tiny percentage of bank deposits are in the US currency. As for lending, most financial institutions won't even consider doling out anything other than Benjamin Franklin and his presidential friends. Bombing the bank International travellers are used to hotels and airlines setting their prices in dollars to get round local currency fluctuations. But here the shops, tradespeople and even the motorbike taxi drivers accept the folding green. And young people entering the increasing white-collar workforce expect their salary to be quoted in dollars. But there are no quarters, dimes or any other American coins in use here. So people use the Cambodian currency for anything less than a dollar. Everyone knows the exchange rate - 4,000 to the dollar - give or take the odd hundred riel. It's been that way since at least the start of the century - so people are actually fairly relaxed about taking payments in either currency. A $5 bill or a 20,000 riel note - it's all the same to most Cambodians. Although the money exchanges at the markets do a brisk trade with people hoping to turn a profit from minor fluctuations in the rates. It's a system that seems to keep everyone happy. And when you look at the history, it's easy to understand why. Cambodia didn't have a currency of any kind in the late 1970s - when the ultra-Maoist Khmer Rouge banned money, and blew up the national bank. When the riel was reintroduced in the 1980s, the new, Vietnamese-backed government initially had to give it away - such was the lack of public confidence. The revived currency plunged when United Nations forces ran Cambodia in the early 90s - bringing oodles of dollars with them. Eventually the riel settled into its peg of 4,000 to the dollar - and a clear role as second fiddle. Dollarisation? But recently there have been agitations for that to change. And they've been taking the long-delayed launch of the Cambodian Stock Exchange as a cue. The Wall Street Journal published an editorial last month, making the case for Cambodia to use the Exchange as an opportunity to embrace full dollarisation. It would, said the paper, attract more foreign investors - who wouldn't need to worry about currency fluctuations hitting their profits, the way they have in neighbouring Vietnam. But there's a powerful pro-riel lobby in the government and the National Bank. And they see the Exchange as, perhaps, the final opportunity for the riel to make it as an independent currency. The solution is a fudge with a familiar ring to it. When the Exchange opens, possibly in a few months' time, share prices will be quoted in riel. But trades may also be settled in dollars - at least for the first three years of the Exchange's operation. It could all be enormously confusing - or as simple as paying in one currency and getting your change in another. And it's not as if Cambodia is short of practice in that.  | ||||
| Posted: 30 Mar 2011 09:14 AM PDT Wednesday, 30 March 2011 Mom Kunthear and David Boyle The Phnom Penh Post A woman who reportedly said she was being tortured and forcibly detained by her employer in Kuala Lumpur during a phone call has been located and will be sent back to Cambodia next week, officials from the Malaysian embassy said yesterday. Kampuchea Thmey newspaper reported on March 18 that the woman had made a random call to a university student in Phnom Penh pleading her to ask the Cambodian government to help her escape from her employer. In a statement issued yesterday, the Malaysian embassy said they had taken swift action to locate the woman and had sent officials in Malaysia to her residence to provide essential assistance. "The embassy contacted the woman through the phone number posted in the paper and talked to a woman who expressed that [she was] abused and suffered," the statement said. The statement also promised the Malaysian embassy would work closely with the Cambodian government and the other relevant partners to protect the Cambodian workers both in Cambodia and Malaysia. Raja Saiful Ridzuwan, deputy chief of mission at the Malaysian embassy, yesterday declined to identify the woman or the company allegedly detaining her, but said these details would be available when she returned next week. Yet another complaint alleging a Cambodian domestic worker in Malaysia was being tortured and illegally detained was filed with the rights group Adhoc yesterday. Men Thorn, 36, said yesterday she filed a complaint against the AP Sentosa Training Centre with local rights group Adhoc after receiving a distressing phone call from her sister Men Syna's neighbour in Malaysia, who said her sibling was being abused. "I got the call from my sister's neighbour, who my sister needed help from to reach me so that I could help intervene from Cambodia to release her from Malaysia because the employer tortures and detains her and doesn't allow her to talk with anyone nearby," she said. The neighbour, an 18-year-old Cambodian woman who also works at a factory in Malaysia and asked only to be identified as Vy said she was afraid that if Men Syna's boss caught her seeking help from outsiders that he would further punish her. "I try to talk to her, but I cannot because her boss does not allow her to leave home or talk to anyone," she said. Koy Kuong, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said yesterday that the government would not be careless with this case. "We will take measures immediately in cases [where] we get information or a letter from the family member, but until now I haven't got any information about this case yet," he said. Additional reporting by Khuon Leakhana  | ||||
| Thai investors 'welcome in Cambodia' [-The smell of money is irresistible to the CPP?] Posted: 30 Mar 2011 09:10 AM PDT 30/03/2011 Wassana Nanuam Bangkok Post Despite the long-standing border conflict between the two countries, the Phnom Penh government insists Thai investors are welcome in Cambodia. Thai investors, too, are confident the tense border conflict will not affect their investment plans. Cambodian Minister of Tourism Thong Khon said Thai investors are eligible for tax privileges and Thai products imported by them are exempted from taxation for a period of three to eight years. Mr Thong Khon was full of praise for such Thai businessman as Supachai Verapuchong, managing director of the Sofitel Phnom Penh Pookeerhra Hotel, for his continued investment in Cambodia even though the hotel, formerly known as the Royal Phnom Penh, was severely damaged in an anti-Thai rioting in Phnom Penh in December 2006. Prime Minister Hun Sen's policy is to encourage more foreign investment in Siem Reap, Phnom Penh and Koh Kong. Countries in this region which have invested in Cambodia are China, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand. Those from elsewhere include Australia, Portugal, England, the United States and France. Mr Supachai, who invested more than two billion baht in the five-star Sofitel Phnom Penh Pookeethra Hotel, said even though the relations between Thailand and Cambodia are plagued with uncertainty he has confidence in the Cambodian government's policy toward investors, including those from Thailand. In 2006, Mr Supachai invested US$40 million in the Sofitel Ankor Hotel and a golf course in Siem Reap. "Despite turbulence, Thailand and Cambodia are neighbours. We have to walk together as friends," he said. "In four years from now, there will not be a tariff wall in Asean. The question is whether Thai investors and the Thai government are eady for the days ahead, when business competition will be tougher. "So we should establish business ties, which will subsequently lead to improvement of relations in other fields," Mr Supachai said.  | ||||
| Tea Banh: Prawit agrees on Indo GBC Posted: 30 Mar 2011 09:06 AM PDT 30/03/2011 Wassana Nanuam Bangkok Post Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon has agreed to attend the General Border Committee (GBC) meeting in Indonesia on April 7-8, Gen Tea Banh said. The Cambodian defence minister said this in Phnom Penh in an interview with Bangkok Post on Tuesday. Gen Prawit had repeatedly said he would not go to the GBC meeting, scheduled to be held in Bogor, Indonesia, on April 7-8. He said the GBC should be held in either Cambodia or Thailand, not in Indonesia or any other third countries. Gen Tea Banh claimed he had talked over this matter with Gen Prawit and that the Thai counterpart agreed to go to the Indonesia meeting. He said he would himself leave for Indonesia on April 6. "The Thai side can't insist in not going because it has agreed with the United Nations Security Council and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to let Indonesia mediate talks with Cambodia," Gen Tea Banh said. "I still believe Gen Prawit will definitely go to Indonesia on April 7-8. I'll be waiting for him over there," he added. An informed source said Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has made it a policy for the Cambodian army to follow that in talks with the Thai counterpart it must insist in not withdrawing Cambodian troops from the 4.6 square kilometre disputed area. Hun Sen said Cambodian soldiers are duty-bound to remain in the area, regardless of for how long. His objective is for Thailand to accept observers from Indonesia into the disputed area for inspection, the source said. The source said Hun Sen would not be happy if he happened to see a Cambodian soldier talk to a Thai soldier in the Thai language. "The prime minister said Cambodian soldiers must speak Cambodia, or talk through an interpreter if necessary," the source said.  | ||||
| Posted: 30 Mar 2011 09:04 AM PDT
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| "Peal neung Pandit" a Poem in Khmer by NhiekKiri Posted: 30 Mar 2011 06:38 AM PDT   | ||||
| Victims of KRouge torture prison seek justice in appeal Posted: 30 Mar 2011 12:53 AM PDT PHNOM PENH, March 30, 2011 (AFP) - Survivors and relatives of some of the 15,000 people who died in a Khmer Rouge prison run by torture chief Duch made a final call for more reparations as his appeal case drew to a close Wednesday. Cambodia's UN-backed court sentenced Duch, 68, in July to 30 years in jail for war crimes and crimes against humanity for overseeing mass murder at the notorious prison Tuol Sleng -- or S-21 -- in the late 1970s. The only reparations the court awarded the victims, known as the civil parties, was to include their names in the judgment and agree to publish Duch's apologies. Financial compensation for victims is not an option but their lawyers on Wednesday called for other forms of collective and moral redress, such as memorials or free psychological support. Their appeal followed those of the defence and the prosecution earlier this week and marked "the last moment for civil parties to get justice", Brice Poirier from Avocats Sans Frontieres, which represents some of the victims, told AFP. Lawyers are also asking for more civil parties to be admitted after the lower court rejected 24 of the 90 applicants, saying they had failed to prove their harm was closely linked to Duch's actions. This had caused "distress" to individuals already "traumatised once by the actions of the accused", lawyer Karim Khan told the Supreme Court Chamber. In their appeal on Monday, Duch's lawyers called for his acquittal and release, saying the court had no right to try him because he was "just a minor secretary" following orders. The prosecution argued on Tuesday that Duch had failed to show "real, sincere remorse" and demanded life imprisonment, to be reduced to 45 years for time spent in unlawful detention before the tribunal was established. A ruling on the appeals is expected in late June. Anne Heindel, a legal advisor to the Documentation Centre of Cambodia, which collects evidence of Khmer Rouge atrocities, said the civil party appeal reminds the court that the proceedings are not just about legal arguments but about "the lives of flesh and blood victims". A bespectacled Duch could be seen scribbling notes throughout the hearing. Duch was originally given a 35-year jail sentence but this was reduced for the period of illegal detention. Given time already served, he could walk free in less than 19 years, to the dismay of many victims of the brutal 1975-1979 regime. Led by "Brother Number One" Pol Pot, who died in 1998, the Khmer Rouge wiped out up to two million people through starvation, overwork and execution. S-21, in Phnom Penh, was at the centre of the regime's security apparatus. Duch has been detained since 1999, when he was found working as a Christian aid worker in the jungle. He was formally arrested by the tribunal in July 2007.  | ||||
| Risks, Rewards as Economic Corridor Develops Posted: 30 Mar 2011 12:45 AM PDT Pich Samnang, VOA Khmer Kampong Thom, Cambodia Tuesday, 29 March 2011
Cambodia is building up its rural infrastructure in an effort to link itself to its neighbors, under an "economic corridor" project aided by the Asian Development Bank. Proponents of the southern economic corridor, part of the Greater Mekong Subregion project, say it will bring benefits to villagers like those in Kampong Thom district's Sambo Prey Kuk temple, in Prasat Sambo district. Here, a bumpy dirty road connecting the temple to the main provincial town was recently improved. "When the road was rough, not many people came," said Kong Sophy, who owns a restaurant near the ancient temple, where buses of tourists now visit. "But now that the road is good, more visitors are coming. So I do well in sales." Tem Bunteng, a local tour guide, agrees that better infrastructure has improved tourism numbers to the temple, which is one of the most-visited temples in the country outside those of Angkor Wat. "The people here want a good road because it can bring in more tourists," Tem Bunteng said. "It's very important because this is one of the most attractive spots in the country," Ingrid Overstegen, a Dutch tourist said one afternoon at the temple. "Tourists want to come here, and they bring money to your country, so it's good for your economy." Economists say the connection between rural and urban areas across borders in the Mekong countries can help boost economies across the region. "There's a huge potential in tourism and agriculture," Arjun Goswami, the ADB's director for regional cooperation, said in an interview during a regional forum on the economic corridor last month. "Now, both of these sectors, in terms of cross-border movement of people or cross-border movement of agricultural goods and produce, depend on the husbanding of natural resources." However, that potential can also bring some strife to communities who say they are not benefiting. That has been the case for 500 villagers from the Prey Lang forest, which spans four eastern provinces and is the site of at least two large rubber plantation concessions to Vietnamese companies. Villagers say the cross-border concessions are threatening their livelihoods from the large expanse of natural forest. While tourists were admiring Sambo Prey Kuk temple earlier this month, these villagers were holding a forum in Kampong Thom to express their grievances. "The other 20 provinces know clearly that in history, there are no other forests left in Cambodia," Ros Soeunn, a 77-year-old villager told the forum, which had gathered under a tent in Kampong Thom town. "Only this Prey Lang still exists," he shouted into a microphone at a gathering of lawmakers and local authorities. "Do you want to destroy it all? And where can the people live?" "You give companies millions of hectares, but your own people, nothing," he said. "You just allow others from outside to develop, but what is development for, if the people weep bitterly?" Goswami said the risks that may come from increased development will have to be addressed. "Of course countries that have natural resources will want to use that natural resource base for growth, and other countries will want to get access to it," he said, referring to agricultural development in general. "The issue is not trying to stop it; the issue is trying to make sure that the risks are best mitigated."  | ||||
| North Korean Military Makes Rare Visit Posted: 30 Mar 2011 12:44 AM PDT  Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer Phnom Penh Tuesday, 29 March 2011
A North Korean delegation of military officials are meeting with their Cambodian counterparts in Phnom Penh this week, officials said Tuesday. Pak Jae-gyong, vice minister of North Korea's armed forces, led nine other senior officials in meetings with defense officials, the prime minister, the king and others, said Chhum Socheath, a spokesman for the Ministry of Defense. This is only the second such high military delegation from North Korea since 1995, he said. "Importantly, he came to visit Cambodia to strengthen friendly relations and cooperation between the two countries," he said. "His visit aims to share views and experiences in the national defense sector." The delegation visited engineering schools of the Cambodian military, but made no pledges of aid, he said. Chheang Vannarith, executive director of the Cambodian Institute for Cooperation and Peace, called the visit of little major interest except to strengthen diplomatic relations between the two countries. "I think for Cambodia's national defense, we might not look at the interest from North Korea, because North Korea in international opinion and understanding is [viewed] more negative," he said. Lao Monghay, a former researcher for the Asian Human Rights Commission, said Cambodia should engage with many countries, including North Korea, to keep the singular influence of any one country limited. North Korean senior military delegation firstly visited Cambodia in 1995 and this visit is secondly since 1995.  | ||||
| Monk flees pagoda over fears of arrest Posted: 29 Mar 2011 11:49 PM PDT
May Titthara The Phnom Penh Post A monk at Wat Ounalom in Phnom Penh on Monday fled the pagoda out of fear of arrest by authorities for his participation in protests held by Boeung Kak lakeside residents and villagers embroiled in a land dispute in Chi Kraeng commune. The venerable Luon Savath, ordained in 1990, went into hiding after returning from a protest in front of City Hall at the weekend, he said yesterday, adding that police have threatened him with arrest on four previous occasions over his involvement in protests. "The authorities have not only warned me that they would arrest me, but have tried to get me defrocked by calling me a fake monk who violates Buddhist rules of conduct," he said. Luon Savath said that a police truck followed him back to the pagoda on Sunday and that he saw police stationed near the pagoda before fleeing in a car driven by staff at the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. "I am not involved with Boeung Kak villagers. I do not make problems. I was just observing the protest to find justice for the people," he said. Touch Naruth, chief of Phnom Penh Municipal Police, declined to comment yesterday. Chuon Narin, head of the municipal penal police department, said he did not know anything about the issue. However, Phon Davy, director of the municipal cults and religions department, said that Luon Savath had not only joined with Boeung Kak lake protesters but others at Wat Botum and in Siem Reap. "That monk has violated the rules to such an extent that the Great Supreme Patriarch of Cambodia Tep Vong issued a warning letter to ban all monks from joining protests," he said yesterday. Am Sam Ath, a technical supervisor for local rights group Licadho, said Luon Savath has only monitored villager protests to encourage them and blessed them for good luck. "Targeting him is a serious violation of human rights," Am Sam Ath said.  | ||||
| Posted: 29 Mar 2011 11:33 PM PDT   CCHR PRESS RELEASE, Phnom Penh - 30 March 2011 CCHR calls for clarification of legal basis for government refusal to restore Mu Sochua's parliamentary immunity The Cambodian Center for Human Rights ("CCHR") calls on the government to clarify the legal basis for its refusal to restore Mu Sochua's parliamentary immunity. In the opinion of CCHR, there is no legal justification for the government's position with regard to the parliamentary immunity of Mu Sochua. In the absence of clear provisions expressly allowing for the refusal to restore parliamentary immunity to a member of the National Assembly who has been convicted of a crime but not sentenced to a term of imprisonment, CCHR calls on the government to restore Mu Sochua's immunity with immediate effect. Mu Sochua was stripped of her parliamentary immunity on 22 June 2009 thus clearing the way for defamation charges to be leveled against her by Prime Minister Hun Sen. She was convicted of defamation by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on 4 August 2009 and sentenced to pay a fine and compensation of 16.5 million riel ($4,4084US), a verdict that was upheld by the Appeal Court on 28 October 2009 and the Supreme Court on 2 June 2010. The fine and compensation was docked from Mu Sochua's National Assembly wages and paid in full by November 2010. Cheam Yeap, a senior lawmaker for the Cambodian People's Party, has stated that Mu Sochua' s immunity would be restored in November 2011, a year after completion of her punishment. Article 14 of the Law on the Status of Members of the National Assembly provides that a National Assembly member who is convicted of a crime and sentenced to a jail term loses his/her membership of the National Assembly and the rights and privileges that go with membership, while Article 16 provides for the automatic restoration of immunity and privileges to a National Assembly member who is acquitted. Article 15 provides that a convicted person has his/her parliamentary immunity restored upon pardon by His Majesty the King. The case of Mu Sochua therefore falls into a lacuna as the law is silent on cases where the National Assembly member is neither acquitted nor convicted to serve a jail term but is convicted and sentenced to pay a fine and not pardoned by His Majesty the King. The position of the government, as stated by Cheam Yeap, is in line with a 28 January 2011 letter to the National Assembly from Long Phol, a secretary of state at the Ministry of Justice, that was leaked to The Phnom Penh Post (See 'Sochua in legal limbo, 24 February 2011). The letter reportedly states that there are two ways for Mu Sochua to have her parliamentary immunity restored: by lodging a request with the Appeal Court a year after her punishment is completed or waiting for the immunity to be restored automatically, five years after the completion of her punishment. This position appears to be based upon the conditions for judicial rehabilitation and rehabilitation by law set out in the Code of Criminal Procedure and, in the opinion of CCHR, is not relevant to the case of Mu Sochua. Article 34 on the Law on the Election of Members of the National Assembly sets out the categories of persons who cannot stand for election to the National Assembly, this includes persons who have been convicted to serve a jail term and who have not been rehabilitated. As Mu Sochua was not sentenced to a term of imprisonment she does not require rehabilitation to stand for election so it can only be assumed that she does not require rehabilitation to resume in her capacity as a parliamentarian during the current session with all the rights and privileges, including parliamentary immunity, that membership carries. Parliamentary immunity exists as a safeguard to the right to freedom of expression of members of the National Assembly. Limitations and restrictions on the right to freedom of expression – such as the removal of parliamentary immunity – must be interpreted narrowly. CCHR calls on the government to clarify the legal basis for its position with regard to the parliamentary immunity of National Assembly members who are convicted of a crime but who are not sentenced to a term in jail. In the absence of an express provision expressly justifying the refusal of the government to restore parliamentary immunity in such a case, parliamentary immunity should be restored to Mu Sochua with immediate effect. For more information please contact Ou Virak on +855 (0) 12 404 051 or via e-mail at ouvirak@cchrcambodia.org  | ||||
| Posted: 29 Mar 2011 11:28 PM PDT
Tuesday, 29 March 2011 Tep Nimol The Phnom Penh Post Hundreds of police wielding electric batons cracked down on a demonstration of close to 1,000 former employees of the now defunct Tack Fat garment factory yesterday, leaving about 50 people "slightly injured", a union official said. The demonstration was the latest flare up of a dispute between Tack Fat and more than 1,000 employees it laid off earlier this month when the company declared bankruptcy – offering only limited severance pay to those affected. Man Sen Hak, a consultant for the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia, said yesterday workers had blocked National Road Number 2 to demand government intervention in the dispute. "The workers blocked National Road Number 2 about five minutes before hundreds of authorities arrived at the place and pushed them to go to the sides of the road in order to avoid traffic congestion," he said. The company's compensation offers, he said, fell short of their obligations under Cambodia's labour law, and government inaction on the issue had prompted the latest demonstration. "The workers want their compensation only but there has been no resolution, reaching [the point where we decided] to put up the road block." Kim You, a lawyer representing Tack Fat in the dispute, could not be reached for comment yesterday. Chheang Thida, a representative for workers at Tack Fat, said the dispute had reached the point where industrial action was the only way forward. "Workers come to a standoff. We know that demonstrating affects [public] order [but] if we are silent, no one will help us resolve this; this time, I know that Cambodia is corrupt," she said. Huy Pich Sovann, a human rights program officer at the Community Legal Education Centre, said the intervention of government authorities in the demonstration indicated a "joint conspiracy". "[It's] a violation of people's right of expression," he said. Meanchey district deputy governor Bi Nay, said authorities were forced to break up the demonstration because the road block had caused a serious traffic jam. "Workers have the right to hold demonstrations but they have no right to block National Road Number 2," he said. "It is what the authorities have to do to quell [the demonstration] in order to stop the traffic jam."  |
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