KI Media: “Speak Truth To Power (“Courage without Borders”) Series - Wangari Maathai (Kenya) “Women and the Environment”” plus 15 more

Originally posted at: http://bboy-everythingkhmer.blogspot.com

I have been offered a new position in OHCHR in Geneva. This is not a sudden decision.... I began to apply for positions in April last year, for family reasons because my children are going to enter university next year and I want to be in Europe at that time.

In the meanwhile, [there is also] the tension with the Government as a reason over the statements that we issued in July.

One was my comment to The Cambodia Daily, in response to their request, regarding the illegal extradition of the two Thai Red Shirts [activists wanted by Thailand for suspected involvement in a bombing].

That created a lot of irritation in the Foreign Ministry. You remember the public letter from the foreign minister against me warning me that my position would be reconsidered if I did it again.

A week later there was another statement, issued this time by the spokesperson of the high commissioner in Geneva, in relation to the human rights implication of the [opposition Sam Rainsy Party lawmaker] Mu Sochua defamation case [brought by Prime Minister Hun Sen].

That was quite a fairly straightforward statement, but I think the combination of these statements have provoked the anger of the government, probably of the Prime Minister, and as a result they have requested my removal to the [UN] high commissioner [for human rights Pillay]. That was in August, and the high commissioner declined on the ground that there was not sufficiently good reasons for that, and expressed complete confidence and support in me.

The matter rose again when the secretary general met the Prime Minister here and the Prime Minister brought the matter up during the meeting and requested the secretary general to remove me, and the secretary general stood by the high commissioner position.

As a result I have been internally [persona non grata] in the sense that there was a note sent [by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs] to all government officials in the ministries to cease to recognise me and cease cooperation with me. And that was in November. Since then all government officials have been reluctant to meet me.

Cooperation with the office has more or less continued. In some ways it has been affected, but we have been able to reestablish in most cases normal cooperation. But the instruction was clear: You don't meet Peschoux.

And they have not met me, which, as you can understand, has made my life quite difficult because I have premised the approach and the work of this office on dialogue and cooperation.

Then there is this political logic ... that it was time for me to move. So these factors accelerated the decision process but [have] not affected it significantly. In the course of the year I would have left irrespective of whether there were tensions with the government.

I have worked many years in this country and in this region, and I have learned a number of things. Face is important here – public face. And public controversy, public confrontation, is counterproductive.

And the response to that question is that you have to engage with the powers that be.

[Another] lesson is that in Cambodia as in other countries of the region ... a lot of things can be said if they are said between four eyes. In other words, confidential discussion of issues of concern is much better accepted if it is done with a care not to make your interlocutor lose face.

So having learned these lessons when I arrived here, I explained to my interlocutors in the Government that I wouldn't dialogue with them through the media.

But I've told them at the same time, we will have confidential dialogue, but the condition is that your door has to be open and that you are willing to listen to what we are saying, because when we will be bringing issues of concern to you, they will be well-documented; they will be well thought-out; we will have conducted a legal analysis; and we will come up with ideas for a solution.

These were the main elements of my approach, and we have built relationships with various institutions in the Government on these premises. And I think so far it has worked well. It has not worked everywhere. But frankly after four years of testing this approach in this country, I can't see any other way to further our protection objectives and to have an impact, because what we are after is to have an impact.

Against this background, I have not completely abandoned public advocacy. But we have used public advocacy only when we feel that there is either no dialogue going on with the Government, because there is no willingness to address these issues, or there is an emergency situation and we have no time to engage in dialogue.

I always quote our prison programme, because this is a programme that we have jointly developed with the Ministry of Interior. This is a programme where there is a willingness to reform the institution but there is a lack of know-how.

We had visited several prisons, and a recurring theme coming out from prisoners, but also from staff and the directors of the prisons, was that prisoners were hungry, they didn't eat their full.

So we wrote that up with the Ministry of Interior and persuaded them that there was a need to increase the food allocation that they received. The ministry accepted [the proposal] to develop the daily food allocation from 1500 to 2800 [riel].

A second example was the question of ill treatment in prison and abuse by detainees on other detainees. The prison authorities had delegated some of the disciplinary authority to prisoners, to groups of prisoners that were organised in the prison, which they called prisoner management cells. This goes against basic international standards on the management of prisons because it creates a state within the state, and then a lot of abuse happened which you can't control.

We have highlighted the problem, they have understood it, and they have reformed that system.... and the number of abuse [cases] has decreased. Not disappeared – prisons are prisons – but there has been a significant improvement.

Yes, of course this is a risk. But this is part of this 'gentleman agreement'. Confidentiality, we regard it as a tool for dialogue, not as a shield for inaction. So that's the basic premise. So as long as confidential dialogue leads to action – to corrective action and to progress – we engage.

But if we experience that confidentiality is being abused for doing nothing, then we have to reassess our engagement and decide whether we are going to speak publicly on this issue or withdraw our cooperation.

Let's go first to the three main allegations that have been levelled against me to justify the fact that I've been shunned.

The first one is that I don't cooperate with the Government. Everything I've done in the past four years shows the contrary. I have brought the level of cooperation of this office with the Government to unprecedented levels.

Second is that I am the spokesperson for the opposition. Everybody who is familiar with my work knows that it is totally independent. I am not in bed with the Government. I am not in bed with civil society. I am not in bed with the donor community. We are totally independent.... And this may not be appreciated. But ... we are a UN institution with a human rights mandate. And I am very clear about what my role is in this country. And my role is to talk to everybody.

But we have reached a situation in this country whereby any public criticism expressed vis a vis policies or practices are immediately tarred with the opposition brush.

The third factor is that I overstepped my mandate. Again, the high commissioner has been very clear, the secretary general has been very clear: We have a public advocacy mandate, as UN and as OHCHR. I have been exercising this public advocacy mandate with a lot of tact, I think, in a very courteous manner and as diplomatically as I could.

But sometimes we have to speak out, we have to say things, we can't remain silent. That's part of being a human rights and a UN voice in a country where we are dealing with difficult issues. There are issues [over which] we can't simply remain silent because silence becomes a complicity.

In my own personal and also professional view as a human rights activist and official in the UN, that's the bottom line. We have a moral authority and sometimes we have to exercise this moral authority.

Is there [a personal] element related to my work in the past ... when I was here from 1993-99. It's possible. I was in charge of the investigation unit of this office. I have investigated hundreds of various human rights violations – killings, extrajudicial executions, disappearances, torture, rape and so on and so forth. I have been a very scrupulous investigator, and not all of the cases that I have documented during this period have been dismissed, because the investigation was properly done and all the facts were well-established.

So am I a reminder of some of the crimes, some of the human rights violations of this period? Possibly.

There is a UN dimension. The UN was involved in the war against Cambodia from 1979-91 and the signing of the Paris Agreements in the sense that the UN was used by the powers exercising their authority through it to pursue the Cold War.

This has had a very detrimental affect on Cambodia and on its population because Cambodia was coming out of the Khmer Rouge period completely ... shattered, people's lives were shattered, there was no one, there was no resource, and the current party here in power was reconstructed by the Vietnamese and tried to put this country together.

Not only were they not provided international assistance from the West but they were besieged by the West and by China at the time during this period of Cold War. So they were trying to rebuild society in the face of an aggression, in the face of war, and that has left deep scars, I think, in the psyche, in the memory of many in the current leadership.

I think perhaps it would be a good idea for the UN one day to do what the UN did in Rwanda and to humbly apologize to the Cambodian people for the way that it had been used. I think it would be useful. That may help turn the page of this sad chapter of the UN history in this country. I think it would be a human thing to do.

PHNOM PENH, March 25 (Bernama) -- With a growing demand from Russian tourists visiting Cambodia, Russian airlines Aeroflot will have direct flight to Cambodia sometime this year, China's Xinhua news agency quoted a government official on Friday. Tith Chantha, director general of Ministry of Tourism said that Cambodian government had discussed with Russian government and Airline Aeroflot on promoting tourism sector including the direct flight between Moscow and Phnom Penh. He said he had joined a Cambodian delegation to Russia last week, led by Thong Khon, minister of tourism during which a memorandum of understanding on tourism was inked and discussion on having direct flight between Moscow and Phnom Penh was exchanged.

Tith Chantha said Russian people are potential to many tourists ' destinations around the world these days and millions of them travel abroad for tourist purpose.

To Egypt alone, he said, Russian tourists accounted at 2.5 million last year.

According to statistic of ministry of tourism, there were 34, 170 Russian tourists visited Cambodia in 2010, an increase of 76 percent compared with 2009 which recorded at 19,395.

Tith Chantha said Cambodia hopes to see about 100,000 Russian tourists visiting Cambodia by the year end and the estimate number will be higher once the Aeroflot is on service.

He added that Aeroflot is now in deep discussion with Cambodia' s Civil Aviation Authority on the matter.

Cambodia's rich in beautiful beaches, cultural sites like Angkor Wat temple along with attainment of full security, peace and stability of the country--is now attracting millions of foreign tourists every year.

Aeroflot used to have direct flights between the nations' capitals in 1980s and early 1990 with twice flights per week.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Friday voiced his confidence that the Thai-Cambodian General Border Committee (GBC) and the Joint Boundary Commission (JBC) meetings could still be arranged.

Prime Minister Abhisit stated that the GBC meeting would still be held although Army Chief General Prayut Chan-ocha earlier expressed his concern if the meeting would be organized in Indonesia, not in Phnom Penh, Cambodia as initially scheduled.

The army chief stated recently that he did not wish Indonesia or any third country to meddle in the bilateral mechanism of either GBC or JBC meeting.

Indonesia, the current chairman of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), earlier proposed to hold JBC and military- led GBC on April 7 and 8.

As for the Thai-Cambodian JBC meeting, the prime minister elaborated that both sides were ready to go on with the talks, which would be made in a bilateral manner while a resolution on whether to allow an observer's participation would be reached very soon.

The prime minister believed that Indonesia would understand that it had to wait until both sides reach a mutual agreement prior to sending observers to the meeting.

Thailand and Cambodia earlier agreed to allow Indonesian observers to monitor a ceasefire in a deadly border dispute between the two countries in February this year.

ASEAN foreign ministers said in a statement in Jakarta that they welcomed a commitment made by Thailand and Cambodia to avoid further armed clashes and urged both sides to resume bilateral negotiations as soon as possible.

BANGKOK, March 25 (MCOT online news) -- The anti-government 'Yellow Shirt' People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) on Friday said it would not rally at Parliament to pressure the joint sitting of the House of Representatives and the Senate to consider approving the minutes of three Thai-Cambodian Joint Boundary Commission (JBC) meetings, claiming that their campaign has yielded fruitful results.

PAD spokesman Panthep Puapongphan said the movement would hold fast at its rally site at Makkhawan Bridge on Rajdamnoen Avenue, but have no plan to move to step up pressure on parliamentarians to reject the documents.

He said the joint sitting had been scheduled to convene at 9m today but their lack of a quorum forced the session to adjourn until afternoon.

Mr Panthep said the PAD had earlier submitted a letter to parliamentarians to express their opposition to the approval of the JBC documents and some MPs who disagreed with the documents opted not to attend the meeting.

Meanwhile, he said, the MPs from opposition parties affirmed that even though they attend the meeting but they would not vote to approve the minutes.

Mr Panthep said this showed that the attempt of PAD to oppose the JBC documents was relatively successful so that no need for the movement to stage rally at Parliament.

He said the PAD would closely monitor the joint sitting whether the three documents could be approved at the meeting and if the minutes have passed, further action would be taken against the border agency documents.

Meanwhile, Thai Patriots Network activist Chaiwat Sinsuwong who led protest not far from PAD demonstrators said the network would not also stage rally at parliament but would wait for the result of the session.

If the JBC documents were approved, he said, the network would petition the Supreme Court, accusing the lawmakers of breaching the Constitution to cause the loss of Thai territory.

In a related development, the families of Veera Somkwamkid, coordinator of the Thai Patriots Network, and Ratree Pipatanapaiboon, his personal secretary--both jailed in Cambodia for spying--submitted a letter to Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to secure the release of the pair within seven days.

Democrat MP Panich Vikitsreth on Friday led Mr Somkid's brother and Ms Ratree's niece to brief the press at Parliament, saying that relatives of the two Thai detainees handed the letter to the prime minister through him to urge the Thai government to help them within seven days.

However, Mr Panich said the prime minister did not ignore them and he himself also worked with Thai embassy in Phnom Penh to seek permission for their families to visit the detainees.

Preecha Somkwamkid, Mr Veera's younger brother, said his brother's health has gradually improved after being treated in prison by a doctor. He confirmed that he did not want the issue of Mr Veera to have any impact on the relations of the two neighbouring countries or to be linked to a political conflict.

Mr Chaiwat said the network legal team was contacted by Thai embassy in Phnom Penh to be allowed to meet Mr Veera and Ms Ratree. The legal team will obtain more information on Mr Veera's illness and seeking an appeal or a royal pardon after visiting the two detainees in Phnom Penh, he said.

Cambodia's Angkor Heritage Park is the fastest-growing tourism attraction of any World Heritage monument. Increasing at an average rate of 30 per cent a year, arrivals are expected to reach 3 million this year, up from 200,000 visitors 10 years ago.

Tourism has turned the temples into one of the most sought-after experiences in the world and brought development and infrastructure to the nearby town of Siem Reap.

But few people in Siem Reap province benefit from these tourist dollars. Predominantly rural, the people remain among the poorest in Cambodia, many living on less than a dollar a day.

A Bangkok-based hotel management group is hoping to change this. "Tourism is better equipped and in a better position to deal with poverty than many governments," says Bill Black, the managing director of Ativa Hospitality, a management company that has the Hotel de la Paix and Shinta Mani hotel in Siem Reap in its portfolio.

Black is a man on a mission. Diverting a percentage of room rates into community-based projects, the genteel Canadian wants to prove that, with a little effort and imagination, tourism can be a vehicle for community development.

Black's first project, the Shinta Mani Hospitality School (now called the Institute of Hospitality), started in 2004. It enrolled 20 disadvantaged youths in a year-long hospitality course conducted at the Shinta Mani hotel that would prepare them to work in the town's burgeoning hotel industry.

The program was a success and became the model for similar projects in Cambodia. Another Shinta Mani initiative is the Connect program, in which hotel guests can buy and deliver practical items such as wells and vegetable seed, piglets or bicycles to families in need.

Since its inception in 2005, the program has built 1043 water wells with mini-market gardens and 97 small concrete houses with septic tanks.

Black has since established the Hotel de la Paix Sewing Centre with funds from the five-star hotel, which teaches needlework and accounting skills to young women.

More recently the Hotel de la Paix teamed with MasterCard to raise money for a new workshop, which is now under construction at the sewing centre. A previous project with the credit-card company bought 900 bicycles for underprivileged school children.

"The idea is to give people the opportunity to be self-sufficient," Black says, explaining that first they give families a well and vegetable seed. When they see the family has successfully grown vegetables, including surplus to sell for income, then they may buy them a bicycle or a female piglet to raise and breed.

Fiona Donato and daughter Felicity, 10, from Dover in Tasmania, became involved with Black's Connect during a school trip to Cambodia, buying two water wells and a piglet and delivering them to the donors. Donato says the experience was "life changing", and the school has since donated two more piglets, a house and 500 mosquito nets through fund raising.

LA VERGNE, Tenn. -- Police said a murder-suicide claimed the lives of a couple in a La Vergne subdivision Friday morning.

The female victim, 27-year-old Nith Sim, who's originally from Cambodia and has been in the United States for seven years, was dead when officers arrived at a home on Betty Lou Lane in the Lake Forest neighborhood.

The man, identified as Daniel Sim, 28, was found shot at the home and taken to Stone Crest Medical Center. He was later transferred to Vanderbilt Medical Center, where he died Friday afternoon.

Daniel Sim's mother, who was visiting from New York, found the couple at about 10:30 a.m., police said. She first told police she heard nothing, then she said she did hear something but thought it was one of the kids. A 5-month-old boy and 2-year-old girl were in the bedroom with the couple.

"She heard the baby start crying and went to check on the baby," said La Vergne Police Chief Ted Boyd. "The door was locked. (She) went around to a window to try and get someone to open the door then forced entry into the room and discovered both adults had been shot."

Investigators said they believe Nith Sim shot her husband while he was asleep. Police said the gun then jammed, but she got another weapon to fatally shoot herself.

"We said there were two guns. We believe that gun may have jammed from the way it was used. She laid that gun down and picked up another gun and used that gun on herself," said Boyd.

Police described the bedroom as a bloody crime scene.

"(It's) just shocking to have something like that, just what the kids saw, what they (are) going to go through," said the Sims' next-door neighbor Leon Cade. "They are going to need some type of counseling, some kind of help. ... I'm glad they didn't kill the kids."

La Vergne police said they're also thankful the children were not hurt.

"As thin as walls are and the caliber of these guns, they penetrate walls every easily. It was dangerous for not only the kids but for the adult that was in the house, but being that close, it was nothing to protect those children but air, and luckily, they didn't get hit," Boyd said.

Department of Children's Services workers were called to the home. They visited with the grandmother, who will be caring for the children. Police said she will most likely take them back to New York.

Some neighbors said they have often heard the couple arguing.

The family had a roommate who worked with Daniel Sim. He arrived home and received the news of the couple's death from police.

Parliament has postponed its deliberation of the minutes from the Thai-Cambodian Joint Boundary Commission meetings until this coming Tuesday, after a five-hour debate yesterday failed to reach any conclusion.

The government has asked parliament to endorse three documents from previous JBC meetings between Thailand and Cambodia.

Section 190 of the constitution requires that any crucial binding international treaty must be endorsed by parliament.

The government asked parliament to back the minutes in order to pave the way for further demarcation talks between the two countries.

A joint sitting of the parliament deliberated the three minutes yesterday.

It could not convene in the morning as planned as it lacked a quorum.

Parliament reconvened in the afternoon. But after debating for five hours, with no conclusion reached, it decided to postpone the matter until Tuesday.

Before the meeting was adjourned, Rosana Tositrakul, a Bangkok senator, questioned why the government seemed to be in such a rush to seek endorsement of the minutes.

She suggested it leave the issue to the next government.

She also expressed her concern that parliament's endorsement of the three minutes might prompt Thailand to lose part of its territory to Cambodia.

"If our voting today leads to the loss of our territory in the future, how could we explain it to our children?

"The House is about to be dissolved and a general election called. Why don't we let the next government take care of this issue. "The government should withdraw this motion and allow more time for the study of it," said Ms Rosana.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva told parliament that endorsement of the three JBC minutes would not cause Thailand to lose any territory to Cambodia.

Mr Abhisit denied that the government had sought endorsement of the JBC minutes in any kind of hurry. He said they were drafted back in 2008 and 2009. The government did not seek endorsement of the minutes right after the meetings.

On suggestions that the matter be left for the next government, Mr Abhisit said Cambodia has tried to turn Thai-Cambodian bilateral disputes into international disputes, which was wrong.

Cambodia had also tried to gain an edge over Thailand at World Heritage Committee meetings about the Preah Vihear temple _ the disputed temple on the border between the two nations _ but its efforts had not succeeded.

The international community recognised bilateral mechanisms between the two countries for solving disputes _ memorandums of understanding, and the JBC, he said.

"If we did not do anything and allowed Cambodia to claim that Thailand has not sincerely tried to hold talks through bilateral mechanisms, could you guarantee that in the future international organisations would not intervene in disputes between Thailand and Cambodia?" Mr Abhisit said.

The yellow shirt People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) yesterday declined to move its rally to parliament to oppose parliament's deliberation of the minutes as it had previously threatened, claiming its campaign from the Makkhawan Bridge, where it gathers normally, has already yielded good results.

PAD spokesman Parnthep Pourpongpan said the movement had earlier submitted a letter to parliamentarians to express opposition to any approval of the JBC documents. Some MPs who disagreed with the documents opted not to attend parliament's meeting.

The presence of more than 300 foreign Buddhists at a Bangkok temple has raised concerns that some might be bogus monks begging for money and preying on people.

Officers from the Immigration Bureau, Thammasala police station and the National Buddhism Bureau inspected Wat Talom in Phasicharoen district early on March 17 following complaints that hundreds of foreign monks had sought shelter at the temple.

The team found about 300 monks and novices from various countries such as Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Laos and Burma living in tents on the temple grounds.

Many had entered the country legally, with some carrying tourist visas and some using foreign students' visas.

Eight, including six Burmese monks, one ethnic Mon monk and one Cambodian novice, failed to produce travel documents and ordination certificates.

The eight were defrocked and sent to the Immigration Bureau on illegal entry charges.

Pol Col Chartchai Iamsaeng, deputy commander of the Immigration Bureau's investigation centre, who led the inspection, said members of the public had complained that many monks, thought not to be Thai nationals, lived in the temple and some went out in the afternoon to collect alms, which was against Buddhist teaching.

Phra Maha Boontheung Chutinatharo, abbot of Wat Talom, said the foreign monks had entered the country legally to study dhamma and some wanted to visit Thailand.

Many monks from overseas wanted to study here as Thailand was known for its Buddhism studies. "Residents living near the temple might not be aware that many monks staying at the temple are foreign monks who entered the country to study Buddhist teachings," said the abbot.

"Those foreign monks do not have the same custom of completing their alms-collecting by 10am, the way we do."

Nopparat Benjawattananan , director of the National Buddhism Bureau (NBB), said 1,057 foreign monks sought permission from his office to live in the kingdom last year.

Most came from Cambodia with 279, followed by Bangladesh 264, Nepal 131, Burma 104, Laos 46, China 34, Malaysia 33, Vietnam 29, the United States, 23, and Indonesia 18. The rest were from other countries, he said.

Thailand's reputation as a haven for Buddhist studies had opened the way for gangs to enter the country under the guise of being foreign monks, said the NBB director.

A source said Singapore and Malaysia had also grappled with problems of bogus monks begging for money.

Mr Nopparat said the NBB could not control foreign monks who had not registered with his agency.

Bogus monks had entered the country using tourist visas.

The NBB did not know how many foreign monks had entered the country. Foreigners wanting to study at Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University or Mahamakut Buddhist University could directly seek permission from those two Buddhist universities.

Mr Nopparat said he would invite representatives from the two universities to discuss the registration of foreign monks with his agency to ensure better controls.

Kai (real name withheld), 40, who lives near Wat Talom, said most foreign monks had left the temple following news reports about their presence.

However, he believed some of the monks were still staying in the country, begging for money.

He said they would probably return to the temple after news about them faded away.

"The problem started about 10 years ago when the temple changed abbots," he said.

Boonchai Chuecharnwong, a businessman in Bang Bua Thong area, condemned those who wore saffron robes to exploit Buddhism.

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Monastic police patrol city

Many people know the city administration is responsible for ensuring the safety of Bangkok residents. Its city inspectors or thetsakit officials are assigned to help police guard the city.

But only a few people know about the monastic police whose task is to protect Buddhism.

The National Buddhism Bureau formed a group of officials to monitor the wayward activities of Buddhist monks in Bangkok and surrounding provinces a long time ago.

The monastic police look for monks who fail to adhere to their vows or are involved in disciplinary or legal wrongdoing and report their misconduct to the bureau. The bureau will alert the police, who apprehend the monks, said Udom Songkhajorn, a bureau official.

There are about 15 monastic police officers in Bangkok. The officials are divided into four teams.

The duties of the monastic police are similar to those of thetsakit officials as they have no authority to make arrests. They only pass on information as whistleblowers.

Monks accused of breaching Buddhist teachings or involved in wrongdoing will be investigated by a panel of monks. If there is a basis to the accusation, the monks will be defrocked.

Mr Udom said cases against wayward monks in the provinces would be handled by provincial Buddhism offices.

LONDON, March 25, 2011 (UK Gay News) – Mark Gooding has been appointed Her Majesty's Ambassador to the Kingdom of Cambodia, it was announced yesterday.

Currently Mr. Gooding is Deputy High Commissioner to Sri Lanka and the Maldives in Colombo and is due to take up his new appointment in September.

He is openly gay and has a civil partner, Dr Christopher McCormick.

"I am honoured and delighted to be appointed HM Ambassador to the Kingdom of Cambodia," he said in a press statement.

"The UK and Cambodia have strong shared interests in a variety of fields, including trade, development, tourism, climate change, security, and human rights. I look forward to developing further the strong ties that already exist between our two countries and to creating new partnerships in the years ahead."

Generally speaking, Cambodia – a predominantly Buddhist country – accepts homosexuality.

The highly-regarded King Sihanouk famously said in 2004 that he supported gay marriage. But Cambodia is not an 'absolute monarchy' and the King has no executive powers.

And three years later Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen publicly announced at a graduation ceremony attended by almost 3,000 people, that his youngest, and adopted, daughter Malis was a lesbian – and that had disowned her. However, in the same speech he asked Cambodians to accept homosexuals.

A Gay Pride has been staged in the capital Phnom Penh every year since 2004, and is usually held to coincide with International Day Against Homophobia. This year, Phnom Penh Pride is between May 10 and 17.

PHNOM PENH: Cambodia's war crimes court will hear appeals next week in the case of of former Khmer Rouge cadre Duch, who is seeking acquittal despite admitting running a feared jail where thousands died.

Duch, 68, was sentenced to 35 years in prison last July for war crimes and crimes against humanity for overseeing the deaths of 15,000 people at the notorious torture prison Tuol Sleng in the late 1970s.

The jailer, whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav, was the first former Khmer Rouge cadre to face an international tribunal.

His sentence was reduced to 30 years on the grounds that he had been detained illegally for years. And given time already served, Duch could walk free in less than 19 years, much to the dismay of many victims of the brutal 1975-1979 regime.

Prosecutors are also appealing, hoping to have Duch's sentence increased to life, commuted to 45 years for time already served.

During his trial, Duch repeatedly apologised for overseeing mass murder at the detention centre, also known as S-21, but shocked the court by asking to be acquitted in his closing statement in November 2009.

The defence team will claim in their appeal on Monday that the UN-backed court has no jurisdiction over Duch because he was not one of the regime's senior leaders nor one of those most responsible for the crimes committed.

"The court is not allowed to try a person that does not fall into one of those two groups", Kang Ritheary, one of Duch's lawyers, told AFP, adding that Duch was only following orders.

"He had to try his best at work in order to save his life."

Anne Heindel, a legal advisor at the Documentation Centre of Cambodia, which collects evidence of Khmer Rouge atrocities, said the defence strategy was "reckless" because the court "has wide discretion in determining whom to prosecute".

"Instead of responding to the prosecution's multiple arguments for a longer sentence, the defence keeps reiterating this one untimely and uncompelling argument," Heindel said.

Prosecutors say in their appeal brief that the verdict did "not adequately reflect the seriousness of the crimes or the respondent's role in those crimes".

They also want enslavement, imprisonment, torture, extermination and other inhumane acts to be added to Duch's list of convictions.

Chum Mey, 80, one of the few survivors of S-21, said "there would be no justice" if Duch is released and he should be jailed for life.

Led by "Brother Number One" Pol Pot, who died in 1998, the Khmer Rouge wiped out nearly a quarter of Cambodia's population through starvation, overwork and execution.

S-21, in Phnom Penh, was at the centre of the regime's security apparatus and thousands of inmates were taken from there for execution in a nearby orchard.

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.

Four of the regime's most senior surviving members are due to go on trial later this year and Duch is expected to appear as a witness.

The tribunal, dogged by allegations of political interference, has yet to announce whether it will pursue two more cases against five more former Khmer Rouge cadres.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, himself a mid-level cadre before he turned against the movement, said late last year no new trials would be allowed.

But observers say Duch's court proceedings were free from political pressure, even though one of his lawyers has also acted for the premier.