KI Media: “KHMERICAN by Aida Nejad” plus 24 more

KHMERICAN BY AIDA NEJAD from Phatry Derek Pan on Vimeo.

My article last week on the Khmer-Thai border gunfight over the Preah Vihear temple ruins was posted on the Khmer blog KI Media. Expectedly, it brought out a wave of Greek philosopher Plato's mythical Gyges ring wearers, with noisy anonymous comments that lashed out against the Thai "invaders."

Unsurprisingly, some placed me on the side of the Khmers' historical enemy, the Thai "thieves," because I mentioned the 4.6 square kilometers around the temple as the disputed area. The Khmer wife of an American friend branded me in an e-mail as a "crocodile losing his way in the lake" -- I am ungrateful to the land of my birth to side with the enemy.

There's no disputed area, my critics say, only Khmer land wanted by the Thais -- the party line. Premier Hun Sen should be happy; he wants the conflict on the western border to distract the people from the more significant encroachment by the Vietnamese on the eastern flank.

As humans, we are generally predisposed to see things or other people in a certain way, positively or negatively, as our perceptions are affected by information, values, beliefs and experiences, direct and indirect. It's a mental prejudgment. With it, we stereotype, generalize and oversimplify. A negative predisposition stigmatizes and discriminates.

Speaker, author and workshop facilitator Leslie Aguilar advised in "Ouch! That Stereotype Hurts," to pay attention to our words and behavior; that this is more than being politically correct; it's about being "professionally competent," "personally conscious." She wrote: "It's about respect."

The bloggers who demonize those they don't like have used profanity and racial slurs, and say this is a free country. Gone are the Buddhist precepts of compassion, harmony, and peace.

"Samdei sar jiat," a Khmer saying goes -- literally, "words reflect race"-- how we use our words in our speech reflects our racial and ethnic prejudices.

The Foundation of Critical Thinking, which seeks to educate and cultivate "fair-minded critical thinking," teaches: "Much of our thinking, left to itself, is biased, distorted, partial, uninformed, or downright prejudiced."

We all can think. In a free society we're free to think and free to express, though freedom is not absolute. The foundation says not all thinking is of the same quality, and advocates "high-quality thinking" that comprises two inseparable elements: creativity and criticality, or to assess and evaluate to understand if what was created is leading to the desired goal, with improvement as a purpose.

Creativity and criticality do not conform with Khmer traditions and Khmers' learning.

Since the time of the early Khmer Empire, Khmers learned to "korup, bamroer, kaowd khlach, smoh trang" -- "respect, serve, admire, fear, be faithful/loyal" -- to the god-kings and other authorities. Khmers' contemporary blind and irrational obedience to political figures and political power is the heritage of that culture.

Cambodians follow their leaders, even into the abyss. Ideas and ideals are secondary; creativity and innovation are a threat; criticality is not an assessment but a denunciation.

Thankfully, other bloggers encouraged that I continue to urge readers to reflect and learn. One reader asked me to write in Khmer. The writer fears Khmer readers missed my points. I don't write for Khmers but for all audiences.

On Feb. 22, the Voice of America broadcasted that Cambodian analysts in Phnom Penh say the Khmer-Thai border dispute can't be resolved without International Court of Justice clarification. The VOA said a court official confirmed it won't clarify or reinterpret its verdict on Preah Vihear, made in 1962, without a request from the disputed parties.

Two days later, the VOA reported, Cambodia's news agency quoted Hun Sen as saying Cambodia has sent an official request to the ICJ to clarify its verdict.

I received in my e-mail a Khmer academic's letter to the Phnom Penh Post, charging its former editor, Michael Hayes, with being "a spin doctor for Thailand" because of Hayes's piece, "The view from Cambodia" -- which I thought was as anti-Thai and pro-Cambodia as a Cambodian partisan wants to see it.

Ringing in my ears were the words of French playwright Victor Hugo: "Strong and bitter words indicate a weak cause."

Some Khmer expatriates circulated petitions denouncing the Thais; demonstrators in some cities condemned the Thai "invasion."

It's impressive that Hun Sen ignited successfully Cambodians' anger against the Thais. But anti-Thai Cambodians are silent on the historically imperialistic expansionist-annexationist Vietnamese, who installed Hun Sen as premier in 1985, and with whom Hun Sen will produce a new map of Cambodia.

He and his ruling party have allowed hundreds of thousands of Vietnam's immigrants to settle, work and vote in Cambodia.

Complicating the matter, Hun Sen is backed by the King Father and the King Father's son, the current king, who signed the 2005 supplements to the unequal 1979 Treaty of Peace, Friendship, and Cooperation with Vietnam, as his father had wanted.

One day, the Vietnamese and the Thais will connect at Cambodia's western border.

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

peangmeth@yahoo.com.

Military attachés from more than 10 embassies in Phnom Penh will visit the Preah Vihear temple and the surrounding border area tomorrow, a military spokesperson told The Post today.

"We will show the delegation the damages, which were caused by shooting from mortar shells from Thailand during the fighting from February 4 to 7," said Lieutenant General Chhum Socheat, spokesman for the Ministry of Defence.

Chhum Socheat said the Ministry of Defence would lead the delegation, which he added follows on the heels of a similar visit by military attachés to the Thai side of the border organised by the Thai military.

Koichiro Matsuura, a former Director-General of UNESCO who was named as a special envoy for the purpose of addressing the bilateral dispute, visited Bangkok and Phnom Penh, but delayed a scheduled trip to the temple.

Chuch Phoeurn, chairman of the Preah Vihear National Authority, said Matsuura would visit after the arrival of military observers from Indonesia.

Cambodian and Thailand agreed in Jakarta last month to allow 30 Indonesian military observers, 15 on each side of the border, to monitor the situation.

Prior to the agreement, Cambodia had requested peacekeepers under the auspices of the United Nations or ASEAN, while Thailand had said it would reject any third-party intervention.

The Bangkok Post quoted Thai army commander-in-chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha today saying that the army would restrict the access of the military observers.

"We will have to restrict their access to classified information at some level. We are not going to let them see everything,'' Gen Prayuth said.

"I want it [the Thai-Cambodian border conflict] to remain a bilateral issue and do not want any third country to step in, therefore imposing limits on access is needed."

Chhum Socheat pledged that no such restrictions would be placed on Indonesian observers by the Cambodian government.

"We don't have any conditions, they can do everything and go everywhere," he said.

Matsuura departed Phnom Penh today following meetings with Prime Minister Hun Sen and Deputy Prime Minister Sok An to discuss the conflict and damage to the Preah Vihear temple, and said the talks would continue.

"It's a very fruitful mission… I am very happy about that," he told reporters at Phnom Penh International Airport before leaving for Japan.

"We have something that UNESCO has to discuss further with the Cambodian government," Matsuura said, but declined to elaborate.

Ek Tha, deputy director of the Press and Quick Reactions Unit at the Council of Ministers, said today that Sok An met on Monday night with diplomats from Barbados, Mali, Ethiopia and Nigeria, all of which are members of the World Heritage Committee.

Cambodia's highest court on Tuesday upheld a two-year jail term imposed on the exiled leader of the opposition, Sam Rainsy. The verdict came after he uprooted border markers on the country's boundary with Vietnam more than a year ago, claiming Cambodian farmers were losing land to their more powerful neighbor.

Judges at the Supreme Court said Tuesday that opposition leader Sam Rainsy must serve the two-year sentence that was handed down last year by a lower court.

Sam Rainsy, who lives in self-imposed exile in France, was convicted of racial incitement and damaging public property in the October 2009 incident on the border with neighboring Vietnam.

Senior members of the Sam Rainsy Party, or SRP, said on Tuesday the verdict had come as little surprise. One of them, veteran SRP legislator Son Chhay, says the courts are there to do the bidding of the ruling party.

"We all predicted the Supreme Court will maintain the verdict to send Sam Rainsy to two years in prison," he says. "And we have no hope that the judicial system in Cambodia or the court itself will be able to make any reform to gain some confidence from the public in any near future."

The ruling party's motive, says Son Chhay, is to ensure that Sam Rainsy is unable to take part in the next election, which is scheduled for 2013.

As matters stand with Tuesday's ruling, there is little chance that Sam Rainsy can now participate, unless, that is, a political compromise can be reached.

Son Chhay says the international community, which has invested billions of dollars in Cambodia's political stability, has failed to grasp the seriousness of the situation.

"They seem to be being fooled that the case of Sam Rainsy is an individual case, that it isn't reflecting the whole need for maintaining the democratic environment in the country," he says. "That is a big mistake, the donors, especially the Western countries, who have provided so much assistance to Cambodia, should look into the issue of Sam Rainsy more seriously."

During his recent trip to Phnom Penh, the United Nations human rights envoy Surya Subedi said public figures should become more tolerant and should stop using the courts against their critics.

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy faces more legal problems.

Last year, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison after he displayed a map at a press conference that the government claimed misrepresented the border between Vietnam and Cambodia.

At the time, the government said that his actions amounted to disinformation and the falsifying of public documents.

The issue of the country's border with Vietnam is a sensitive one for the government. Prime Minister Hun Sen maintains close relations with Hanoi, and many Cambodians are distrustful of their more powerful neighbor.

Cambodia's textile and garment exports rose 25.2% in 2010, largely due to the global economic recovery in major markets like the US, which is its biggest customer.

Figures released by the Cambodian Ministry of Commerce (MOC) show the country's textile and clothing exports reached $2.98bn in the year. Shipments to the US were $2bn, while the EU stood at $750m.

According to Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC), exports are likely to rise again in 2011 as a result of the preferential tax treatment for shipments to the EU market recently introduced under the Generalized System of preferences (GSP), as well as bilateral free trade agreements.

"The growth is in line with global economic recovery," Ken Loo, secretary general of GMAC, told just-style.

"The prospects for 2011 remain positive due to the new EU GSP rules of origin, as well as increased trade with Japan and China under the ASEAN-Japan and ASEAN- China FTA."

The Cambodian industry spent $2.174bn in 2010 on importing raw materials for local production - a year-on-year rise of 44.2%.

Health authorities are on high alert for bird flu along the Thai-Cambodian border after two Cambodians were reported to have died of the avian virus, Public Health Ministry permanent secretary Paijit Warachit said on Tuesday.

The two confirmed cases were a 21-year-old mother and her 11-month son.

They were sent for hospitalisation at Mongkolburi Hospital in Cambodia's Banteay Meanchey province after they showed flu-like symptoms after eating a chicken that had bird flu.

The mother died on Feb 13 and the son died on Feb 15, Mr Paijit said .

Thai health authorities were closely monitoring the outbreak along the border. So far there was no report of any poultry having died of the H5N1 strain of the virus in Sa Kaew province, close to the Cambodian outbreak, he said.

Three Cambodians are now reported to have died in the latest outbreak of bird flu, according to the World Health Organisation report as of Feb 28.

There has not been a human bird flu case in Thailand since July 2006. A total of 27 cases were confirmed, with 17 deaths reported, during a series of bird flu outbreaks from 2004 to 2006.

A landmark agreement among ASEAN foreign ministers meeting in Jakarta on 22nd February to send a small team of up to forty Indonesian civilian and military observers to a disputed area along the Thai Cambodian border has not only helped prevent continued fighting between Thai and Cambodian forces, but also potentially given a boost to ASEAN's long term capacity to manage internal conflict.

Limited as the observer mission's terms of reference will be, few observers imagined such an outcome possible just a few weeks earlier when military forces clashed over a 4 square kilometer piece of land surrounding a Hindu temple that straddles the border. Cambodia called for UN intervention and took the issue to the United Nations Security Council, whilst Thailand insisted that the dispute could be settled bilaterally and rejected ASEAN's overtures of help.

Indonesia as ASEAN Chair took the lead in pressing the case for ASEAN assistance to help resolve the dispute. Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa mobilized swiftly, travelling to Phnom Penh and Bangkok as fighting continued along the border in early February. He also accompanied the foreign ministers of both countries at a UN Security Council Meeting convened on the dispute in mid-February.

The UNSC in effect referred the dispute back to ASEAN, which paved the way for a meeting of ASEAN Foreign ministers in Jakarta on the 22nd.

The level of international concern and attention turned the spotlight on ASEAN, which despite provisions for internal dispute settlement embedded in bedrock treaties, has never successfully established a formal mechanism for resolving internal conflict between member states.

Fortunately for ASEAN, the foreign ministers were able to agree on a tangible outcome. Indonesia was asked to send a team of civilian and military observers to the area. In addition, the ministers offered to assist bilateral negotiations between the two countries. Significantly, the move was widely applauded by ASEAN's dialogue partners, including China.

Critics might say that this amounts to another ad hoc arrangement, and will watch closely to see if ASEAN builds on these developments to move towards more formal structures and mechanisms. Indonesia for example has long advocated a formal peacekeeping force on standby to deal with just such a crisis. The argument is that without formal structures and mechanisms in place, it takes too long to mobilize and act, allowing the conflict to escalate.

Realistically, however, ASEAN member states won't support the kinds of elaborate formal structures for conflict management that, for example, the African Union has in place. Nor is there an appetite for strengthening the security functions of the secretariat. ASEAN must therefore move cautiously.

On the other hand, the Thai Cambodian crisis has underscored the threat of internal conflict, and Indonesia's chairmanship of ASEAN this year offers a real opportunity to begin thinking about how ASEAN can grapple with its security issues within acceptable parameters.

In this respect, precedent does provide some momentum. The idea of sending observers from one ASEAN country to another grew out of Indonesia's earlier experience with ASEAN military monitors in Aceh, under the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement brokered by the HD Centre between the Indonesian Government an the Free Aceh Movement in 2003. Thai military personnel also joined an earlier monitoring mission to East Timor before independence. These light peace-monitoring rather than peace-keeping missions have helped generate confidence that military officials from neighbouring countries can help on the ground without violating sovereignty.

Nor was it possible for Thailand to realistically resist ASEAN's offer to help, when Thailand has long been an advocate of ASEAN assistance to help Myanmar deal with its own internal conflict. Now Thailand joins Indonesia as a sizable member state that has called on its neighbours to help, which will reinforce and support future ASEAN collective action.

There is a long way to go before ASEAN can boast a robust and effective response to internal conflict within the ten-nation association. But given how close two neighbouring ASEAN states came to a war along their common border, there is now no longer any doubt about the need for a more effective mechanism to defuse and settle conflict. And it's not as if ASEAN will be doing anything that requires major negotiation or agreement between member states. The ASEAN Political-Security Community Blueprint, formally adopted at the 14th ASEAN Summit in 2009, calls for the strengthening of existing mechanisms for the settlement of disputes. It also urges the development of ASEAN modalities for good offices, conciliation and mediation.

MANILA, Philippines — Ilocos Norte Rep. Imelda Romualdez-Marcos has filed a motion before the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division seeking the court's permission for her five-day official trip to Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Robert Sison, Marcos counsel, said that the 81-year-old widow of former President Ferdinand Marcos is part of the country's three-member delegation to the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) Seminar on "Accelerating the Achievement of MDG-5, through the Role of Women Parliamentarians" to be held on March 9 to 12, 2011 at the Inter-continental Hotel in Phnom Penh.

Rep. Marcos is required to secure a travel permit each time she has to leave the country because of her 10 remaining active graft cases before the Sandiganbayan.

The cases involve allegations that she held financial interests in secret foundations and private enterprises while she was a member of the Interim Batasang Pambansa from 1978 to 1984.

Mrs. Marcos complained about the slow proceedings in her cases noting that she was only 56 years old when the charges were filed against her in 1986.

She said years of litigation have also drained her resources so that she now has to withdraw from her husband's pension at Veterans Bank to be able to put up the P750,00 travel bonds required by the graft court.

For this trip, however, it is the House of Representatives that will pay for airfare and daily allowances of the country's delegation. The host country, on the other hand, will cover their hotel accommodations.

Mrs. Marcos is serving a new three-year term as a member of the Lower House having previously served a single-term as congresswoman of her native province Leyte in 1995.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMHOpGJAhJ8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHzk4th_XUo

JAKARTA, Mar 01, 2011 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia has positively responded on terms of reference (TOR) on observation about its dispute with Thailand, Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said here on Tuesday.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa told reporters that on behalf of chairman of the Association of Southeast Asia Nations, Indonesia will send observation teams to both sides to assess the border situation. "We have sent the TOR last week and Cambodia has responded positively. Now, we are waiting for Thailand's response," said Natalegawa.

According to him, Indonesia has established two teams consisting of 30 officials.

"We prepared 15 officials to observe in situation in Thailand' s side, namely the Indonesian Observer Team-Thailand and to the other side, we will send the Indonesian Observer Team-Cambodia," he said.

He said that the team will move after any agreement made by the two sides.

The two countries have the border conflict just a week after Cambodia's Preah Vihear temple was enlisted as World Heritage Site on July 7, 2008, since then periodic clashes between both sides' troops happened, resulted in the deaths of troops on both sides.

The latest clashes, on Feb. 4-7, killed and wounded many soldiers and citizens of both sides, and caused tens of thousands of the two countries' villagers nearby the disputed areas fleeing for safe shelters.

The dictator, who insisted on making his claims in sometimes faltering English, strongly denied his regime was falling, saying: "No demonstrations at all in the streets. No one is against us. Against me for what? Because I am not president. They love me, all my people with me. They love me all. They will die to protect me, my people."

Asked if he could conceive of using chemical weapons, he said: "We got rid of all that. This is a thing of the past and we have already finished this.

"Is it reasonable that any sensible man would use such a weapon against even his own enemy, let alone his own people?"

He also accused the US of failing to protect his country against "terrorists", adding: "It is betrayal, they have no morals. I'm surprised that we have an alliance with the West to fight al-Qaeda, and now that we are fighting terrorists they have abandoned us.

"Perhaps they want to occupy Libya?"

The Libyan leader, who repeatedly broke out in laughter during the interview, said he would "put two fingers in their eye" of anyone who suggested he had salted money away in foreign countries.

During the interview with the BBC, which took place in a restaurant in Tripoli, Gaddafi blamed outsiders for the civil turmoil, adding: "It's al-Qaeda. They went into military bases and siezed arms and terrorised the people.

"The people who had the weapons were youngsters and they're starting to put down their weapons now as the drugs that al-Qaeda gave them wear off."

He previously claimed that al-Qaeda had drugged demonstrators by spiking their "Nescafe".

Mr Bowen said Gaddafi had seemed relaxed throughout the interview.

He said: "He laughed quite a bit when asked various questions. He seemed very unconcerned about foreign pressure, saying the Libyan people were behind him, the Libyan people loved him."

Taipei, Mar. 1 (CNA) A Taiwanese group dedicated to fighting human trafficking and sexual abuse has established a women's shelter in Cambodia, a country known for commercial sex exploitation, one of the organization's executives said at the launch ceremony Tuesday.

The Pleroma Home for Girls in Phnom Penh will serve as both a shelter and school for girls under 18 and offer sex trafficking victims counseling and career training, said Lily Lee, the project manager and a board member of the Taipei-based Garden of Hope Foundation's branch in New York.

Citing a study done in 2007, Lee said an estimated 80,000 to 100,000 women -- 80 percent of whom are under 18 -- are involved in the sex trafficking trade in Cambodia, a problem that required attention.

"Most girls are involved in the sex business because of poverty, and statistics show that 31 percent of the girls are illiterate, " the project manager said, highlighting education as an important means to finding a solution.

"The situation in Cambodia is like that in Taiwan 20 years ago when women's rights were trampled on and overlooked, " said Chi Hui-jung, the foundation's chief executive officer.

The foundation, which is dedicated to helping victims of the sex industry, sexual abuse, and family violence, has accumulated a wealth of experience in helping female victims in its 23 years, Chi said, and was willing to transfer the knowledge to help the women of Cambodia.

The Pleroma Home, run by staff members trained by the foundation, is expected to take in 10 to 15 girls in the near future.

The long-term goal would be to establish a local girls' school, Lee added.

Though Cambodia has no diplomatic ties with Taiwan, the government is working closely with local NGOs to promote international exchanges, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), which is funding the transnational shelter project.

A representative of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) who was present at the ceremony applauded the foundation's effort in battling sexual exploitation and called for everyone to act against it.

The U.S.-based Chinese Christian Herald Crusades and Fullness in Christ Fellowship in the United States are also participating in the project.

ENOUGH! ENOUGH! ENOUGH! Of political stupidity! Of the corrupt, inept, idiotic judiciary in flowing robes to hide the ugliness of their hearts, of their minds, of their corruption! SHAME ! SHAME ! SHAME ! WHEN (NOT "if") the tide of social revolution sweeps Cambodia, these corrupt, incompetent, shameless judges must be tried for their moral crimes of COWARDICE and political crimes of aiding and abetting the convictions of innocent Cambodians, including the democracy opposition leader Sam Rainsy! You will hear from us, the Cambodian people! Be warned.

In the meantime, a special gift for you to remind you of us and our promise:

Cambodia's top court rejects appeal by country's exiled opposition leader

Phnom Penh - Cambodia's Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a two-year jail sentence against exiled opposition leader Sam Rainsy for tampering with demarcation posts on the border with Vietnam.

The ruling confirmed the judgement of a lower court last year, which convicted Sam Rainsy of racial incitement and damaging public property after he uprooted several border markers.

Sam Rainsy's lawyer, Choung Chou Ngy, condemned Tuesday's ruling.

'It is not fair - I think this is a political case, not a penal case,' he told the German Press Agency dpa.

Sam Rainsy currently lives in exile in France.

Mu Sochua, a prominent parliamentarian with the opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP), said Tuesday the ruling was predictable since it had come from a judicial system 'totally shaped to silence the opposition.'

'We continue to condemn the form and quality of justice in Cambodia, because the courts are used as a political tool against Mr Sam Rainsy as well as other activists who are not in favour of the policies of the government,' she said.

Mu Sochua, who lost a defamation case against Prime Minister Hun Sen last year, has yet to have her parliamentary immunity restored.

The SRP has charged that the land rights of Cambodian farmers living near the Vietnam border were not being respected in the ongoing process to demarcate the 1,270-kilometre border. The process is scheduled to be completed by 2012.

The incident riled Hanoi, which is a close ally of Hun Sen's government. Vietnam has significant interests in agribusiness, aviation, telecommunications and banking in Cambodia.

The judiciary has long been criticized as being a pawn of the ruling party.

Last June, the United Nations human rights envoy, Surya Subedi, said some judges were not interested in upholding the law. The courts faced 'tremendous challenges in delivering justice for the people of the country, especially the poor and marginalized,' he said.

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - Cambodia's top court has rejected an appeal by the country's exiled opposition leader, who was sentenced to two years in jail for uprooting border markers with Vietnam.

Sam Rainsy, who is living in exile in Paris, was convicted in January 2010 for leading a political protest to pull up the border markers to garner public support and boost his claim that Vietnam is encroaching on Cambodian territory.

Judge Khim Pon rejected his appeal Tuesday, saying the verdict reached earlier by a lower court was valid.

Rainsy was also sentenced separately last year to 10 years in prison for spreading false information about the border dispute.

Critics say the issue is an example of the intimidation of opponents by the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen.

BRILLIANT ! BRILLIANT ! Every leader, particular Cambodian leader (in government, in civil society, in business, at home etc.) should listen and learn. We are a naysaying society, so we need to pay particular attention and reflectively ask "Do we want to move from this 'No' to a 'Yes' in a conflict?" Worth every second of the 18 minutes. It's a video to store away to watch once a month.

William L. Ury co-founded Harvard's Program on Negotiation and is currently a Senior Fellow of the Harvard Negotiation Project. He is the author of The Power of a Positive No: How to Say No & Still Get to Yes, and co-author (with Roger Fisher) of Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In, translated into 30+ languages. He is also author of the award-winning Getting Past No: Negotiating with Difficult People and Getting To Peace (released in paperback under the title The Third Side).

Over the last 30 years, Ury has served as a negotiation adviser and mediator in conflicts ranging from corporate mergers to wildcat strikes in a Kentucky coal mine to ethnic wars in the Middle East, the Balkans, and the former Soviet Union. With former president Jimmy Carter, he co- founded the International Negotiation Network, a non-governmental body seeking to end civil wars around the world. During the 1980s, he helped the US and Soviet governments create nuclear crisis centers designed to avert an accidental nuclear war. In that capacity, he served as a consultant to the Crisis Management Center at the White House. More recently, Ury has served as a third party in helping to end a civil war in Aceh, Indonesia, and helping to prevent one in Venezuela.

Ury has taught negotiation to tens of thousands of corporate executives, labor leaders, diplomats and military officers around the world. He helps organizations try to reach mutually profitable agreements with customers, suppliers, unions, and joint-venture partners.

Cambodian government officials rejected news about bilateral border negotiations between Cambodia and Thailand on 07-08 March in Indonesia. The news was announced by Thai PM Abhisit Vejjajiva. Senior minister Var Kim Hong, chairman of the Cambodian government border committee, indicated that the claim made by Thailand on the border meeting is nothing more than a subterfuge to fool the international opinion. Var Kim Hong declared that the reason Thailand made this claim was to show that the bilateral mechanism to resolve the border dispute between the two countries is still under way. However, in reality, the bilateral mechanism between the two countries on border problems cannot take place because the Thai parliament refused to ratify 3 documents to that effect.

Jake Shimabukuro

I was asked to reassess the travel tours in the former French Indochina on behalf of a low cost operator tour. Fascinated by the idea of discovering these countries, I was left with a simple backpack that day when I was assigned this mission.

Halong Bay was the first destination, where I surprisingly met Bopha, her Cambodian name, a lovely girl, a resident of Phnom Penh. She was my girl friend when she came to study in France. After spending a night together at the hotel, she accepted to be my guide. She became my interpreter. She speaks fluently Vietnamese and Khmer.

She has a good proficiency in French and English. She took me to the places where beauty is subliminal. I was really fascinated by the charm and the magnificent softness of this place. As prescribed in my specifications, I also had to go to Cambodia to assess the routes and locations to offer customers of the tour operator. Always accompanied by my guide who goes home in Phnom Penh, I was surprised by large movements back and forth across the Vietnam-Cambodia border.

With my many years of experience and having travelled far more distant lands, I have never seen a country where border control is lax, not to say non-existent. Flows of goods, and incoming and outgoing movements of Vietnamese in Cambodia are countless. Surprised to see all this traffic, I asked Bopha: "what makes so many people come and go there?". She answered with smile: "Cambodia is a paradise for us".

After crossing the border, we travel on our way to Phnom Penh, where I was received by the family of Bopha. Bopha's father had come from Vietnam and moved to Cambodia in 1982. He was a part of the Vietnamese state apparatus settled in Cambodia by the Vietnamese government. He receives about $ 5,000 per month from the Vietnamese government to conduct missions in Cambodia.

The same as Bopha's father, many Vietnamese remained in Cambodia after the withdrawal of the Vietnamese troops in 1989. All occupied a position either within the government of Hun Sen or in the booming business of the country. Bopha and her brothers and sisters, all born in Vietnam, have been educated at the University of Phnom Penh, she said. One of her brothers came to study in France.

Bopha and her parents hosted a festive evening in my honor. I was deeply moved. I could not forget their warm hospitality and kindness. The next day I returned to my work by visiting Phnom Penh. I was very struck by an immense contrast between a wealthy minority driving very new beautiful brand 4x4 cars and a majority of the population living in a kind of huts with a very condition.

One evening, Bopha suggested me to make a night-trip with her. We go bars and restaurants the most expensive in the Cambodian capital. There, I saw young people spending money without counting. The money keeps flowing. Bopha explained me that these young people are from the ruling class in Phnum Penh.

Leaving the bar, we were passing one of the villas that belongs to one of the top generals of Hun Sen, Ke Kim Yan. Bopha told me that one of his children has just got married, in late January, 2011, to one of the daughters of a senior military man, who had led the tanks to eradicate, in July, 1997 the military supporters of the royal party.

Among the guests at the wedding, were Hun Sen, himself, Sok An, and several other senior government officials of Cambodia, she said. These people have the greatest fortunes in Cambodia. They have spent over 200,000 dollars just for the bouquet of flowers and other decoration, over 500,000 worth of diamond finery.

The newlyweds received a wedding gift a beautiful house with a golf course. I was wondering, given their large villas very secure, where their fortune comes from? The country seems so poor. Large part of population lives in rural areas in a kind of hut which would not certainly resist the blow of violent wind.

After this night-visit in Phnom Penh which a little shook my consciousness, I asked Bopha if she could accompany me to Siem Reap. On the road, Bopha explained me that everything is easy for us here in Cambodia. The Cambodian leaders are gullible, uncultivated and uneducated. She says that "we just need to let them cover the front of the political scene and let them drown themselves in the thirst of the power and the money". After that, we can do all what we want to do. Sometimes, our leaders come to visit these Cambodian leaders when they are sick.

Bopha reassures me that she was very interested to work with my tour operator. When we arrived in Siem Reap, she introduced me to some of the managers of the hotels there. The way she talks with them makes me think they know each other very well. One of them offered me a night in his hotel. Bopha went back Phnom Penh at the evening. We promised each other to keep in touch for the travel project. She gave me the address of her father's brother who lives in Laos. The next day, I took a day to discover the city of Siem Reap before continuing on my way to Laos. I met few people working for NGOs. They told me about things that are totally invisible in the eyes of uninformed visitors further information additionally to all what the Bopha told me.

Surprised by the quiet unconsciousness of the Cambodian leaders of such an important national problem, I decided to provide my testimony in honor of the poor but always smiling people I met during my trip.

Jean Claude SANTERRE

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Qui Gouverne le Cambodge ?

J'ai été chargé de requalifier les circuits de voyages en ex-Indochine française pour le compte d'un voyagiste low cost.

Enchanté par l'idée de découvrir ces pays, j'étais parti avec un simple sac à dos le jour même lorsqu'on m'a confié cette mission. La baie d'along était le premier de destination, où j'ai rencontré, avec surprise, Bopha, de son prénom cambodgien, une charmante fille, une habitante de Phnom Penh. Elle était mon amie lorsqu'elle était venue étudier à Paris. Après avoir passé une nuit ensemble à l'hôtel, elle s'est proposée de devenir mon guide. Elle était devenue mon interprète. Elle parle couramment le Vietnamien et le Khmer. Elle a une très bonne maîtrise du Français et de l'Anglais. Elle m'a fait découvrir des endroits dont la beauté est subliminale. J'ai été vraiment fasciné par le charme et la douceur de cette région magnifique.

Comme prescrit dans mon cahier des charges, je devais aussi parcourir le Cambodge pour d'évaluer des itinéraires et des endroits à proposer aux clients du voyagiste. Toujours accompagné par mon charmant guide qui rentre chez elle à Phnom Penh, j'ai été surpris par d'importants mouvements de va et vient à la frontière Vietnam-Cambodge. Fort de mon expérience de plusieurs années et ayant jusque là parcouru plusieurs contrées lointaines, je n'ai jamais vu de pays où le contrôle frontalier est aussi laxiste, pour ne pas dire inexistant. Les flux de marchandises et de Vietnamiens rentrant et sortant du Cambodge sont impressionnants. Etonné de voir tous ces trafics, j'ai demandé à mon guide : « qu'est ce qu'il fait qu'il y a autant de gens qui font le va et vient ? ». Elle m'a répondu avec sourire : « le Cambodge est un eldorado pour nous ».

Après avoir franchi la frontière, nous parcourons notre route jusqu'à Phnom Penh, où j'ai été reçu par la famille de Bopha. Le père de Bopha était venu du Vietnam pour s'installer au Cambodge en 1982. Il faisait partie de l'appareil d'état vietnamien parachuté au Cambodge par le gouvernement vietnamien. Il reçoit environ 5 000 dollars par mois du gouvernement vietnamien pour mener des missions au Cambodge. Comme le père de Bopha, beaucoup de Vietnamiens sont restés au Cambodge après le retrait de la troupe vietnamienne en 1989. Tous occupent un poste soit au sein du gouvernement de Hun Sen soit dans les affaires florissantes du pays. Bopha, et ses frères et sœurs, tous nés au Vietnam, ont fait leur scolarisés à l'université de Phnom Penh, m'a-t-elle dit. Un de ses frères est venu étudier en France.

Bopha et ses parents ont organisé une soirée festive en mon honneur. Ce qui m'a beaucoup ému. Je ne pourrais oublier leur chaleureux accueil et gentillesse. Le lendemain, je reprends mon travail en visitant Phnom Penh. J'ai été fort frappé par l'immense contraste entre une minorité très fortunée roulant avec de très belles voitures 4x4 flambantes neuves et une majorité de la population qui vit dans une sorte de cabanes délabrées avec des moyens très rudimentaires.

Un soir Bopha m'a proposé de faire une virée nocturne avec elle. Nous avons fréquenté des bars-restaurants les plus huppés de la capitale cambodgienne. Là, j'ai vu des jeunes dépenser de l'argent sans compter. L'argent coule à flot. Bopha m'a expliqué que ces jeunes sont issus de la classe dirigeante à Phnom Penh.

En sortant d'un bar, nous étions passés devant une des villas appartenant à un des hauts généraux de Hun Sen, Ke Kim Yan. Bopha m'a dit qu'un de ses enfants vient de se marier, fin janvier 2011, avec une des filles d'un militaire de haut rang, celui qui avait conduit les tanks pour museler en juillet 1997 les militaires partisans du parti royal. Parmi les convives à ce mariage, figuraient Hun Sen, lui-même, Sok An, et les quelques autres hauts responsables du gouvernement cambodgien, m'a-t-elle dit. Ces gens détiennent les plus grandes fortunes du Cambodge. Ils ont dépensé plus de 200 000 de dollars rien que pour le bouquet de fleurs de la mariée et autres décoration, plus de 500 000 de dollars de parure en diamant. Les mariés ont reçu en cadeau de mariage une superbe maison avec un terrain de golf. Je me demandais, au vu de leurs grandes villas très sécurisées, d'où vient leur fortune aussi importante. Le pays paraît si pauvre. Une grande partie de la population vit dans les campagnes dans un semblant de maisons qui ne résisterait sûrement pas au coup de vents violents.

Après cette visite nocturne à Phnom Penh qui a quelque peu secoué ma conscience, j'ai demandé à Bopha si elle pouvait m'accompagner à Siem Reap. Sur la route, Bopha m'a expliqué que tout est facile ici au Cambodge. Les dirigeants cambodgiens sont crédules, incultes et sous-éduqués. Elle dit qu'il « suffit de leur laisser couvrir le devant de la scène politique et les laisser se noyer dans la soif du pouvoir et de l'argent. Des hauts responsables de l'armée du Vietnam viennent de temps en temps rendre visite aux dirigeants cambodgiens lorsqu'ils sont malades ».

Bopha me rassure qu'elle était très intéressée de travailler avec mon voyagiste. Lorsque nous sommes arrivés à Siem Reap, elle m'a présenté aux responsables de la plupart d'hôtels. La façon dont elle parle avec eux me laisse penser qu'ils se connaissent très bien. L'un d'entre eux m'a proposé une nuit dans son hôtel. Bopha est repartie le soir même à Phnom Penh. On s'est promis de se tenir informé de la suite du projet de circuit de voyage. Avant de partir, Bopha m'a donné l'adresse d'un des frères de son père qui habite au Laos. Le lendemain, j'ai profité d'une journée pour découvrir la ville de Siem Reap avant de poursuivre mon chemin au Laos. J'avais rencontré par hasard quelques personnes travaillant pour des ONG. Elles m'ont raconté des choses totalement imperceptibles aux yeux des visiteurs non avertis qui complètent encore les propos de Bopha.

Frappé par l'inconscience sans commune mesure des dirigeants cambodgiens face à un problème aussi important, j'ai décidé d'apporter mon témoignage en l'honneur des pauvres gens mais toujours souriants que j'avais croisés lors de mon voyage.