KI Media: “Democracy roots spread in Southeast Asia” plus 24 more

Fifteen years ago I published a book on political change in Southeast Asia. I gave it the title Trimming the Banyan Tree.

The book, rather controversially for the time, predicted no great wave of democracy sweeping across the region. "The prevailing political cultures of the region are proving resistant to change," I wrote. "Strong leadership, supported by an enduring culture of patronage remains a characteristic feature of the more economically successful states...."

For all the liberal triumphalism of the post-Cold War era, I saw no swift or linear progression towards greater pluralism and democracy in Southeast Asia; rather I predicted a slow, gradual pace of reform, subject to setbacks. "It is easier for ruling elites to trim the banyan tree at their convenience," I wrote at the time, "harder for activists to muster the strength to hack off whole limbs."

Looking at Southeast Asia today I would say I was partly wrong, but sadly also partly right. I was partly wrong in the sense that democracy has made significant advances in the region - notably in Indonesia. I was partly right because we have also seen parallel advances in political reform rolled back in countries like Malaysia, Thailand and also arguably in Cambodia and Myanmar - where even marginal openings since the 1990s have been closed. Some commentators have characterized surprising gains made by the opposition in the recent Singapore elections as a "tsunami", but half a dozen seats in parliament at the expense of a couple of senior ministers is more of an unusually high tide than a tsunami.

The mid-1990s, when I was writing Trimming the Banyan Tree, were years of social and economic change and upheaval. The post-Cold War era lent impetus to liberal notions of democracy and human rights in Asia. Across the region, old sclerotic autocracies were forced to give way to reform. This process was greatly accelerated by the financial crisis that hit the so-called tiger economies in 1997-98. Indonesia's long transition to multi-party, freewheeling democracy got underway.

But there was no great avalanche of change. Unlike the Arab Spring we are currently witnessing in the Middle East and North Africa, there has been no chain-reaction across borders in Southeast Asia. Indonesia's democratic transition has had little or no impact on politics in neighboring Malaysia or in Myanmar, for example. The main reason for this is language. In the Middle East, Arabic is the lingua franca at all levels of society; here in Southeast Asia, the common language is English, which is mostly spoken at the elite level and thus among power holders.

Modern forms of strong leadership and one party rule, often led or backed by military might, prevail across much of mainland Southeast Asia. The region is home to two Communist Party dominated states (Vietnam and Laos) and two countries where the military determines political direction (Myanmar and Thailand). In Malaysia racially defined politics makes for virtual one-party rule with the military taking a back seat to sweeping internal security laws wielded by a strong police force.

To be sure there is more respect for basic human rights than there was 15 years ago - though some may question this in times of upheaval. But there is little sign that entrenched notions of paternalistic rule exercised by strong leaders are disappearing in the face of genuine popular sovereignty. Even in Indonesia there is something of a hankering for the strong leadership of former dictator Suharto, and bureaucratic reform aimed at instilling greater transparency and equality has ground to a halt. Some in Jakarta even talk of a democracy recession.

Why is this so? What makes political change in Southeast Asia so challenging? Why is democracy so imperfectly in place after such a long struggle spanning many decades? And why is successful political reform subject to regression?

Firstly, changes to traditional social and cultural norms in Southeast Asia have been slow to occur. This social inertia tends to reinforce acceptance of strong leadership, it generates low expectations from more autonomous forms of political behavior, and above all sustains receptiveness to the obligations of patronage. Across the region, political parties tend to act as vehicles for bringing individuals to power rather than representing the interests of voters.

In Thailand I have been asking the question of the coming July 3 election: Will voters be swayed by the critical issues of truth, justice and the need for reform thrown up by the upheaval of May last year? The answer I get from almost everyone is "no" - it's still the money that counts.

Secondly, economic growth, though impressive, has trickled down unevenly. Rural areas in particular are prone to high levels of poverty that maintains dependency on government handouts and patronage, reinforcing respect for leaders who deliver from the top down. The resilient faith placed in strong leadership represents the survival of an arcane social contract that entrusts social harmony and economic management to a firm patriarch aided by a few mandarins. "In the fields there is rice, in the water there is fish" promised the ancient Thai Kings.

As a result of this surprising degree of social and economic inertia, Southeast Asia's paternalistic leadership models have adapted rather than yielded to demands for pluralism. Great stress is placed on the formal legitimacy conferred by constitutions and elections, rather than their meaning in terms of meeting popular aspirations for change. The rules of democracy tend to be engineered to favor power holders and greatly inhibit abrupt changes of order. In any case, the batteries of draconian security laws available to governments in most countries of the region create barriers to effective protest for change.

Momentum for change

That said, there are recent trends that suggest the coming decade will see more rather than less momentum for political change. These factors could well be enhancers and accelerators of political change.

The first factor is the rise of populist politics. The 1997-98 Asian financial crisis generated popular discontent with old established elites regarded as corrupt and excessively rich, opening the door to populist figures appealing to the frustrated middle classes who lost their wealth and those who felt excluded from power. Joseph Estrada in the Philippines and Thaksin Shinawatra in Thailand rode the crest of this wave. The new populist politics has shaken the foundations of established elites and opened the door to more radical social change.

Mobile phone services and the Internet have proven to be powerful agents for mobilizing popular support. More important than the sheer numbers that can be mobilized using mobile phone messaging and the Internet is the ability of the new technology to spread consistent messages and consolidate popular constituencies around platforms for change.

Thailand's Red Shirt movement was effectively launched on the back of the ability to digitally shape and transmit a simple but powerful message that differentiated between the haves and have-less - the "amart" or aristocrats and the "phrai" or peasants. In Singapore, muscular media management couldn't cope with the power of social networking and instant messaging that drew huge crowds to the political rallies organized by weak opposition parties and transformed their lawyerly candidates into virtual rock stars.

The major driving force of political change today is pressure from civil society. Across Southeast Asia, people are organizing themselves at the community level to challenge the power holders. Above all, they are able to do so because of the modest opening of space and respect for human rights. In Indonesia, civil society and a free media hold the line against backtracking on bureaucratic reform and a subtle but noticeable impulse to restore central authority and moving away from the decentralization that has helped reduce conflict.

Equally, civil society is more focused on the needs of ordinary people. For much of the last 30 years - especially after the collapse of the Soviet Union and Communist Eastern Europe, religion replaced socialism as a basis of salvation ideology in the region. However, religious faith is a less effective mobilizer of political change because it is either innately conservative or too far out on the radical fringe to move the mainstream of society. This would appear to be changing with the rise of new neo-socialist movements on the back of populist politics.

Add to this the real chance of deeper and long-lasting recession around the corner combined with the factors mentioned above and this will make it harder for the kind of V-shaped recovery needed to protect the political status quo. One of the inhibitors of sweeping democratic change in the past was the ability of conservative elites to re-invent themselves as democrats in time to prevent the mobilization of mass-based movements with the real capacity to change the status quo. This kind of moderation will be harder to sustain in a prolonged period of economic stress.

If the pace of democratic change in Southeast Asia has been slow and subject to regression these past few decades, what would accelerated and sustained change look like? Will it bring violence? And what form of democracy will evolve? These are tough questions to answer. What we see in the Middle East provides a clue and a warning to what happens when long pent up frustrations boil over and people are willing to subject themselves to violence and even civil war in order to bring down the old autocratic order.

Here in Southeast Asia, fundamentally anti-democratic elites long ago learned to release pressure for change with piecemeal reforms, symbolic gestures and modest but limited measures of popular sovereignty. I coined the term "Trimming the Banyan Tree" but you could also call it "Democracy light". The region's fast-paced growth of consumption has generally dampened frustrations and provided a sufficient accommodation between the growing aspirations of ordinary people and narrow elite interests. So long as the economic dynamism of this region continues, I see no reason why this should change.

All this is not to say that democracy has shallow roots in Southeast Asia. US President Barack Obama during his visit to Jakarta in November 2010 told Indonesians that "your democracy is sustained and fortified by its checks and balances: a dynamic civil society; political parties and unions; a vibrant media and engaged citizens who have ensured that - in Indonesia - there will be no turning back."

In other countries of the region too, the key to moving forward is to thwart the anti-reformist urges of resilient anti-democratic elites by ensuring a prominent space for civil society and respect for truth and justice that constitutes the basis for equality.

Political Change in Southeast Asia: Trimming the Banyan Tree was published by Routledge in 1996. Michael Vatikiotis has since remained a keen observer of the political landscape in the region, but has not felt the urge to revise his thesis. This article is adapted from a presentation he made in his personal capacity to the Political Development Council of Thailand in May 2011.

10 June 2011

In response to a letter from French MP Nicolas Dupont-Aignan who asked him to specify France's position regarding the situation of Cambodia's opposition leader Sam Rainsy, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppé wrote a letter dated 26 May 2011 saying notably, "Mr Sam Rainsy lost his parliamentary immunity and was prosecuted several times. As of today he has been sentenced to a total of fourteen years in prison. We are concerned by these sentences. Paying attention to the respect for the rights of the opposition in Cambodia, France has insisted several times on the importance of guaranteeing the effective exercise of these rights, especially when they concern parliamentarians. Our Embassy in Phnom Penh, together with our partners from the European Union, seizes every suitable opportunity to remind the Cambodian authorities of the importance we attach to the democratic debate (…). [France] will continue to follow the situation of members of the Cambodian opposition with the utmost vigilance."

Please read Mr Juppé's full letter in the attached file.

____________________

10 Juin 2011

En réponse à une lettre de M. Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, Député de l'Essonne, lui demandant de préciser la position de la France concernant la situation du chef de l'opposition au Cambodge, le Ministre français des Affaires étrangères, M. Alain Juppé a écrit une lettre datée du 26 mai 2011 dans laquelle on peut lire: "M. Sam Rainsy a perdu son immunité parlementaire et a été traduit en justice à de multiples reprises. Il fait aujourd'hui l'objet d'une condamnation à quatorze années de prison au total. Ces condamnations ne sauraient nous laisser indifférents. Attentive au respect des droits de l'opposition au Cambodge, la France a insisté à de nombreuses reprises sur l'importance de garantir l'exercice effectif de ces droits, notamment s'agissant des parlementaires. Notre Ambassade à Phnom Penh, en liaison avec nos partenaires de l'Union européenne, saisit chaque occasion utile pour rappeler aux autorités cambodgienne notre attachement au débat démocratique (…). [La France] continuera de suivre la situation des membres de l'opposition cambodgienne avec la plus grande vigilance."

Veuillez lire l'intégralité de la lettre de M. Juppé dans le fichier ci-joint.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgqEsbgtm0g&feature=youtu.be

Thai security authorities arrested a Cambodian, a Vietnamese and a Thai man for espionage in a village adjacent to Cambodia in Si Sa Ket province.

Police and paramilitary soldiers in Kantharalak district arrested the three men - Suchart Muhammad, 32, Ung Kimtai, 43 from Cambodia, and Wiang Tengyang, 37 from Vietnam - in Ban Phum Srol village at 5pm on Tuesday.

According to Sompoj Khomprang, chief of Kantharalak police, Mr Suchart, was driving a Bangkok-registered pickup with the other two men on board.

Police said the three were driving around paramilitary bases and bunkers that the government had built for villagers and pinpointing the locations.

Authorities also seized four mobile phones from the suspects.

The authorities also administered urine tests to the three suspects and found that Mr Suchart and Mr Ung Kimtai allegedly tested positive for methamphetamines. Both confessed to consuming the drug, police said.

The three suspects were charged with espionage. Mr Suchart and Mr Ung Kimtai faced an additional charge of drug abuse.

Pol Col Sompoj said intelligence officers of the army's Suranaree Task Force and Kantharalak police had been aware beforehand that the group had entered Thailand to identify the locations of military bases near the Cambodian border.

The countries clashed over the border spat in February, April and May.

Meanwhile, a platoon of Cambodian soldiers will join a US-led peace-keeping drill in Prachuap Khiri Khan province from June 13 to July 1. They will be among soldiers from 13 countries in the drill, code-named Ayara Guardian 2011.

TWENTY kilometres (12½ miles) down the Mekong river from the capital, Phnom Penh, a new container terminal is taking shape on a 30-hectare site. Upstream, two new ports are planned. Whereas other countries that share the mighty waterway favour dams and power plants, the Cambodians are turning the Mekong into a commercial highway. As Sam Olan, the deputy director of the container terminal argues, the project is tailored to the war-ravaged country's needs: transport by water is cheaper than by road and requires less maintenance—and there are not many good roads anyway.

Like much else in Cambodia today, the new port is being built by the Chinese; 50 or so Chinese engineers and technicians live on site. The Cambodians are confident they will get their new port quickly and on time (it is due to open next year)—one of many reasons why the Chinese are welcome there, as in other poor countries.

As one of the poorest countries in South-East Asia struggles to end its dependence on foreign aid, the Chinese presence has become pervasive. Just down river from the new container terminal is the huge Chinese-built Prek Tamak bridge, which opened last year. The Cambodian prime minister, Hun Sen, recently broke ground on a $46m Chinese-built road linking the capital to the coastal province of Kampot. There, a new Chinese-built hydroelectric power station is about to begin operation—supplying, by one official estimate, half of Cambodia's demand for power. The Chinese plan to build three more. Overall, China accounts for almost half the foreign investment in the country.

China is everywhere, of course. What makes Cambodia unusual is that China has a rival there. Neighbouring Vietnam has had a prickly relationship with Cambodia. Few Cambodians forget that Vietnam invaded their country in 1979, overthrowing the murderous regime of Pol Pot, and then occupied it for ten years. Yet Vietnam is now devoting a lot of time and money to investing in its neighbour.

Trade between the two countries expanded from $950m in 2006 to $1.8 billion last year. In the first two months of this year two-way trade reached $382m, up 65% compared with the same period in 2010. Vietnamese investment is now worth around $2 billion, spread over a bewildering variety of industries, including retailing, agriculture and telecoms. A subsidiary of Viettel, the Vietnamese state telecoms operator, started operations in Cambodia in 2009 yet already has 42% of the mobile market. The company, Metfone, has built many of Cambodia's mobile masts and laid 16,000km of fibre-optic cable, 80% of the network. It also provides handsets to the army.

Other Asian countries are also coming in. Until Vietnam elbowed its way up the league table, South Korea was the second-biggest investor, mainly in construction and banking. It has a vast new trade hall on one of Phnom Penh's smarter boulevards. Thai investors have been buying hotels, and Taiwan has a toehold.

.More commercial investment must be good news for Cambodia. But in a country that has for centuries been squeezed by bigger neighbours, the scramble raises concerns about sovereignty—and these are exploited to the full by the small but vocal opposition. It uses Vietnam's projects to attack Hun Sen, the prime minister who (it claims) owes his career to Vietnamese political meddling. And it argues that China's vast presence risks turning the country into a vassal of the Middle Kingdom.

The evidence so far is that Cambodia is using the largesse without being swamped by it. Unlike many other countries that China invests in, tiny Cambodia, with a population of just 14m, has no oil or minerals to trade in return, so China's interest seems to be to gain an ally in ASEAN, the regional block. China claims that its help comes with no strings attached, and so far there has been only one recorded instance of China exploiting its economic presence for political ends (it persuaded Cambodia to return 20 Uighur asylum-seekers in 2009). The Vietnamese foray might be partly strategic too. Vietnam wants to counter the expansion of China which is seen as having hostile ambitions in the disputed South China Sea (see Banyan). If so, Cambodia is enjoying being fought over, and plays one off against the other.

It helps that some of the new influences in Cambodia are not exclusively Asian. The new Cambodian elite looks westward more than it has done for a long while, especially to America. English is more widely spoken than in any other country in the region, and the hundreds of English-language schools that have opened up are packed. Two deputy prime ministers sent their sons to college in America, and Hun Sen's eldest son (and probable successor) went to the West Point military academy.

For the moment Cambodia seems unlikely to fall into any particular sphere of influence. Given its neighbours' size and clout, that is a remarkable—and remarkably difficult—balancing act.

Six AM breakfast in Phnom Penh followed by a 4 hour drive up North to Battambang lands us in Koh Kroloh district of the province. The more off-road our journey gets the closer we get to the village, where landless people are having their sesame crops destroyed by what is being recalled as "the others".

The land we stand on used to be a forest occupied by the Khmer Rouge, before integrating with the Royal Government Forces in 1997, and is now being seized by army chiefs. Despite the fact that the land is state owned, meaning that it is available for social concessions- for landless people, high ranking officials as well as private parties secretly want to keep this land as private. The issue has been brought up by landless farmers who have came from neighbouring districts in hope of harvesting state land as a mean for their livelihoods. The government on the provincial level has refused to come in and take control of the situation, leaving actions taken on this land highly questionable and evidently harmful for the landless farmers who have been residing the area for a number of years now.

After meeting with the farmers and investigating the damaged fields, Sochua, her team and the victims were brought to the local police station to personally discuss land issues with the authorities.

Sochua holding sesame crops

Landless farmer, victim of land mine

Walking towards destroyed field.

Sochua talking with farmers about their destroyed land.

Investigating destroyed sesame crops.

Local transportation.

Farmers were brought to police station to discuss land issues with local authorities.

Sam Rainsy Party member at work.

The Phnom Penh Post is proud to have won the 2011 Society of Publishers in Asia awards for Breaking News and Multimedia, as well as receiving second place for business reporting.

The Post's coverage of the Diamond Island tragedy, in which 353 people were killed in a stampede on the final day of Cambodia's annual water festival, received first place for Excellence in reporting breaking news. 

The Verdict , our extensive interactive online package covering of the trial of the first suspect tried for the crimes committed by the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime, Kaing Guek Eav alias Duch, was awarded first prize for Excellence in Multimedia News Presentation.

The article Mystery Firm Sparks Investment Warning, an exposé of a dubious local property firm that led to the arrests of two of the group's managing directors, took out second prize for Excellence in Business Reporting.

Congratulations to award winners, Tep Nimol, May Titthara, David Boyle, Andy Ball, Seth Meixner, Jake Shoneker, Buth Reaksmey Kongkea, James O'Toole and all the Post staff who helped us win Excellence in Reporting Breaking News.

Thai Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon reportedly said this weekend that Thailand would disregard any ruling from the International Court of Justice requiring a troop withdrawal as requested by Cambodia, appearing to foreshadow another stalemate in the border standoff.

Thani Thongphakdi, spokesman for the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said yesterday, however, that Prawit was "quoted out of context" and Thailand would comply with the ICJ.

"All along, we have always said that we would respect the decision of the Court of International Justice," he said.

Koy Kuong, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, declined to comment in detail yesterday. "It's up to them, you know.... We don't care what they said," he said.

Cambodia petitioned the ICJ on April 28 to order Thailand to remove troops from a patch of territory adjacent to the Preah Vihear temple claimed by both sides, and also asked the court to render an "interpretation" as to how its 1962 decision that granted sovereignty over Preah Vihear to Cambodia affects the unmarked border.

The court heard arguments in The Hague at the end of last month, and may issue a decision within weeks on the first question. Whether and to what extent the 1962 ruling affects the border is a query expected to take the court much longer to decide.

Meanwhile, Thailand has rejected Cambodian allegations that Thai fighter jets violated Cambodian airspace in a letter sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"In essence, we had reiterated that the Thai military had not violated Cambodian airspace and that the allegations made were groundless, particularly the allegations that [were] trying to portray this [as] preparation of future offences," Thani said.

Koy Kuong said Cambodia had "clear evidence" to support their claims.

"Normally, a robber never, never confesses his mistakes [or] his guilt," he added.

Lieut. Gen Nguyen Trung Thu, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army, met with visiting General Quan Siem, Commander of the Engineer Corp of the Cambodian Royal Army in Hanoi on June 8.

At the meeting, Lieut. Gen Thu spoke highly of fruitful cooperation between the two countries' engineer corps in exchanging professional skills in bomb and mine clearance, building defence establishments, using special equipments in training and coping with natural disasters.

Vietnam was asked to help Cambodia set up an army engineer school and provide technical training for the Cambodian Royal Army's engineers.

The Pepper Project is a nonprofit organization committed to establishing a market for Cambodian products in the United States. Founders Cris Peterson and Tom Gordon decided to pursue this project as a means to help Cambodian pepper farmers reestablish themselves after the civil war.

Kampot black pepper is an intense pepper with a strong aroma. According to the Pepper Project, the pepper is grown organically and each pouch is traceable to the grower. Kampot pepper is the only Cambodian product that is protected by geographical indication, a sign of an authentic product.

The project is currently working with other nonprofits such as Daughters of Cambodia and the International Princess Project. Both of these organizations provide job training to former sex workers so that they can live and work independently in their communities. The Pepper Project purchases bags, pouches and punjammies (100% cotton pajamas made in India) from them.

For more information on this organization or to purchase products, visit http://www.pepperproject.org.

Amnesty International is gravely concerned that the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) are moving towards dismissing the cases against additional suspects, amid an atmosphere of excessive and unnecessary secrecy, disciplinary measures jeopardising prosecutors' independence and reports of political intervention.

As a result, there is an increased risk of undermining the ECCC's core mission, which is to provide justice to victims of the Khmer Rouge and to the people of Cambodia as a whole, and to leave behind a legacy of respect for the rule of law.

Amnesty International calls upon the ECCC to adopt rules, policies and practices which ensure transparency, accessibility - in particular to victims, vigorous pursuit of investigations and prosecutions, and a firm rejection of any inappropriate or unwarranted interference with the judicial process.

On 29 April 2011 the Co-Investigating Judges announced the conclusion of their investigation into Case 003 apparently without having made use of any of the substantial investigative tools at their disposal.

They did not demonstrate that their decision followed a comprehensive and rigorous investigation, as required by the Court's Internal Rules and by international standards.

This unreasonable approach sits uncomfortably close to the expressed wishes of Cambodian political leaders not to see any further prosecutions, and to end ECCC trials once Cases 001 and 002 have been concluded.

Moreover, it did not satisfy even the minimum requirements under international law and standards on the investigation of serious human rights violations, of a prompt, thorough, independent and impartial investigation.

In his statement of 9 May 2011, the International Co-Prosecutor made public for the first time the crime sites and criminal episodes relevant to case file 003, and stated his intent to request further investigative actions as he did not believe the alleged crimes had been fully investigated. He also signalled his intent to request the Co-Investigating Judges for an extension of the deadline for Civil Party applications by victims.

The order subsequently issued by the Co-Investigating Judges against the International Co-Prosecutor, instructing him to retract his public statement illustrates an insistence on an unreasonable level of confidentiality over the right of victims and the public as a whole to be informed of developments within the ECCC.

Moreover, the order puts into question the ECCC's obligation to safeguard the independence of its prosecutors. The International Co-Prosecutor's statement contained information useful for victims and the public at large and did not prejudice the rights of any involved persons.

Amnesty International has long been concerned at the imposition of excessively strict rules and policies of confidentiality at the ECCC. Justice must not only be done, but be seen to be done. To the extent that rules and policies of confidentiality are applied other than to protect victims, witnesses and staff, they deprive the Cambodian public of its right to see justice unfold, and, more specifically, deprive victims of their right to be part of the process In particular, excessive confidentiality makes it impossible for victims or the general public to monitor the work of the ECCC effectively and to make useful recommendations for improvement.

The UN Guidelines on the Role of Prosecutors calls on states, among other things, to "ensure that prosecutors are able to perform their professional functions without intimidation, hindrance, harassment, improper interference or unjustified exposure to civil, penal or other liability." Amnesty International calls upon the ECCC to apply this and other Guidelines in all its dealings with the Prosecutors.

The ECCC must take a long, hard look at its record and current practices. Its proceedings must be transparent, inclusive and follow international standards of fairness. It must conduct vigorous investigations, including into Cases 003 and 004, that meet the strictest standard for such investigations to ensure justice for as many victims as is possible. The existing rules, policies and practices must be reviewed, and where necessary modified to avoid excessive secrecy, exclusion, and vulnerability to inappropriate external interference, which undermines the Chambers' independence.

The Agreement between the United Nations and the government of Cambodia defines the mandate of the ECCC: "to bring to trial senior leaders of Democratic Kampuchea and those most responsible for the crimes and serious violations of Cambodian laws related to crimes, 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".

Case 001 against Kaing Guek Eav, known as Duch, the former commander of security prison S-21, is on appeal following his conviction in July 2010 for crimes against humanity and grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions for his role in mass executions, torture and other crimes during the Khmer Rouge period. The Initial Hearing into Case 002 against Ieng Sary, Ieng Thirith, Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea, will take place on 27 June 2011. They are alleged former leaders of the Democratic Kampuchea government charged with genocide of the Cham and Vietnamese, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and other crimes.

The suspects in Cases 003 and 004 have not been named by the ECCC.

Public Document

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Thailand reiterates its readiness for the holding of the Joint Boundary Commission (JBC) meeting to resolve border dispute with its neighbouring country Cambodia, said Government Spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn on Tuesday after the Cabinet meeting.

Thailand firmly believes that the best way to resolve border disputes is through existing bilateral mechanisms. It is now up to Cambodia to agree on the holding of the JBC meeting to move forward the demarcation process, added the Thai Government Spokesman.

As regards other means of settling the Thai-Cambodian border dispute, Thailand welcomes the facilitation of its ASEAN friends and appreciates Indonesia's role (sic!), as the current ASEAN Chair, to provide avenues for dialogue. Thailand also welcomes, in principle, the initiative of Indonesia to send its observer teams to the disputed area. However, more clarity is required before the team can be deployed on the ground.

On 30-31 May, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague held an oral hearing on the request by Cambodia in regard to the indication of provisional measures pending the Court's consideration of the request for interpretation of the Court's judgment in the Case Concerning the Temple of Phra Viharn in 1962. The Court is expected to render its decision on the provisional measures in 3-4 weeks, while the consideration on interpretation of the judgment in the Temple case is expected next year.

It is hoped that the Courts' rulings would help pave the way for peace and stability in the region, while not affecting the troop adjustments or the undergoing border demarcation process between the two neighbouring countries.

Thailand has always upheld its role and responsibility as a peaceful and law abiding member of the United Nations in accordance with the United Nations Charter. It has fully respected and complied with the rulings of the ICJ pertaining to the Temple Case since 1962. Pending Court's consideration of the recent request by Cambodia on this matter, Thailand remains open to bilateral talks and utilization of existing bilateral mechanisms in peacefully resolving the long-standing border dispute.

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Police in Cambodia and other Asian countries arrested several hundred suspects Thursday in coordinated raids to bust a gang that swindled victims through phone calls over the Internet.

Cambodian national police spokesman Lt. Gen. Kiet Chantharith said 166 Chinese and a Vietnamese woman were arrested nationwide, while similar arrests took place in Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.

Police in Taiwan, Indonesia and Thailand confirmed making arrests but provided few details. A spokesman for Malaysia's Federal Police said he was unaware of any operation, though Kiet said 37 people were arrested there.

Police Maj. Gen. Panya Mamen of Thailand's Central Investigation Bureau said in Bangkok that gang members based in Thailand obtained details of banking and credit card accounts, and used the information to trick victims they phoned in other countries into transferring money, which ended up in Taiwan.

It was not clear what charges would be pressed in any of the countries. Cross-border crime is difficult to prosecute, and laws are hazy concerning crimes conducted over the Internet.

Kiet said those arrested had entered Cambodia as tourists and businessmen but then began operating their scheme to call people outside Cambodia over Internet phone services. He said the gang was well organized, and that Cambodia had received complaints from several victims.

He did not describe the scam in detail, but Thai authorities say gang members placed calls to victims in the guise of being from their bank, using information about their accounts to support their credibility, and then convincing them that there was a need to transfer their funds. The tricksters apparently used Internet-based phone services and mimicked calls from the victim's home country.

Thailand's Panya said four Thai nationals were arrested in seven provinces and two Taiwanese had been arrested Tuesday in connection with the same scheme. He said the raids were carried out at 9 a.m. Thai time in Thailand, Taiwan, China, Cambodia and Indonesia. It was not clear if anyone had been arrested in China.

An official with Taiwan's Criminal Investigation Bureau said Taiwan has arrested more than 100 people allegedly involved in several fraud rings who are likely accomplices to those arrested in Cambodia. Cambodia's Kiet had put the number at 141.

The suspects are still being questioned and their arrests may be announced later, said the official, requesting anonymity because he's not an authorized spokesman.

Indonesian police said they arrested 30 Taiwanese and Chinese in Serpong, a town in Banten province, on the southern outskirts of the capital Jakarta. Cambodian police had claimed 130 people were arrested in Indonesia.

Serpong police chief Maj. Heribertus Omposunggu said the suspects were believed to have swindled their victims using the Internet and mobile phone text messages.

___

Thanyarat Doksone and Grant Peck in Bangkok, Ali Kotarumalos in Jakarta, Annie Huang in Taipei and Sean Yoong in Kuala Lumpur contributed to this report.

Murder Pays;

Mass Murders Pay Even More Handsomely if You Have the Right UN Judge to Collude with the Cambodian Politicians.

PHNOM PENH—Cambodian police on Thursday arrested 166 Chinese nationals for allegedly extorting money from victims abroad using Internet phone services, an official said.

A Vietnamese woman was also held in a massive police operation, national police spokesman Kirt Chantharith told Agence France-Presse, with arrests in the capital Phnom Penh, the southern town of Sihanoukville and the eastern province of Svay Rieng.

"They used the Internet to extort money from people overseas," said Chantharith, adding that the extortion gang had "many tricks" to blackmail their targets, without providing further details.

He said the crackdown followed complaints from numerous victims.

PHNOM PENH, June 9 (Reuters) — At least 11 people were injured when armed police broke up a protest in Cambodia today by about 300 villagers resisting a court order to transfer farmland to a Taiwanese businessman, villagers and witnesses said.

The clash comes amid growing discontent over forced evictions in Cambodia that have outraged rights groups and foreign donors, who say the government is driving people off their land to benefit cronies in cahoots with foreign firms.

The bone of contention is a lack of title deeds in Cambodia, since most legal documents were destroyed during the ultra Maoist Khmer Rouge era in the late 1970s, when an estimated 1.7 million people were killed.

Four policemen were among those wounded when 200 officers with assault rifles and electric batons clashed with villagers carrying sticks and knives in Kampong Speu province, about 40km from capital Phnom Penh.

"We never sold our land, we have owned the land from our ancestors, so why are the title deeds now in Chinese names?" Sun Bunchhuon, 42, a representative of the villagers told Reuters by telephone, adding three villagers had been shot and four beaten and shocked with electric batons.

The provincial police chief Keo Pisey and his deputy Som Bora declined to comment on the clashes.

Protests over land grabs are taking place regularly in Cambodia and Housing Rights Task Force, a group monitoring forced evictions, reported 30,000 Cambodians were moved off their land last year, up from 27,000 in 2009.

Chheng Sophors, a representative of local rights group Licado, witnessed the incident and said the government was making no effort to tackle the problem at national level.

"Violence over land issue has been getting worse and worse and there have been no solutions. People are always the victims of economic land concessions," Chheng Sophors said.

In a recent visit, Surya Subedi, the United Nations special rapporteur for human rights in Cambodia, expressed concern about crackdowns on protesters and legal action taken against land activists and people who made claims to disputed land.

He also urged foreign investors to be responsible in their business dealings in Cambodia.

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