KI Media: “Opposition Leader Sam Rainsy's reply to Mr. Kem Sokha's question about the formula for uniting the SRP and the HRP” plus 24 more |
- Opposition Leader Sam Rainsy's reply to Mr. Kem Sokha's question about the formula for uniting the SRP and the HRP
- Cambodian ‘Vital Voice’ Urges More Women’s Rights
- Suwit quits as head of Preah Vihear talks
- Funny-not-so-funny Truism
- Celebrating rights, dignity, contriubution of women
- Aid to Cambodia rarely reaches the people it’s meant to help
- My Rights, My Responsibility (Constitution) Series
- Lawmaker raises concerns
- Rainsy brands CPP 'new KR'
- Vietnam’s [ONE-WAY] exports to Cambodia rise
- Reporters With Thought Borders
- Bird flu risk "under control", say health experts
- ECCC Law
- Opposition Leader Sam Rainsy' visit to the Swedish Parliament
- Beijing's calling...
- មកហើយទៅវិញហៅថា… “They come and go”
- Rithy Panh's Film "Le maître des forges de l’enfer" (The ironmaster from hell) to receive Special Award from Cannes Film Committee
- Henchman Cheam Yeap rejects Sam Rainsy’s accusation on his bosses
- Sam Rainsy demands a trial for the CPP leaders
- Shame on the [Thai Xayaburi] dam builders
- 58 Cambodians killed, 484 injured in road accidents during Khmer New Year
- The will to live is inspirational
- International Symposium on oral history of Cambodians living in Montreal on May 5-7, 2011
- Chet Tevtoat, Moat Tevoda - "Devadatta's heart with an angel's mouth": Poem in Khmer by Kaun Khmer
- Decision Looms for Laos Dam, but Impact Is Unclear
| Posted: 18 Apr 2011 05:02 PM PDT
Dear colleagues, By now, you must be aware of Kem Sokha's letter to me dated April 18. All the press has received it and has asked for my reply to Kem Sokha's question about the formula for uniting the Sam Rainsy Party and the Human Rights Party: Creation of a new party with a new name, or merger with the SRP? I've just replied to VOA and RFA that before choosing any FORMULA for a union, we must first show the required SPIRIT for a genuine and sincere union. Such a spirit requires mutual respect and mutual solidarity as real partners in a real union would show to each other. Therefore, the HRP, if it is sincere, must stop publicly treating the SRP as an enemy by using the same language, the same propaganda tools and the same political tricks (such as displaying "defectors") as the ones used by the CPP in their continuous attempt to "break" the SRP. If the HRP treats the SRP as an ENNEMY, as the CPP does, how could they hope to become our PARTNER? What ground does the HRP have to treat us as an enemy? We have never committed any crime against the Cambodian people compared to the multiple crimes we reproach the ruling CPP to have committed. On the contrary, we have done our best to defend our country and all the victims of injustices in Cambodia. In fact, by adopting the CPP's attitude toward us, the HRP is -- willingly or not -- serving the CPP interest and they have become a CPP de facto ally, at a time when the SRP is the main target for the CPP in the face of very serious national problems. Everybody can see that the SRP bears the brunt of the CPP attack on the opposition and the civil society. And curiously the HRP now joins hands with the CPP in attacking the SRP. This is not the first time that an "Alliance" of democratic forces is due to collapse: Remember the past "alliances" between the SRP and the royalist FUNCINPEC party. Eventually, only the SRP has proved to abide by principles whereas its short-term "allies" proved to be political opportunists manipulated and bought by the CPP. All the best, Sam Rainsy  | ||||
| Cambodian ‘Vital Voice’ Urges More Women’s Rights Posted: 18 Apr 2011 02:14 PM PDT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDchxcwgTiE&feature=player_embedded Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer Washington Monday, 18 April 2011
Vital Voices, an organization for women leadership, held an annual awards ceremony in Washington this month, gathering many women from around the world who work toward greater rights. The ceremony, held at the Kennedy Center in downtown Washington, honored seven women, including Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi, for their contributions in politics, advocacy and business. The other awardees came from Afghanistan, Cameroon, India, Israel, Palestine and the US. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, founder of the organization, said at the April 13 ceremony that each woman shared common values, despite the differences in their countries. "They each look for ways to make systemic change, to lift the lives of thousands, even millions of people," Clinton said. "They each have paid a price for their work in arrests or abuse or ridicule, insults, and isolation." Sam Rainsy Party lawmaker Mu Sochua, who won the Vital Voices award in 2005, said women in Cambodia need to participate more in politics, in both grassroots and upper political leadership. "We as women politicians must use the positions given to us by women voters to solve their suffering," Mu Sochua said in Washington, where she spent several days earlier this month to to build support for the political and economic rights of women. "We must really solve their problems based on a basis of women helping women." At the National Democratic Institute, Mu Sochua briefed leaders on effort to help women prevent land-grabbing and forced evictions. She also met officials to discuss trafficking and forced labor, which the 2010 US human rights report acknowledged as a persistent problem in Cambodia. "It is utterly crucial that such an important organization knows about women's struggles, so that it can help change their lives and build democracy," she told NDI, which she called "a main source of funding and also an information channel to US lawmakers." In an interview, she appealed for other Cambodian women to join and push for greater rights. "All parliamentarians, especially those 90 members of the Cambodian People's Party, should uphold the parliamentary power bestowed upon us," she said. "Don't protect your party principles, because as politicians we serve the voters, not the party."  | ||||
| Suwit quits as head of Preah Vihear talks Posted: 18 Apr 2011 02:09 PM PDT  April 19, 2011The Nation Natural Resources and Environment Minister Suwit Khunkitti has quit his position as head of the Thai delegation to the bilateral and international negotiations over the Preah Vihear Temple as a World Heritage Site, an informed source disclosed yesterday. "He has withdrawn from the delegation for the bilateral talks with Cambodia and also from the delegation for the World Heritage Committee meeting," the source said. The bilateral talks are scheduled to take place in France on May 25. The WHC meeting will take place on June 19 and 20, also in France. Last year, Suwit led the delegation to the WHC meeting in Brazil and successfully had the Unesco committee delay any decision on Cambodia's management plan for the Preah Vihear Temple complex. Thailand and Cambodia have had a rocky relationship since Phnom Penh unilaterally pushed to list the ancient Hindu temple as a World Heritage Site on its soil. According to the source, Suwit told the national committee on the World Heritage Convention - chaired by Trairong Suwankhiri - that he needed to focus on election campaigns and had no time to attend the meetings. "Suwit has asked the committee to assign the Foreign Ministry to take charge of the negotiations instead," the source said. "Trairong rebuked Suwit, saying Cabinet had assigned him to handle this matter all along." The source said Trairong planned to raise the issue at the upcoming Cabinet meeting. It is widely believed that Assada Chainam, who chairs the Thai-Cambodian Joint Boundary Commission, will replace Suwit as head of the delegation for the Preah Vihear negotiations. Suwit could not be reached for comment yesterday. The reason behind his decision to withdraw from the Preah Vihear issue, sources suggested, was the People's Alliance For Democracy's move to lodge a complaint against him over his signing of WHC documents last year.  | ||||
| Posted: 18 Apr 2011 10:16 AM PDT When there's a single thief, it's robbery. When there are a thousand thieves, it's taxation. - Vanya Cohen The Kingdom of Wonder's version: When there's a single thief, it's robbery. When there are a thousand thieves, it's the Royal Government of Cambodia. Aid to Cambodia rarely reaches the people it's meant to help | ||||
| Celebrating rights, dignity, contriubution of women Posted: 18 Apr 2011 10:06 AM 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 VI Article 29 1. Any dispute between two or more States Parties concerning the interpretation or application of the present Convention which is not settled by negotiation shall, at the request of one of them, be submitted to arbitration. If within six months from the date of the request for arbitration the parties are unable to agree on the organization of the arbitration, any one of those parties may refer the dispute to the International Court of Justice by request in conformity with the Statute of the Court. 2. Each State Party may at the time of signature or ratification of the present Convention or accession thereto declare that it does not consider itself bound by paragraph I of this article. The other States Parties shall not be bound by that paragraph with respect to any State Party which has made such a reservation. 3. Any State Party which has made a reservation in accordance with paragraph 2 of this article may at any time withdraw that reservation by notification to the Secretary-General of the United Nations.  | ||||
| Aid to Cambodia rarely reaches the people it’s meant to help Posted: 18 Apr 2011 09:59 AM PDT
By Joel Brinkley Opinions The Washington PostRepresentatives of more than 3,000 governments and donor organizations are meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on Wednesday. If past experience is indicative, they will pledge to provide hundreds of millions in aid. Year after year, smiling Cambodian government leaders attend these pledge conferences, holding out their hands. But first they have to listen as ambassadors and aid officers stand at the podium, look them in the eye, and lambast them for corruption and jaw-dropping human rights abuses. Each year Prime Minister Hun Sen promises to reform. The donors nod and make their pledges — $1.1 billion last year. Then everyone goes home and nothing changes. In the following months, officials dip into the foreign aid accounts and build themselves mansions the size of small hotels, while 40 percent of Cambodia's children grow up stunted for lack of nutrition during infancy. This year should be different. Over the past two decades, the Cambodian government has grown ever more repressive. Now it is actually planning to bite the hand that feeds it: The legislature is enacting a law that would require nongovernmental organizations to register with the government, giving venal bureaucrats the ability to shut them down unless they become toadies of the state. Eight major international human rights organizations are calling on Cambodia to back down, saying the bill is "the most significant threat to the country's civil society in many years." Donors, they say, should hold back their pledges. But they say that every year, and each year the donors ignore them. Meanwhile, the status of the Cambodian people the aid is supposed to help improves little if at all. Nearly 80 percent of Cambodians live in the countryside with no electricity, clean water, toilets, telephone service or other evidence of the modern world. All of this might surprise most Americans. It has been decades since many people here have given Cambodia even a thought. Forty years ago, Cambodia was on the front pages almost every day as the United States bombed and briefly invaded the state during the Vietnam War. Then came the genocidal Khmer Rouge era, when 2 million people died. How many know what has happened there since? Last month, the Nexis news-research service carried 6,335 stories with Thailand in the headline. Vietnam had 5,196. For Cambodia, 578. Most people don't know that Cambodians are ruled by a government that sells off the nation's rice harvest each year and pockets the money, leaving its people without enough to eat. That it evicts thousands of people from their homes, burns down the houses, then dumps the victims into empty fields and sells their property to developers. That it amasses vast personal fortunes while the nation's average annual per capita income stands at $650. Or that it allows school teachers to demand daily bribes from 6-year-olds and doctors to extort money from dirt-poor patients, letting them die if they do not pay. This is a government that stands by and watches as 75 percent of its citizens contract dysentery each year, and 10,000 die — largely because only 16 percent of Cambodians have access to a toilet. As Beat Richner, who runs children's hospitals there, puts it, "the passive genocide continues." You wouldn't know any of that from the donors' behavior. You see, for foreigners Phnom Penh is a relatively pleasant place to live. Rents are cheap and household help is even cheaper. Espresso bars and stylish restaurants dot the river front — primarily for diplomats and aid workers. Donors have largely been able to pursue whatever project they wanted without interference. They knew that the government would steal some of their money. But so what? "Some money goes this way or that way," said In Samrithy, an officer with a donor umbrella group. "But it's useful if some of it reaches the poor. Not all of it does but some does. That's better than nothing." Even with that, many donors feel the way Teruo Jinnai does. He's the longtime head of the UNESCO office in Phnom Penh. "Here I have found my own passion," he told me. "Here, I can set my own target. So that gives you more power, more energy, more passion." Well, Mr. Jinnai, the noose is tightening. If, as expected, the NGO bill becomes law, government repression will reach out for you, too. Isn't it time, then, for all those donors to make a statement? On Wednesday stand up and tell the government: I am withholding my aid. Joel Brinkley, a professor of journalism at Stanford University, is the author of "Cambodia's Curse: The Modern History of a Troubled Land."  | ||||
| My Rights, My Responsibility (Constitution) Series Posted: 18 Apr 2011 09:58 AM PDT Constitution of Cambodia (Sept. 1993) CHAPTER VIII: THE ROYAL GOVERNMENT Article 102 Members of the Royal Government shall be collectively responsible to the Assembly for the overall policy of the Royal Government. Each member of the Royal Government shall be individually responsible to the Prime Minster and the Assembly for his/her own conduct.  | ||||
| Posted: 18 Apr 2011 09:34 AM PDT
Mary Kozlovski The Phnom Penh Post
An opposition lawmaker has raised concerns that the mother of a maid working in Malaysia, who claimed that her daughter was raped twice by a member of her employer's family, was under pressure when she retracted the allegations this month. Srey Sophal, 66, of Svay Rieng province, claimed at a press conference organised by Sam Rainsy Party lawmaker Mu Sochua on April 4 that her daughter had been raped, before withdrawing the allegations at the Ministry of Interior on April 6. In a statement released on her website on Friday, Mu Sochua said that the case should not end with the victim's retraction. "The mother retracted her allegation…at a press conference organised by the recruitment agency [Champa Manpower Group Ltd], at the Ministry of Interior, with a thumb printed letter by her daughter, officiated by the Embassy of Cambodia in Malaysia," said Mu Sochua in the statement. "To my mind, one word says it all: pressure." Mu Sochua added that the government should investigate Champa Manpower and its allied agency in Malaysia. Cambodian officials should also collaborate with Malaysian authorities to investigate the alleged rape, the statement said. Huy Pichsovann, program officer at the Community Legal Education Centre, said yesterday that the case should be dealt with by the Malaysian legal system. "The press conference at the Ministry of Interior was to save the face of the Cambodian and Malaysian governments," said Huy Pichsovann. "The [Cambodian] government should investigate Champa Manpower and other companies sending workers to Malaysia to see if the companies check the workers in the training centre, if the workers have legal paperwork and if the companies monitor the workers [in Malaysia]." Sa Ith Nory, a representative from Champa Manpower Group, said yesterday that the press conference at the Interior Ministry was organised by Champa Manpower, but declined to comment further. Mu Sochua and Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Koy Kuong could not be reached for comment yesterday. Ministry of Interior spokesman Khieu Sopheak also could not be reached for comment. ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY MOM KUNTHEAR  | ||||
| Posted: 18 Apr 2011 09:29 AM PDT
Monday, 18 April 2011 Meas Sokchea The Phnom Penh Post Opposition leader Sam Rainsy branded ruling party officials including Prime Minister Hun Sen "a new generation of the Khmer Rouge" during a ceremony yesterday at the killing fields of Choeung Ek. Organised on the anniversary of the fall of Phnom Penh to Khmer Rouge forces in 1975, the ceremony drew roughly 200 observers and Sam Rainsy Party supporters. Sam Rainsy himself remains abroad to avoid a slew of criminal complaints against him, though he spoke to those in attendance yesterday via videoconference from France, offering provacative criticism of the ruling Cambodian People's Party. "The new generation of Khmer Rouge, puppets of Vietnam, have killed people little by little, backed by Vietnam," Sam Rainsy said. "Both Pol Pot and Hun Sen have always celebrated April 17 because they regard it as their victory day." The comments recall an address Sam Rainsy made at Choeung Ek in 2008 alleging that Foreign Minister Hor Namhong headed the Boeung Trabek prison under the Khmer Rouge. The foreign minister sued Sam Rainsy for defamation in relation the comments, with hearings in the case taking place at Phnom Penh Municipal Court earlier this month despite the absence of Sam Rainsy and his lawyer. Sam Rainsy already faces a total of 12 years in prison following a pair of convictions last year in relation to a protest he staged along the Kingdom's eastern border in 2009 against alleged Vietnamese encroachment. He fled the country shortly following this protest to avoid the case pending against him. Acting SRP president Kong Korm echoed Sam Rainsy's comments at the ceremony yesterday, saying Cambodia's war crimes tribunal had prosecuted just "one group" of Khmer Rouge leaders, but that "the Khmer Rouge group supported by Vietnam has been acquitted". "I have seen that land evictions these days are not different from in the Khmer Rouge regime," Kong Korm said. Senior ruling party lawmaker Cheam Yeap dismissed the SRP comments yesterday and warned that Sam Rainsy could face additional legal action for his criticisms of Hun Sen, Senate President Chea Sim and National Assembly President Heng Samrin, all of whom hold the "Samdech" honourific. "If the three Samdechs just wink at their lawyers, the lawyers can file complaints and Sam Rainsy can receive another jail sentence," Cheam Yeap said. "I know that at this point, Sam Rainsy has no hope of returning to his homeland, so that's why he raises these issues again and again."  | ||||
| Vietnam’s [ONE-WAY] exports to Cambodia rise Posted: 18 Apr 2011 08:56 AM PDT 18/04/2011 VNA/VOV News The two–way trade turnover between Vietnam and Cambodia reached US$626.4 million in the first three months this year, up 45 percent over the same period of 2009. According to the General Department of Customs, Cambodia's imports from Vietnam surpassed US$498 million (up 44.3 percent) in the review period, according for 2.1 percent of Vietnam's total export turnover. In the recent years, Vietnam's commodity export value to Cambodia has been growing at a double digit rate.  | ||||
| Reporters With Thought Borders Posted: 18 Apr 2011 08:54 AM PDT
Monday, April 18, 2011 By SIMON ROUGHNEEN The Irrawaddy news
PHNOM PENH—Ross Dunkley, the sole foreign owner invested in Burma's state-controlled media, faces charges of assaulting a woman and breaches of the country's immigration laws, in what many observers, including some of Dunkley's own business partners, view as a power play aimed at ousting the Australian from his stake in the Myanmar Times. Dunkley has since been released on bail, part of which was paid by his Burmese business partner, Tin Tun Oo, who was named CEO of the Myanmar Times in the days after Dunkley's initial arrest. Dunkley has subsequently downplayed the conspiracy angle, and hopes to be acquitted soon. He is well known in media circles in Cambodia after buying into the Phnom Penh Post, one of the country's two English language dailies, back in 2007. Cambodia is a challenging media market with freedom of expression under threat from a combination of formal and informal codes that inhibit the country's press, according to several observers. Prime Minister Hun Sen and other senior officials do not shy from suing media, and the Phnom Penh Post has been hit with lawsuits in the past, while a local NGO, the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO), points to numerous cases of journalists being threatened with violence or worse, in a scenario akin to the Philippines, where guns are used to cow reporters operating in an otherwise free media environment. Blogger Sopheap Chak, who writes regularly for a number of online publications, told The Irrawaddy that sometimes her friends express concern if she is too outspoken, telling her that "Cambodia is not like America or Europe." However, she said that although she considers her words carefully—as any reporter or writer ought—she believes that "if we keep silent, intimidation will take over, and we will lose our constitutional right to free speech." Unlike the Myanmar Times, the Phnom Penh Post and the Cambodia Daily—the country's other English language publication—do not have their articles vetted by a censorship board, and publish stories on human rights and corruption that would be unthinkable in any Burmese newspaper. However, the Khmer-language media is watched more closely by the government, which dominates TV, a medium focusing mostly on entertainment rather than news. Taken along with proposed trade union and NGO laws—dismissed by opponents as thinly veiled attempts by the Cambodian government to limit freedom of association—it all sounds retrograde. On the other hand, Burma, if its new government is to be believed, has taken the "first steps to a free press system." So said U Tint Swe, the deputy director general of the Press Scrutiny and Registration Division, on March 29, with the crucial caveat that any new exceptions to the censorship regime would not include news or business publications. At the same time, the new government announced the imminent launch of a new state mouthpiece to be called The Myawaddy. Cambodia has no equivalent to the New Light of Myanmar, where anti-democracy and anti-Western invective is the norm, often delivered in unwittingly comic syntax that makes North Korean propaganda seem serene and eloquent by comparison. In turn, there is not a really a Cambodian "exile media"—along the lines of Burma's, such as the Norway-based Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), Mizzima in India, or the array of Thailand-based ethnic-focused news agencies such as the Shan Herald Agency for News. Burma's new government includes a cabinet comprised of just four civilians; the rest are from the army. The new president, Thein Sein, was a military general and prime minister under the previous military junta, known as the State Peace and Development Council. Over 80 percent of seats in the country's new legislative bodies are held by the army and its party affiliate, the Union Solidarity and Development Party. Thein Sein has spoken about the media since assuming his new office, describing the sector as "the fourth estate" and calling for the new government to show respect for the country's press. Fine words, but Burma is the world's fourth-highest jailer of media workers, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, and the second highest after Eritrea if the number of imprisoned journalists is weighed on a per head of population basis. The Burma Media Association, comprising Burmese journalists-in-exile based in Thailand, puts the number of jailed journalists in Burma at 22, though the real number may be higher. On Feb. 4, less than a week after Burma's new parliament sat for the first time, video reporter Maung Maung Zeya was sentenced to a combined total of 13 years in jail for a a variety of alleged offences under Burma's various draconian codes, such as the Unlawful Association Act, the Immigration Act and the Electronics Act. According to Alerts Coordinator at the Southeast Asian Press Alliance George Amurao: "The new government has also yet to revoke any of its repressive laws that restrict freedom of expression. Until these are replaced with laws that improve the free expression environment, Burma remains governed by a de facto repressive regime—new government or no." Maung Maung Zeya's son, Sithu Zeya, aged 21, is also in jail, given an eight-year sentence for attempting to report on a series of bombings in Rangoon in April 2010. Both father and son were reporters working on a clandestine basis for the DVB. Sithu Zeya has been tortured in Insein Prison, according to media watchdog Reporters Sans Frontiers. Maung Maung Zeya's conviction came soon after a blogger Nat Soe (real name Kaung Myat Hlaing) was given a 10-year jail sentence under the Electronics Act, joining more than 20 other journalists who have been given lengthy prison sentences for merely functioning as arms of Burma's "fourth estate." To compare, a Cambodian World Food Program staff member was given a six-month jail sentence in Cambodia, after downloading and printing material from KI Media, a political blog that runs material critical of the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) and Prime Minister Hun Sen. While the sentence was light compared to those handed out in Burma, the fact that it was issued at all is a cause for concern, said Sopheap Chak. Online and new media have been slow to take off in both countries, but for different reasons. Most of Cambodia's 100,000 or so Internet users are concentrated in the capital and other cities (and in Phnom Penh fast and free WiFi is easily available in many cafés and restaurants). Low levels of English literacy, scant rural electricity supply and lack of disposable income mean that widespread use of Khmer script web browsers on mobile phones will be needed if the country's Internet usage is to increase. Burma has slightly more Internet users than Cambodia, though those absolute numbers are weighed against the respective populations in both countries, Cambodia's 15 million against Burma's estimated 48 million or more. In Cambodia, there are 30 Internet service providers (ISPs), an open market in stark contrast to Burma's rigidly monitored Internet service. However, depending on which ISP, KI Media might be blocked or it might be accessible. There has been no formal order issued to block or censor the site, but it appears that behind-the-scenes deals between the government and some ISPs have seen the blog disappear in several places. Mobile phones are much more widely used in Cambodia than Burma, with an estimated 6.4 million subscribers being fought for by nine service providers, all offering low-cost phones and deals. According to United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP), Cambodia was the first country in the world to have more mobile phone subscribers than landlines—with the paucity of the latter contributing to the low level of Internet usage outside the urban areas. Perhaps these statistics prompted Hun Sen's recent outburst dismissing the likelihood of a Tunisia-style revolt in his country, which apparently has little chance of an Internet-facilitated public demonstration. However, in another marked difference with Burma, public protests at land grabs and forced evictions related to Chinese investment and development projects are a growing phenomenon, perhaps enough to make the Cambodian elites nervous. For now, at least, perhaps old-school SMS-organized rallies are more of a threat, something like the 2001 street demonstrations in Manila, that helped depose then-president of the Philippines, Joseph Estrada. Not for nothing, perhaps, that the CPP banned text messaging on the eve of the 2007 elections in Cambodia. According to the Burmese government, just 1.3 million Burmese use mobile phones. For Burmese wanting to talk to the outside world, the prohibitive costs—around US $4.50 per minute to call the United States in a country with an average per capita income of $469—have made Internet-based telephony such as Skype increasingly popular. However the government recently ordered a ban on such services, a telling irony coming so soon after campaigners against sanctions on Burma asked the West to stop "isolating" the country's people.  | ||||
| Bird flu risk "under control", say health experts Posted: 18 Apr 2011 08:45 AM PDT April 18, 2011 PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (IRIN) – Health officials in Cambodia stress that they have not let down their guard against H5N1, despite four fatal cases of human avian flu this year, and are confident the community-based detection, surveillance and containment model remains robust and effective. "There is no cause for alarm," Chea Nora, a technical officer within the Emerging Disease Surveillance and Response unit at the World Health Organization (WHO) in Phnom Penh, told IRIN. "Even though Cambodia is the only country [in the Mekong region] that has had cases this year, H5N1 is well under control here." The four deaths, in February and March, were the first reported cases of H5N1 in Cambodia since April last year and raised the number of cases in the country to 14 since 2005, 12 of which have been fatal, according to the communicable disease department at Cambodia's Ministry of Health. Nora said it was important to note that the cases occurred in different areas of the country, that laboratory tests indicated the virus was neither mutating nor getting stronger, and that the avian flu season, which corresponds with the dry season in Cambodia, from November to May, is nearing its end. However, he said interviews with villagers had revealed that some believed H5N1 was no longer a threat because there were no more radio alerts, which had been part of the national awareness campaign funded by USAID and the German government. Ly Sovann, deputy director of the communicable disease control department at Cambodia's health ministry, said an appeal to mobilize resources would be made at the next meeting of the H5N1 Technical Working Group at the end of this month. The group comprises officials from the health and agriculture ministries as well as NGOs, including the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Vision and Medicam (the umbrella group of health NGOs in Cambodia). Rapid response Sovann, the architect of Cambodia's detection, surveillance and containment model for communicable diseases, stressed that the rapid response to each case of H5N1 demonstrated that his ministry had not let its guard down. The message that H5N1 remains a threat due to the severity of the disease and possibility that the virus might mutate is constantly reiterated by the minister to health officials at the provincial, district and commune levels, as well as village health volunteers, he said. The Rapid Response Team (RRT) comprises 1,200 people and covers the entire country, he said. Investigations are conducted in every village where there is a case to discover the source of infection and trace all those who had been in contact with the patient, he said. Two-week COMBI (communication for behavioral impact) campaigns are also conducted using flyers, loud-speakers mounted on motorcycles and house-to-house visits by RRT staff. One difficulty with awareness campaigns about H5N1 is that "the disease is more alarming to health officials than it is to people due to the small number of cases and limited transmission of the virus", he said. "Ongoing, sustainable health campaigns are required," he said, noting that rural Cambodians were more concerned with hunger, dengue fever, malaria, cholera, diarrhoea and road accidents because they were more prevalent threats. Nora agreed that rising food insecurity in rural Cambodia was a risk factor for H5N1 because hungry families were more likely to eat sick chickens. Funding for the country's national H5N1 education campaign dried up at the end of 2008 and the ministry has relied on alerts posted online, text messages sent to staff at health centres throughout the country and a national hotline since then. According to the WHO, bird flu has killed 320 people in 12 countries since 2003, the vast majority in Asia.  | ||||
| Posted: 18 Apr 2011 07:08 AM PDT Law on the Establishment of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia for the Prosecution of Crimes Committed During the Period of Democratic Kampuchea ("ECCC Law") with inclusion of amendments as promulgated on 27 October 2004 CHAPTER I GENERAL PROVISIONS Article 1 The purpose of this law is to bring to trial senior leaders of Democratic Kampuchea and those who were most responsible for the crimes and serious violations of Cambodian penal law, international humanitarian law and custom, and international conventions recognized by Cambodia, that were committed during the period from 17 April 1975 to 6 January 1979.  | ||||
| Opposition Leader Sam Rainsy' visit to the Swedish Parliament Posted: 18 Apr 2011 01:04 AM PDT
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| Posted: 18 Apr 2011 12:48 AM PDT
Apr 18, 2011 PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia's royal palace says King Norodom Sihamoni has gone to China for a medical checkup, but no details about his health have been given. The palace says in a brief statement that the constitutional monarch flew to Beijing on Monday. The statement does not say how long he'll stay or whether there's a particular reason for his checkup. Keo Puth Puth Reasmey, a brother-in-law of the king, told reporters at the airport that the king was advised by his Chinese doctors to have a medical checkup every six months. The 57-year-old Sihamoni assumed the throne in October 2004 after his father, King Norodom Sihanouk, abruptly abdicated due to ill health.  | ||||
| មកហើយទៅវិញហៅថា… “They come and go” Posted: 18 Apr 2011 12:37 AM PDT
17 April 2011 Everyday.com.kh Translated from Khmer by Soch Hero King Norodom Sihanouk, his queen, Norodom Monineat Sihanouk, have all left Phnom Penh at 9AM on 18 April to return back  | ||||
| Posted: 18 Apr 2011 12:26 AM PDT
Source: http://www.cineman.gr/content/view/822/122/lang,en/ Rich in big names the official selection of Cannes 2011. Pedro Almodovar secured once again a place in this year's Cannes with his The Skin that I inhabit, in which he teams again with Antonio Banderas. Terence Malick's Tree of Life, a supernatural existential thriller with Brad Pitt and Sean Penn finally made it, and was ready for this year's festival. Aki Kaurismaki is again a contender with his "Le Havre", and Lars Von Trier brings his more subdued "Melancholia" into the Croisette. Dardenne brothers are here "The Kid with the bike", but also two Italians: Paolo Sorrentino "This must be the place", and Nani Moretti, with "We have a pope". Britain competes with Lynn Ramsey "We need to talk about Kevin". Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris is shown in the festival premiere (out of competition), as well as the next installment of Pirates of the Caribbean and Kung Fu Panda 2. Notably absent are Yorgos Lanthimos with Alps, and Hirokazu Kore-eda with "I wish". ... Out of Competition: ... (Special Screenings): "Le maître des forges de l'enfer," directed by Rithy Panh ------------------ SÉLECTION OFFICIELLE - SÉANCES SPÉCIALES "Le Maître des forges de l'enfer", de Rithy Panh pour Le Monde.fr | 15.04.11 | 17h37 Né en 1964 au Cambodge, rescapé des camps de travail des Khmers Rouges, Rithy Panh est arrivé en France en 1980. Le réalisateur franco-cambodgien exerce un travail de mémoire à travers le cinéma : cette fois, il suit le procès de Duch, l'un des principaux responsables de la répression meurtrière qui s'est abattue sur le Cambodge. Translation from Le Monde, 15 April 2011 Born in 1964 in Cambodia, a survivor of the Khmer Rouge labor camps, Rithy Panh arrived in France in 1980. The French-Cambodian filmmaker has been working on memories through film: this time, he followed the trial of Duch, one of the main person responsible for the murderous repression that befell on Cambodia.  | ||||
| Henchman Cheam Yeap rejects Sam Rainsy’s accusation on his bosses Posted: 18 Apr 2011 12:10 AM PDT
Everyday.com.kh Translated from Khmer by Soch Regarding the declaration made by opposition leader Sam Rainsy linking the current CPP leaders to the Khmer Rouge leaders, Cheam Yeap, a henchman of the CPP regime and a CPP MP, rejected this accusation. He also warned that Sam Rainsy could face another lawsuit because of such accusation. Cheam Yeab said: "If the three Samd-achs – Samd-ach Chea Xim, Samd-ach Hun Xen and Samd-ach Heng Xamrin – give an eye signal to the lawyers, these lawyers could sue Mr. Sam Rainsy and the latter could face more jail time. (sic!) But, I know that Mr. Sam Rainsy is desperate, he wants to return back home, this is why he raises one issue after another." Cheam Yeap added that Samd-ach Chea Xim, Samd-ach Hun Xen and Samd-ach Heng Xamrin knew that Pol Pot was a traitor to the nation and he killed people, that's why these KR traitors fled to Vietnam to form the 02 December 1978 movement to liberate people from the KR regime [KI-Media Note: Vietnam said they were the one who liberated Cambodia, Hun Xen, Chea Xim and Heng Xamrin only hitched a ride with them.]  | ||||
| Sam Rainsy demands a trial for the CPP leaders Posted: 17 Apr 2011 11:53 PM PDT
17 April 2011 Radio Free Asia Translated from Khmer by Soch Click here to read the original article in Khmer On 17 April 2008, opposition leader Sam Rainsy accused Hor 5 Hong, the Cambodian minister of Foreign Affairs, of being the Boeung Trabek jail chief during the Khmer Rouge regime. On 17 April 2011, opposition leader Sam Rainsy insisted that the KR Tribunal (KRT) sentences Kaing Kek Iev aka Duch, the Tuol Sleng (S-21) jail chief, to life in prison, and he also asked that the KRT should not limit itself to Cases 001 and 002 only, but it should also take on Case 003 and Case 004 as well. Sam Rainsy's call was made during a ceremony held at the Choeung Ek Killing Field Memorial where 36 Buddhist monks were invited to preside over the event. More than 100 opposition activists also participated in the ceremony to commemorate the 36th anniversary of the KR takeover which took place on 17 April 1975. Opposition leader Sam Rainsy said during his video conference to the ceremony that sentencing Cases 001 and 002 alone is not sufficient. He added: "The new KR generation, the group of Chea Sim, Hun Xen, Heng Xamrin, they use to celebrate 17 April because they consider this date as the date of their victory. This means that they are Khmer Rouge who were involved in the killing of their people and that they are criminals. And one day, they will be brought to face justice by the International court." Documents showed that at Choeung Ek pond, the KR brought in more than 20,000 people to bury in a mass grave. The dead people were KR prisoners brought over from the Tuol Sleng jail and other places. They were all killed in this common grave. Chan Kim Suong, a SRP activist from Dangkao district, Phnom Penh city, declared during the ceremony that she is still hurt by the KR regime up to now: "Because of Nuon Chea, they killed numerous members of my family. I cannot accept this, please take me to sentence them also so that I can be satisfied." In reaction to Sam Rainsy's demand, Dim Sovannarom, a spokesman for the KRT, said that the KRT cannot do anything beyond its limit as stipulated in the agreement between the UN and the Cambodian government: "The ECCC's mission is to find justice for all the victims. And there are two important points: all works must be based on the law, based on the agreements that the law has stipulated." He indicated that the top echelon of the KRT will announce the closure of all appeals in Case 001 for Duch in June 2011, after the KRT Trial Chamber announced its sentence of 35-year jail time for Duch. The KRT will start the trial of Case 002 by mid-2011. Case 002 involves Ieng Sary, Khieu Samphan, Nuon Chea and Mrs. Ieng Thirith as the accused. On 27 October 2010, Hun Xen told UN Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon in Phnom Penh that he will not allow Case 003, i.e. the cases are limited only up to Case 002 due to national instability concerns.  | ||||
| Shame on the [Thai Xayaburi] dam builders Posted: 17 Apr 2011 11:08 PM PDT 18/04/2011 Bangkok Post Editorial The dispute over whether to build the first hydro-electric dam on our region's share of the Mekong River has reached an abysmal low point. Governments, businesses and bankers have broken their understanding with Lao residents and civil society. Backers of the Xayaburi dam in northern Laos were to submit plans to this week's meeting of the Mekong River Commission (MRC) in Vientiane. Instead, as eyewitnesses reported in this newspaper yesterday, preparatory work on the dam is well under way, and residents are already being moved out. Presumably, officials will now weasel and warp the intent of the process. We can expect something along the line of, well, workmen are not working on the actual dam, just preparing the way. And, well, local residents are resigned to moving and so approached authorities to offer to leave the area. No one will believe such statements, but there is no chance that anyone connected with this sneaky endeavour will actually play straight with the public. Laos, of course, has the right to build what it wants, when it wants, on its territory. But the international community has a huge stake in this Mekong River project, especially the countries downstream. Thailand has given effective political backing to the decision of the Lao government. That is because Thailand stands to be the major beneficiary of the Xayaburi dam, from start to finish. Thai firms are already at work on the project, and Thailand will receive all or most of the electricity produced by the finished dam. The next two countries along the river are strongly and publicly opposed to construction of the dam. Cambodia and Vietnam fear the project will block, slow or alter the flow of the mighty Mekong. Scientists and government authorities in both countries have protested the plans by Laos to build Xayaburi, and by inference have also blamed Thailand for backing it. Both countries need the Mekong to flood their bountiful rice fields in Cambodia's northwest, and in Vietnam's south, where the river finally flows into the South China Sea. They are not alone. Many local governments along the river are as vehemently opposed. In Chiang Khan district of Chiang Rai, the local government headed by Kamol Konpin already blames China for shifting and altering the river's flow. He fears ''more suffering'' because of Xayaburi. And the effect on one of nature's marvels, the giant catfish, has not been studied. Last month, activists and opponents tried to demonstrate there is strength in numbers. These dam sceptics mustered 263 non-government groups from 51 countries in a single, impressive effort. Their letter to Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong of Laos, however, went unacknowledged. Likewise, there is no sign of any change of heart because of the sudden high-profile opposition to the dam last week by US Senator Jim Webb, who was last seen in the region talking to the Burmese regime about human rights. The MRC is to hold a four-day meeting in Vientiane beginning tomorrow. By Friday, the group is supposed to be able to announce its final recommendation to the members on whether to build the Xayaburi dam. That announcement is clearly going to be an anti-climax. The sham promise to consult and then to decide whether to build Xayaburi should stand as an example of how not to proceed with huge public projects. Authorities involved should be ashamed of misleading their people and civil society.  | ||||
| 58 Cambodians killed, 484 injured in road accidents during Khmer New Year Posted: 17 Apr 2011 10:44 PM PDT PHNOM PENH, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Road accidents had killed 58 Cambodian people and injured another 484 during the celebration of the traditional Khmer New Year last week, according to a report from the Ministry of Interior's Public Order Department on Monday. The report showed that a total of 211 road accidents happened nationwide from April 13-17. Of the accidents, 33 percent were due to over-speed driving, 26 percent due to reckless driving, 20 percent due to alcohol driving and the rest due to overtaking and traffic law violation. Last year, 49 people were killed and 530 others injured in accidents over the Khmer New Year's holiday. Road accident in Cambodia is the second largest danger after HIV/AIDS. In 2010, road accidents killed 1,709 people in Cambodia.  | ||||
| The will to live is inspirational Posted: 17 Apr 2011 10:42 PM PDT
Monday, April 18, 2011 Manan M. Desai The Daily Evergreen (Washington State, USA) Growing up and experiencing the evolution of life is a very dynamic, and sometimes sore, process. To soften this blow and to look for personal inspiration, everyone goes through some form of hero worship at one point of time in their lives. For most, these heroes are your regular folk from every aspect of life who have, after considerable amounts of personal sacrifice, managed to achieve something extraordinary. I had the pleasure recently to shake hands with someone like that. Arn Chorn-Pond, a survivor of the Khmer Rouge genocides from Cambodia, gave a moving speech this week in the CUB Senior Ballroom. He is nothing short of a living legend and walking hero for the people of Cambodia and for many others around the world. There is something strikingly different about people who have gone through traumatic times and survived to tell the tale. There is a sense of hope and respect for life which is very unique. Chorn-Pond is no different. At a tender age of nine, Chorn-Pond lost his parents and 11 of his siblings in the mid-70's after Khmer Rouge came to power and systematically started to wipe out the native population. Along with Chorn-Pond's family, 1.7 million Cambodians were slaughtered – a humanitarian crisis similar to that of the Holocaust during World War II. Khmer Rouge specially took a liking toward the artist community. Ninety percent of Cambodia's performing artists were mercilessly wiped off the face of the Earth. Chorn-Pond survived by playing flute for his captors. He was forced to play revolutionary songs while others around him suffered on a daily basis. During his speech, Chorn-Pond mentioned how he would witness killings two to three times a day and how anyone who seemed remotely educated or even wore glasses was perceived as pernicious and immediately put to rest. Gathering enough courage, Chorn-Pond escaped into the Cambodian jungle and eventually made it to a refugee camp across the border in Thailand. There he met Peter Pond, a minister and U.S. aid worker. Pond brought him to the U.S. and officially adopted him in 1984. Chorn-Pond moved with Pond's family to Jefferson, New Hampshire. As if his experiences in Cambodia were not enough, he was further bullied and oppressed during his high school days for being different. But Chorn-Pond persevered and made it through that phase of his life as well. He went on to attend Brown University, an Ivy League school, with none other than former U.S. President Jimmy Carter's daughter, Amy Carter. It was heart-warming to hear Chorn-Pond speak candidly on how his life has changed for the better and the missions he has undertaken to improve life for Cambodians back home. He founded several human rights groups, like Children of War. He has also been instrumental for reviving traditional Cambodian arts by founding Cambodian Living Arts. He is also a recipient of multiple peace awards – the Reebok Human Rights Award, the Anne Frank Memorial Award and the Amnesty International Human Rights Award. Even though he has adapted and accepted life here in the U.S., Chorn-Pond was forthcoming enough to mention the materialistic nature of Western society in general. He urged students to focus on what is important in life rather than mere superficial things; an important message which resonated well with the ones who were in attendance. People like Arn Chorn-Pond are a shining beacon of hope, compassion and resilience in a world which is bent on self-mutilation and destruction. Without a doubt, Chorn-Pond is a real-life hero for Cambodians and surely an inspiring figure for many others, too.  | ||||
| International Symposium on oral history of Cambodians living in Montreal on May 5-7, 2011 Posted: 17 Apr 2011 10:30 PM PDT Chers compatriotes et amis , Le groupe Cambodge qui travaille depuis plus de 3ans en partenariat avec l'université Concordia pour l'histoire oral des Cambodgiens montréalais déplacés par la guerre, le génocide ainsi que toutes autres violations des droits de l'homme, vous invite chaleureusement à participer à notre colloque bilingue international qui aura lieu le 5, 6 et 7 Mai à l'université Concordia . Plusieurs conférenciers et invités intéressants sont invités à ce colloque . Pour les plus amples informations veuillez voir lien ci joint www.curakhmer.org Bonne journée Mme Channarét ------- Unofficial English translation by KI-Media Dear Compatriots and friends, The Cambodian group that has been working for over 3 years in partnership with Concordia University on an oral history of Cambodians in Montreal who was displaced by war, genocide and other human rights violations, warmly invites you to attend our International bilingual symposium to be held on 5, 6 and May 7 at Concordia University. Several interesting speakers and guests are invited to this symposium. For additional information please click on the following link www.curakhmer.org. Good day Ms. Channarét  | ||||
| Chet Tevtoat, Moat Tevoda - "Devadatta's heart with an angel's mouth": Poem in Khmer by Kaun Khmer Posted: 17 Apr 2011 10:16 PM PDT  Who is Devadatta? Source: http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/buddhism/lifebuddha/2_5lbud.htm Devadatta, the Buddha's Enemy Devadatta was the son of King Suppabuddha and his wife Pamita, who was an aunt of the Buddha. Devadatta's sister was Yasodhara, making him both a cousin and brother-in-law of the Buddha. Together with Ananda and other Sakyan princes, he entered the order of monks in the early part of the Buddha's ministry, but was unable to attain any stage of sainthood and so worked hard for the worldly psychic powers. In his early days, he was a good monk known for his grace and psychic powers. Later he became conceited with worldly gain and fame. As his ill-will and jealousy towards the Buddha increased, he became the greatest personal enemy of the Buddha. One day in a large assembly, which included kings and princes, Devadatta approached the Buddha and asked him to make him the leader of the Sangha. Since he was not capable and worthy enough, the Buddha turned down this request. Devadatta became very angry as a result and vowed to take revenge on the Buddha. Although Devadatta was an evil monk, he had many admirers and followers. One of his chief supporters was King Ajatasattu, with whom he discussed his anger and plots for revenge. Together they planned to kill King Ajatasattu's father and rival, King Bimbisara and Devadatta's enemy, the Buddha. Ajatasattu succeeded in killing his father, but Devadatta failed to kill the Buddha. His first attempt to kill the Buddha was to hire a man to kill the Blessed One. The plan was that the man be killed by two other men who would in turn be killed by four other men. Finally the four men would be killed by eight other men. But when the first man came close to the Buddha, he became frightened. He put aside his weapons and took refuge in the Buddha. Eventually all the men who were hired to kill one another became disciples of the Buddha and the cunning plan failed. Then Devadatta himself tried to kill the Buddha. When the Buddha was walking on the Vultures' Rock, Devadatta climbed to the peak and hurled a huge stone at the Buddha. On its way down, the rock struck another rock and a splinter flew and wounded the Buddha's foot, causing blood to flow. The Buddha looked up and seeing Devadatta, he remarked with pity, "Foolish man, you have done many unwholesome deeds for harming the Buddha." Devadatta's third attempt to kill the Blessed One was to make the fierce man-killer elephant, Nalagiri, drunk with liquor. When Nalagiri saw the Buddha coming at a distance, it raised its ears, tail and trunk and charged at him. As the elephant came close, the Buddha radiated his loving-kindness (metta) towards the elephant. So vast and deep was the Buddha's love that as the elephant reached the Buddha, it stopped, became quiet and stood before the Master. The Buddha then stroked Nalagiri on the trunk and spoke softly. Respectfully, the elephant removed the dust at the master's feet with its trunk, and scattered the dust over its own head. Then it retreated, with its head facing the Buddha, as far as the stable, and remained fully tamed. Usually elephants are tamed with whips and weapons, but the Blessed One tamed the elephant with the power of his loving-kindness. Still trying to be the leader of the Sangha, Devadatta tried yet another plan — a deceitful one. With the help of five hundred misled monks, he planned to split the Sangha community. He requested the Buddha to make it compulsory for monks to follow five extra rules:
Devadatta made this request, knowing full well that the Buddha would refuse it. Devadatta was happy that the Buddha did not approve of the five rules, and he used these issues to gain supporters and followers. Newly ordained monks who did not know the Dharma well left the Buddha and accepted Devadatta as their leader. Eventually, after Venerable Sariputta and Venerable Moggallana had explained the Dharma to them, they went back to the Buddha. After this, evil days fell on Devadatta. He fell very ill at the failure of his plans, and before his death he sincerely regretted his actions, and wanted to see the Buddha before he died. But the fruits of his evil karma had begun to ripen and prevented him from doing so. He grew desperately ill on the way to see the Buddha, near the gate of Jetavana monastery. But before he died he took refuge in the Buddha. Although he has to suffer in a woeful state because of his crimes, the holy life he led in the early part of his career ensured that Devadatta would become a Pacceka Buddha named Atthissara in the distant future. As a Pacceka Buddha he would be able to achieve Enlightenment by his own efforts.  | ||||
| Decision Looms for Laos Dam, but Impact Is Unclear Posted: 17 Apr 2011 10:05 PM PDT
April 17, 2011 By THOMAS FULLER The New York Times HOUAY SOUY, Laos — The Mekong River is so brown with silt as it passes this impoverished village, it could be called liquid dirt. For millions of people downstream this is the color of life: the Mekong, teeming with hundreds of species of fish and rich in minerals, has for centuries been the lifeline of villages and towns stretching from the rocky rapids of Tibet to the lazy meanderings of the river in the Vietnam delta. On Tuesday the four countries that share the lower reaches of the Mekong River will announce whether they agree to the construction of a controversial dam, a decision that could forever alter the character and natural diversity of one of the world's longest and most bountiful rivers. The proposed dam, known as the Xayaburi for the province in Laos where it is located, is a test case for a 1995 agreement signed by Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam to share the river's resources — its fish, water and the minerals carried by the silt that fertilize the soils of places like the Mekong Delta. The agreement, which called for a process of consultation on actions affecting the river, was seen as a major step toward greater cooperation for countries that a few decades ago, during the Vietnam War, were often at odds. But Laos appears to be undermining the spirit of that cooperation. All four countries retained the right to build dams with or without agreement by neighboring countries. And here at the proposed site of the Xayaburi Dam, work has been under way since November. The area is teeming with trucks and hundreds of workers who have cleared an access road, built barges and set up concrete mixing facilities. China, which was not part of the cooperation agreement, has already built four dams closer to the river's source. Yet the dam in Laos is considered by many as pivotal because it could affect fish migration patterns and kick off the construction of at least five other dams already slated for the lower reaches of the Mekong. Studies by experts on Xayaburi's environmental impact are filled with apprehension and criticism, doubts that may be the seeds of future conflicts between countries sharing the river. Senator Jim Webb, a Democrat from Virginia who heads the Senate's Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs, last week criticized the dam project for what he called a failure to meet international standards. He predicted that a lack of coordination between the countries that share the Mekong would have "devastating consequences." "The United States and the global community all have a strategic interest in averting regional conflict by preserving the health and well-being of the more than 60 million people who depend on the Mekong River," he said in a statement. The news media in Vietnam, which normally hew to the government's line, have been unusually critical of the project. Farmers in the Mekong Delta fear that an accumulation of dams on the river could reduce the volume of water that reaches Vietnam, exacerbating the problem of saltwater seeping into farming areas from the sea. A report published by the head office of the Mekong River Commission, the organization set up to coordinate dam projects on the river, described "fundamental gaps in knowledge" about how migratory fish would be affected by the dam. Experts hired by the commission estimated that the dam would curtail the migrations of anywhere from 23 to 100 species of fish. It described as "ineffective" a device proposed by the Thai construction company carrying out the project to allow fish to bypass the dam. And it said there was a "strong possibility" that one of the river's most distinctive species, a giant catfish that can exceed the weights of several full-grown men, would become extinct. But perhaps most striking is the commission's estimate that the dam's ability to produce electricity will be severely compromised within a few decades because the dam's reservoir will fill up with silt. (The plan calls for a generating capacity of 1,285 megawatts, enough to power a small or medium-size city; most of the electricity will be sold to Thailand under an agreement already signed between the dam's builder and a Thai utility company.) "It is expected that under proposed operating conditions, the reservoir would effectively lose about 60 percent of its capacity due to sedimentation after 30 years," the commission's report says. Thus, critics say, the dam will have permanent consequences for life in the river, including possible extinction of larger species, but may only produce several decades of electricity. The Laotian government has responded to questions and criticisms about the dam with a stout defense of the project. The dam, which is situated between steep hills and will span a distance of about eight football fields, will have the same impact as a "natural waterfall," the government said in response to the report by the Mekong River Commission. Embracing hydropower will alleviate the need for "big power plants which cause a lot of pollution," the government said. "Hydropower project development which is a green energy shall be strongly promoted and supported," it concluded in its response. Landlocked and sparsely populated, Laos is counting on revenues from hydropower to help lift the country out of poverty and finance government programs. The government says it plans to become "the battery" of Asia with a total of 70 hydroelectric projects, 10 of which are already in operation. The Xayaburi Dam would take seven years to build. CH. Karnchang, the Thai construction company carrying out the project, refused to allow a reporter to visit the proposed dam site. But it was possible to reach it by chartering a boat and walking several kilometers along the river bank. In villages near the dam site people seem divided about the project. The government has proposed moving people who live in villages that will be flooded by the dam's reservoir to a spot farther upstream and says it will provide electricity, which they currently do not have. But some villagers said they were told their new dwellings would not be along the riverbank. "The government has already told us three times that we need to move out," said Sripan Sukaew, a fisherman who lives in this village overlooking the dam site. "I've been fishing since I was born. This is better than working as a day laborer in Bangkok."  |
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