KI Media: “Malaysia's "obedient wives" anger rights groups [-Cavemen still roam Malaysia?]” plus 24 more |
- Malaysia's "obedient wives" anger rights groups [-Cavemen still roam Malaysia?]
- "Vote No" poster in Thailand
- Troop exit not on the cards, says Hun Sen
- Sak Phirom's Chapey Dorng Veng: Kem Sokha
- Hochimonk Raps Activist With Pagoda Ban
- No more Cambodia and Cambodian - By Khmer Guardian
- Monkey mayhem at temple
- Cambodia, Thailand to strengthen cooperation despite border row
- Malaysian couple detained after maid dies of alleged abuse
- Cambodia: Pray For Rain
- Chief Monk Raps Activist With Pagoda Ban
- Cambodia Refuses To Withdraw International Court Request
- Rights envoy urges reforms
- Pagoda ban for activist monk
- Cambodian PM Denies Agreement with Ex-Thai Deputy Army Chief
- Brain Food
- Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) - in celebration of International Children's Day
- Soul Food
- Ven. Loun Savath banned from Phnom Penh's pagiodas by Hochimonk Non Nget
- My Rights, My Responsibility (Constitution) Series
- Closing Order of Case 002 against Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan, Ieng Sary, Ieng Thirith
- Abhisit-Hun Sen talks unlikely
- No Withdrawal Of Preah Vihear Temple Case At ICJ: Cambodia PM
- Cambodia begins to attract money
- Montreal (Canada), 5 June 2011: Public meeting with Sam Rainsy attended by some 300 people
| Malaysia's "obedient wives" anger rights groups [-Cavemen still roam Malaysia?] Posted: 06 Jun 2011 05:08 PM PDT Sun Jun 5, 2011 KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters Life!) - A Malaysian group urging wives to avoid marital problems by fulfilling their husbands' sexual desires like prostitutes has angered politicians and women's rights groups, the New Straits Times reported on Sunday. The Obedient Wives Club, which was set up by a group of Muslim women, said domestic violence, infidelity and prostitution stemmed from a lack of belief in God and a failure of women to satisfy their husbands. The club's president, Rohaya Mohamed, said it was open to women of all religions and would conduct seminars on how to be a good wife as well as offer marriage counseling. "A man married to a woman who is as good or better than a prostitute in bed has no reason to stray. Rather than allowing him to sin, a woman must do all she can to ensure his desires are met," Rohaya told the newspaper. Females outnumber males in Malaysian higher education institutions, comprising 65 percent of the intake at public universities last year, according to government data. But rights groups say women are still often victims of gender bias, and have protested what they considered the club's demeaning portrayal of women as a cause of social problems. "Abusive men often use women's behavior as a sick justification, but in the end, their actions are their responsibility," said Ratna Osman, acting executive director at rights group Sisters-in-Islam. "To hinge fidelity, domestic violence and the fulfillment of a husband's responsibilities purely on a wife's capacity to be obedient, stimulate sexual arousal ... is not only demeaning to wives, but to husbands as well," said Women, Family and Community Development Minister Shahrizat Jalil. (Reporting by Razak Ahmad; Editing by Robert Birsel)  | ||||
| Posted: 06 Jun 2011 01:07 PM PDT
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| Troop exit not on the cards, says Hun Sen Posted: 06 Jun 2011 01:00 PM PDT Ex-Thai deputy army chief's claim 'not true' 7/06/2011 Bangkok Post Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday dismissed a claim by former Thai deputy army chief Wichit Yathip that he had promised to withdraw Cambodian troops from the disputed area near the Preah Vihear Temple. Hun Sen admitted he had met briefly with Gen Wichit during the wedding ceremony of a son of Cambodian Defence Minister Tea Banh in Phnom Penh but the two had never touched on the overlapping area near the temple. "We did not discuss anything concerning the Thai-claimed overlapping area near the temple because Cambodia has never known where the 4.6-square-kilometre area is," Xinhua News Agency quoted the Cambodian leader as saying at the graduation ceremony at the Royal School of Administration yesterday. "I don't know where these remarks have come from." If Cambodia agreed to these points, then there would have been no need for its government to file a complaint with international bodies, Hun Sen added. "[Gen] Wichit should clarify his remarks" he said. The Cambodian premier was responding to Gen Wichit's remarks over the weekend that Hun Sen had proposed three ways to solve the border problem during talks with him in Phnom Penh before the armed clashes broke out in February. They included the withdrawal of Thai and Cambodian soldiers from the overlapping area, joint oversight of the area and proceeding with boundary demarcation work. Last month, Gen Wichit offered to broker the conflict between Thailand and Cambodia by banking on the close ties between himself and his superior, Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, and Phnom Penh to mend fences between the two countries. Gen Wichit met with Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to suggest ways to resolve the conflicts between the two countries but never gave details of their discussion. The conflict between Thailand and Cambodia has now gone to the International Court of Justice as Phnom Penh has asked the court to reinterpret its 1962 ruling which favoured Cambodia. It has also asked the court to order Thailand to withdraw its troops and cease all military activity near the Preah Vihear temple, situated inside the 4.6-square-kilometre disputed area. The court in The Hague is expected to rule on provisional measures regarding troop withdrawal within three weeks. Thailand told the ICJ on May 30-31 that the country had strictly abided by the 1962 ruling though it insisted that this did not include the disputed area, the status of which is being resolved through bilateral talks. Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon yesterday reiterated his stance that the Thai army was ready to withdraw troops from the disputed area if the UN's highest court orders Cambodia to do likewise. Director-general of the Legal and Treaties Affairs Department Ittiporn Boonpracong and Foreign Ministry spokesman Thani Thongpakdi said yesterday that Thailand would cooperate fully with the ICJ on any decision that the court makes. "It's up to the court to consider the legal issues," Mr Ittiporn said.  | ||||
| Sak Phirom's Chapey Dorng Veng: Kem Sokha Posted: 06 Jun 2011 12:49 PM PDT  Click on the control below to listen to Sak Phirom's Chapey:  | ||||
| Hochimonk Raps Activist With Pagoda Ban Posted: 06 Jun 2011 12:36 PM PDT  Click the control below to listen to the audio program in Khmer:  | ||||
| No more Cambodia and Cambodian - By Khmer Guardian Posted: 06 Jun 2011 12:13 PM PDT | ||||
| Posted: 06 Jun 2011 09:20 AM PDT
Phak Seangly and Adam Miller The Phnom Penh Post A group of macaque monkeys living around Wat Phnom has become increasingly violent towards tourists, prompting officials from the Phnom Tamao Zoo and the Forestry Administration to begin relocating and testing them on Friday. Nhek Rattanak Pich, director of the Phnom Tamao Zoo, said yesterday 20 monkeys had been tranquillised and captured at the Phnom Penh temple so far. Eleven of them had been sent to an animal shelter in Kandal province's Kien Svay district for blood tests. The remaining nine were being held at the Forestry Administration until they could be transferred to the zoo. "Those monkeys need to be tested for diseases first. Visitors fed them food that can contain any number of diseases," Nak Rattanak Pich said, adding that officials needed to make sure the animals were healthy before they could be put in a habitat with other monkeys. Men Phymean, director of the Wildlife Protection Office at the Ministry of Agriculture's Forestry Administration, said yesterday he had been informed that the monkeys had become more aggressive towards visitors. Officials plan for more monkeys from the 50-strong population to be moved in the next two months. Toek Buntav, a 19-year-old security guard at Wat Phnom, said yesterday he had seen the temple monkeys grabbing food and possessions from tourists. "It is very hard to get the property back from the monkeys because they jump very quickly from one high tree to another, then destroy the property," he said, adding that the monkeys were quite clever and could even open cans of juice to drink. "Maybe they are hungry because the state does not feed them. They only get food from visitors." Toek Buntav also said the mischievous macaques had torn out the wiring of street lamps around Wat Phnom, as well as breaking into people's houses to steal food and destroy property. Although admitting that some of the monkeys scared off visitors, he pleaded with authorities to "please take away only the big, mean monkeys and keep the small ones at Wat Phnom". "Visitors like monkeys. If there are no monkeys here, what is there for visitors to see?" he said. Some local workers, however, bear the signs of monkey attacks. Keo Pesith, a valet for tourists at Wat Phnom, yesterday revealed a scar on his right foot where a monkey had bitten him last year. "I just played with him, and he got angry and bit me," he said, adding that he had also seen the macaques attack children. Sen Son, the owner of Phnom Penh's famous elephant Sambo, who resides at Wat Phnom, said yesterday the monkeys were causing damage to statues and the roof of the temple on top of Wat Phnom. "We have to preserve the ancient [temple] and take the monkeys to Phnom Tamao Zoo because if anyone wants to see them, they can go there," he said, adding that foreigners did not blame the monkeys for damage caused because "the monkeys know nothing; they are animals, not humans". A staff member at the Vanny Group, a self-described "monkey feeding farm" in Kandal province's Kien Svay district where 11 of the monkeys are being held, said yesterday she did not know whether they had already been tested for diseases. Chheng Kim Sun, director of the Forestry Administration, could not be reached for comment yesterday. Nick Marx, wildlife rescue director at the NGO Wildlife Alliance, said that although the group was not involved in the rescue, it would work closely with Phnom Tamao Zoo in the future.  | ||||
| Cambodia, Thailand to strengthen cooperation despite border row Posted: 06 Jun 2011 09:12 AM PDT June 06, 2011 PHNOM PENH (Xinhua) – Cambodian and Thai information officials met here on Monday to strengthen and expand cooperation on information and broadcasting between the two neighboring countries despite ongoing bitter border row. Ladavan Bua-aim, deputy director general of the public relations department at the National Broadcasting Services of Thailand, said that despite the border dispute, Cambodia and Thailand still have enjoyed close cooperation at all levels in terms of economic and social development. "As ASEAN members, I am confident that our two countries are working together to realize an ASEAN community by 2015, and we will move even closer together," he said in the fourth meeting of Cambodian and Thai information officials. Cambodia and Thailand signed the Memorandum of Understanding ( MoU) on the cooperation in the field of information and broadcasting in February 2006. "Although the MoU has not produced a very high result, but it helps foster better understanding and relations between the peoples of the two countries," said Thach Phan, a secretary of state for Cambodian ministry of information. Cambodia and Thailand have border conflict just a week after Cambodia's Preah Vihear temple was enlisted as a World Heritage Site on July 7, 2008. Since then, both sides have built up military forces along the border and periodic clashes have happened, resulted in the deaths of troops and civilians on both sides.  | ||||
| Malaysian couple detained after maid dies of alleged abuse Posted: 06 Jun 2011 09:06 AM PDT Jun 6, 2011 DPA Kuala Lumpur - Malaysian police have detained the employers of a foreign maid who was dead upon arrival at a local hospital, and was later found to have multiple scars and wounds on her body, police said Monday. The couple, aged in their 50s, had brought their 26-year-old maid to a hospital in Selangor state early Sunday where she was pronounced dead on arrival. Following a post mortem, medical officers discovered that the maid had wounds and bruises all over her body, prompting police to detain the two suspects on Monday. 'A post mortem performed on Sunday evening revealed that the woman had both recent bruises and old scars on her back, forehead, and limbs,' said state criminal investigations chief Mohamad Adnan Abdullah. Police have yet to release the nationality of the maid, who has been working in Malaysia since December 2008. The couple will be investigated for murder, which carries the mandatory death sentence upon conviction. Malaysia is home to more than 320,000 foreign domestic workers, mostly from Indonesia and the Philippines with an increasing number coming from Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam. Rights groups say that every year, hundreds of maids lodge complaints against their employers ranging from alleged physical abuse to nonpayment of salaries.  | ||||
| Posted: 06 Jun 2011 08:59 AM PDT
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| Chief Monk Raps Activist With Pagoda Ban Posted: 06 Jun 2011 08:56 AM PDT
Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer Phnom Penh Monday, 06 June 2011
One of Cambodia's senior-most monks has ordered pagodas across the country to deny customary hospitality to a low-level monk who has participated in land protests in Siem Reap province and Phnom Penh. In an April 26 directive, Non Ngeth, the supreme patriarch of the Maha Nikaya branch of Cambodian Buddhism, said pagodas are no longer permitted to host 30-year-old monk Loun Savath. In justifying the ban, Non Ngeth said the younger monk's active participation in land protests are counter to the teachings of Buddha and could lead villagers to think ill of the religion in general. Loun Savath, who comes from Siem Reap's Chikreng district, had been supporting villagers there in a long-running land dispute. He recently relocated to Phnom Penh's Wat Ounalom pagoda, from where he joined protests in the capital by disgruntled residents of the Boeung Kak lake development and by villagers against private concessions in Prey Lang forest. "He has been involved in politics," Non Ngeth wrote of Loun Savath. "He joined protests with villagers and has gone everywhere with human rights activists, which is an abuse of Buddha's rules." "If you want to be a politician," he continued, "take a shovel and dig a ditch for people; don't join protests." Loun Savath, who has since fled Phnom Penh and is back in Chikreang district, told VOA Khmer by phone his actions had not gone against the will of Buddha. "What I have done is in the name of Cambodian citizens to help social affairs," he said. "Monks must help people who have problems." Ou Virak, director of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, said Non Ngeth's letter was its own political abuse of Buddhism, which does not prohibit social activism.  | ||||
| Cambodia Refuses To Withdraw International Court Request Posted: 06 Jun 2011 08:48 AM PDT Chun Sakada,VOA Khmer Phnom Penh Monday, 06 June 2011 Prime Minister Hun Sen said Monday Cambodia will not withdraw its request to the International Court of Justice for a decision clarification on land near Preah Vihear temple, following calls for a continuation of bilateral talks by Thailand. Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva was quoted Sunday saying Cambodia should withdraw its request from the court, which heard arguments on both sides last week in the Hague. Cambodia wants the court to clarify a 1962 decision that gave the temple to Cambodia, in hopes it can also be used to determine other borders. Thai officials say that decision should not be used to determine sovereignty on land near the temple. Abhisit said Sunday that Cambodia should withdraw the request as a good faith initiative for bilateral talks over the border, the site of numerous deadly clashes since a build-up began in 2008. Abhisit recommended a joint management plan for a 4.6-kilometer stretch of land near the temple, which has been a major point of contention in the border conflict. The most recent fighting, in April, left more than a dozen people killed and sent thousands of civilians fleeing. Speaking at a graduation ceremony at the Royal School of Administration, Hun Sen said on Monday that Cambodia would not withdraw the case "at any cost." Hun Sen said a joint management plan is not possible and denied the existence of "overlapping" land.  | ||||
| Posted: 06 Jun 2011 08:45 AM PDT
Monday, 06 June 2011 Mary Kozlovski The Phnom Penh Post Surya Subedi was appointed United Nations Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Cambodia in 2009 and carried out his fifth fact-finding mission to the Kingdom last week. He spoke to The Post on Friday. You mentioned in a statement today that certain pieces of legislation in Cambodia had narrowed the scope of peoples' rights. Which pieces of legislation are you referring to? One example is the ... provision of the penal code on defamation, disinformation and incitement. The powers given to the executive are rather broad. While I welcome the legislation – it's better to have a penal code than not to have one – it's a progressive document in so many areas, but not progressive enough in a number of areas. They include mainly the provisions relating to freedom of speech. My position has been all along to decriminalise defamation and disinformation, and the penal code doesn't do that. Do you feel that broad powers for the executive are a common problem in Cambodian legislation? I would not go as far as to generalise it, but generally speaking … parliament's ability to restrain the executive has been limited. [Parliament] should be the defender and the guarantor of peoples' human rights. To do so, parliament has to be more assertive, more independent and hold the executive to account. A former UN World Food Programme employee, Seng Kunnaka, was convicted of incitement last year after sharing printed articles from an antigovernment website with co-workers. Do you believe that he was wrongfully charged? I don't want to go into the merit of the case at this stage, but I have concerns about the procedure involved. He was arrested on a Friday and he was convicted by Sunday afternoon – so within a matter of two days [the case went] from arrest to conviction – to me, casting serious doubt about the requirements of a fair trial. A trial of that nature, conducted and completed within two days, gave me cause for concern. Villagers from Boeung Kak lake said in a letter to you this week that the international community had not done enough to hold the government to account for forced evictions and alleged rights abuses. Have donor countries and the UN done enough to press the Cambodian government for reform? The international community could certainly do more, but the UN Human Rights Council has already included in its [2009] resolution the need for national guidelines on evictions. These guidelines should include the procedure, the notification, compensation and the relocation. The [2001 Land] Law itself is a good law, but the proper implementation of that law is a problem in this country – not implementing the law, not waiting for enough information, not waiting for the [parties] to go to courts to settle their disputes and using sometimes disproportionate force to evict people from their sites. When there is a land dispute between two private individuals or between a private individual and a company, that matter should be resolved through the courts … or some other agencies established by law. The executive should not intervene in a dispute between two private individuals. At a press conference this week, representatives from rights group Adhoc suggested that local authorities and the judiciary were biased toward rich and powerful people, particularly in land dispute cases. Is this an accurate assessment? A very ambitious land-titling program is underway in this country [supported by German development agency GTZ and other agencies]. About 1,000 land titles are issued ... every week. If that process is allowed to take its course then many of the disputes will be resolved. The problem here is the rich and powerful requesting the government or law enforcement agencies to intervene on their behalf and the law enforcement agencies are not waiting for the disputes to be settled through courts or other agencies established through the law. Would you ever recommend that the UN or one of its agencies withdraw funding from Cambodia? No, not necessarily. I would not go that far because this country needs international assistance: both financial assistance and technical assistance. Have any of your recommendations as Special Rapporteur been implemented? I made my position very clear from the very beginning that there should be national guidelines on land management issues. That guideline is being developed by the Minsitry of Land Management [Urban Planning and Construction] working together with other partners. I asked the government to consult the concerned parties or associations when drafting the NGO law. Two rounds of consultations have taken place. The challenge is to make sure that the recommendations or proposals made by the NGOs are incorporated into the final version as much as possible. One of my recommendations was to increase the budget available to the judiciary. The judiciary remains under funded in this country and I was given to understand that funding was increased for the judiciary, both in 2009 and 2010. [It was] not enough, but [there is] … clear progress. Do you agree with NGO representatives who feel that there is no need for an NGO law in Cambodia? My position is that there are enough laws already which govern the activities of NGOs, but Cambodia is a sovereign country and the National Assembly is a sovereign assembly. They have the right to legislate in the areas where they feel new laws are needed. The challenge is that the new law should be a law which will enable NGOs to deliver their services better to the people of Cambodia, rather than restrict their activities. You have said that laws must be made by a sovereign parliament, but in accordance with international obligations. What is the balance between the two? As an international lawyer, I would say that there is no absolute sovereignty in existence anymore, anywhere. The sovereignty we are talking about is a limited sovereignty. There are international values imposed on states by international treaties. Once you join the [UN], you are bound by the values of the organisation, so that itself is limiting the freedom of action of states. No [UN member] state these days can have a dictatorial system of government which ignores the charter of the UN. INTERVIEW CONDUCTED, CONDENSED AND EDITED BY MARY KOZLOVSKI  | ||||
| Posted: 06 Jun 2011 01:26 AM PDT
Monday, 06 June 2011 May Titthara The Phnom Penh Post Buddish Supreme Patriarch Non Nget has banned pagodas in the capital from hosting Loun Savath, the activist monk who frequently joins land dispute protests and advocates on behalf of displaced villagers. Loun Savath hails from Siem Reap province's Chi Kraeng district and has been active in supporting villagers in a long-running land dispute there that has seen multiple community representatives arrested. He later relocated to Wat Ounalom in Phnom Penh's Daun Penh district, and has joined protests in the capital by residents of the Boeung Kak lakeside and of the Prey Lang forest area. In a letter dated April 26 and received by Loun Savath last week, Non Nget said pagodas in Phnom Penh are no longer permitted to house the 31-year-old monk because his actions have "caused villagers to think badly about Buddhism". "What he did is not related to the monks' point of view and has broken the Buddha's rules," Non Nget wrote. Loun Savath fled Phnom Penh in March for fear of arrest in relation to his activism before resurfacing at a rally held in the capital by the Prey Lang villagers two weeks ago. There, he was forced to flee the scene with the assistance of rights groups when it appeared that local authorities were planning his arrest. Loun Savath said yesterday that he was undeterred by Non Nget's directive and would continue with his activism. "The Buddha says that monks must help people who have problems and educate people to do good deeds," he said. "When villagers have a problem, I cannot ignore them." Loun Savath's land activism has made him unique among Cambodian monks, and he has received little backing for his efforts from religious officials here. Following protests against the Boeung Kak evictions in April, Phon Davy, director of the municipal cults and religions department, said Loun Savath had in fact drawn the ire of Tep Vong, Cambodia's highest-ranking monk. "[Loun Savath] has violated the rules to such an extent that the Great Supreme Patriarch of Cambodia, Tep Vong, issued a warning letter to ban all monks from joining protests," Phon Davy said at the time. Loun Savath has so far taken little heed, however. "What the authorities have done to me is a serious violation of human rights and Buddhist law," he said yesterday. "I have done nothing wrong, so why are they evicting me from my pagoda?" Ouch Leng, head of the land programme at local rights group Adhoc, said Non Nget's directive was unjustified. "The authorities should be encouraging him, because what he does is not for himself, but to find justice for people who are victims of land disputes," Ouch Leng said.  | ||||
| Cambodian PM Denies Agreement with Ex-Thai Deputy Army Chief Posted: 06 Jun 2011 01:18 AM PDT 2011-06-06 Xinhua Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Monday he has never agreed with Gen. Wichit Yathip, the former Thai deputy army chief, on troop withdrawal from the disputed border area next to the 11th century Preah Vihear temple. Thai media reported that Gen. Wichit Yathip said that before the border clashes between the two countries broke out in February, he had talked with Prime Minister Hun Sen and the premier suggested a three-point solution. They agreed that both countries should withdraw troops from the (disputed) area and jointly manage the 4.6-square kilometer overlapping border area. Hun Sen acknowledged that he met with Wichit during wedding of the son of Cambodian defense minister Tea Banh in Phnom Penh. "Wichit Yathip just paid a short courtesy call on me and we had not discussed anything concerning the Thai-claimed overlapping area near the temple because Cambodia has never known where the 4. 6-square kilometer area is," he said at the graduation ceremony at the Royal School of Administration. "I don't know where he has these remarks from." "Wichit should clarify on his remarks, or he would lose his value," said the premier. Hun Sen said that if Cambodia agreed to these points, there would be no Cambodia's complaints to international bodies. The premier made the remarks after the Bangkok Post online newspaper reported that Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said on Sunday Cambodia should withdraw all border dispute cases from international bodies and return to talks with Thailand. The deadly conflict between Cambodia and Thailand over border dispute has flared up since Cambodia's Preah Vihear temple was awarded the World Heritage Site on July 7, 2008.  | ||||
| Posted: 06 Jun 2011 12:15 AM PDT We are what we believe we are. - C. S. Lewis [Let us aim a lot higher!]  | ||||
| Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) - in celebration of International Children's Day Posted: 06 Jun 2011 12:09 AM PDT Convention on the Rights of the Child Ratified by UNGA in Nov. 1989, entered into force 1990 Cambodia ratified this Convention on October 15, 1992 PART IArticle 31. In all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration. 2. States Parties undertake to ensure the child such protection and care as is necessary for his or her well-being, taking into account the rights and duties of his or her parents, legal guardians, or other individuals legally responsible for him or her, and, to this end, shall take all appropriate legislative and administrative measures. 3. States Parties shall ensure that the institutions, services and facilities responsible for the care or protection of children shall conform with the standards established by competent authorities, particularly in the areas of safety, health, in the number and suitability of their staff, as well as competent supervision.  | ||||
| Posted: 06 Jun 2011 12:06 AM PDT A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, 'darkness' on the walls of his cell. - C. S. Lewis  | ||||
| Ven. Loun Savath banned from Phnom Penh's pagiodas by Hochimonk Non Nget Posted: 06 Jun 2011 12:06 AM PDT
Cambodia's land activist monk banned from Phnom Penh's pagodas Jun 6, 2011 DPA Phnom Penh - Cambodia's religious hierarchy has barred a prominent Buddhist monk who works with victims of land-grabbing from staying at pagodas in the capital, national media reported Monday. The Phnom Penh Post newspaper said Supreme Patriarch Non Nget had written to monk Loun Savath to inform him of the ban, saying his actions had 'caused villagers to think badly about Buddhism.' 'What he did is not related to the monks' point of view and has broken the Buddha's rules,' Non Nget wrote. However, Loun Savath, who has become a prominent advocate for the dispossessed and who is the sole monk to join publicly with villagers, said the ruling would not affect his work. 'The Buddha says monks must help people who have problems and educate people to do good deeds,' said the 31-year-old monk. 'When villagers have a problem, I cannot ignore them.' He added that the latest ruling was 'a violation of human rights and Buddhist law' and maintained he had done nothing wrong. Rights groups have long complained that the authorities are increasingly using the courts to intimidate villagers and community representatives and prevent them from speaking out on land issues. On Thursday, rights group ADHOC said 124 people had been summoned to appear in court this year in connection with land disputes, around the same number as were threatened with legal action in 2010. ADHOC said 36 were arrested and 18 remained in jail. The authorities have reportedly tried to arrest Loun Savath on previous occasions. Earlier this year the religious hierarchy forbade all monks from joining public protests. On Friday, the UN special rapporteur for human rights, Surya Subedi, said at the close of his fifth visit to Cambodia that land rights continued to dominate his concerns. 'The problem has not gone away,' Subedi said. 'Land-grabbing by the rich and powerful has been a problem, and economic and other forms of land concessions have affected the rights of the indigenous people living in rural areas.' Rights groups say tens of thousands of people have been thrown off their land in recent years, with many more at risk from urban development and rural concessions.  | ||||
| My Rights, My Responsibility (Constitution) Series Posted: 06 Jun 2011 12:03 AM PDT Cambodian Constitution (Sept. 1993) CHAPTER XVI: TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS Article 154- New(Previously Article 135) This Constitution, after its adoption, shall be declared in full force immediately by the King of Cambodia.  | ||||
| Closing Order of Case 002 against Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan, Ieng Sary, Ieng Thirith Posted: 06 Jun 2011 12:00 AM PDT In preparation for the start of trial hearings beginning on 27 June 2011 of Case 002 against the surviving Khmer Rouge senior leaders Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan, Ieng Sary and Ieng Thirith, KI Media is starting a new series in posting installations of the public document of the Closing Order of Case 002. The Closing Order of the Co-Investigating Judges forms the basic document from which all the parties (Co-Prosecutors, Co-Lead Lawyers for all civil parties, Defense Lawyers) will be making their arguments before the Trial Chamber judges (one Cambodian President, 2 Cambodian Judges, 2 UN judges). Up until now, the hearings involving these four surviving senior Khmer Rouge leaders have been in the Pre-Trial Chamber over issues of pre-trial detention and jurisdictional issues. Beginning in June 2011, the Trial Chamber will hear the substantive arguments over the criminal charges (e.g. genocide, crimes against humanity, penal code of 1956). Available in Khmer and French. Contact the ECCC for a free copy. CLOSING ORDER of Co-Investigating Judges You Bunleng and Marcel Lemonde, 15 September 2010 VII. FACTUAL FINDINGS OF JOINT CRIMINAL ENTERPRISE The common purpose of the CPK leaders was to implement rapid socialist revolution in Cambodia through a "great leap forward" and defend the Party against internal and external enemies, by whatever means necessary. To achieve this common purpose, the CPK leaders inter alia designed and implemented the five following policies: - The repeated movement of the population from towns and cities to rural areas, as well as from one rural area to another; - The establishment and operation of cooperatives and worksites; - The reeducation of "bad-elements" and killing of "enemies", both inside and outside the Party ranks; - The targeting of specific groups, in particular the Cham, Vietnamese, Buddhists and former officials of the Khmer Republic, including both civil servants and former military personnel and their families; and - The regulation of marriage. 158. The common purpose came into existence on or before 17 April 1975 and continued until at least 6 January 1979. The five policies designed to achieve this common purpose were implemented within or before these dates. These policies evolved and increased in scale and intensity throughout the regime. One of the consequences of these policies was the collectivisation of all aspects of society. This collectivisation involved the suppression of markets, currency and private property,467 the prohibition of peoples' freedom of movement, and generally forcing everyone to live in communal units according to their categorisation. This resulted in the implementation of a system which Cambodians have subsequently described in the following way: the entire country had become a "prison without walls". 159. The persons who shared this common purpose included, but were not limited to: members of the Standing Committee, including Nuon Chea and Ieng Sary; members of the Central Committee, including Khieu Samphan; heads of CPK ministries, including Ieng Thirith; zone and autonomous sector secretaries; and heads of the Party Centre military divisions.  | ||||
| Abhisit-Hun Sen talks unlikely Posted: 05 Jun 2011 11:58 PM PDT 5/06/2011 Bangkok Post Caretaker Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said on Sunday morning he would hold talks with Prime Minister Hun Sen if Cambodia, among other conditions, withdraws its troops from the disputed area around the Preah Vihear temple ruins. Mr Abhisit was responding to a report that Hun Sen had offerred to hold talks with Thailand for both countries to jointly make use of the 4.6 square kilometre disputed area. Thailand and Cambodia already have the Joint Boundary Commission (JBC) as a mechanism to work on this matter. If Cambodia wants to use this mechanism, it should observe the Thai-Cambodian memorandum of understanding of 2000 by halting its plan to unilaterally register the Preah Vihear temple as a world heritage site, Mr Abhisit said. He said Cambodia should also withdraw its troops from aound the temple and stop forwarding bilateral conflicts to various international forums. It would be the best for both countries to comply with the MoU of 2000. If Cambodia complies with these conditions, the Thai government would be ready for talks to solve problems between the two countries, Mr Abhisit said.  | ||||
| No Withdrawal Of Preah Vihear Temple Case At ICJ: Cambodia PM Posted: 05 Jun 2011 11:54 PM PDT PHNOM PENH, June 6 (Bernama) -- Cambodia will not withdraw its request for the interpretation of the Court's judgment of 1962 on the case concerning the Preah Vihear temple, Xinhua news agency reported quoting Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen as saying on Monday. "For the temple case at the International Court of Justice ( ICJ), Cambodia will not withdraw its complaint at any cost, even in this government's mandate or next mandate, let's the Court to proceed it," he said during a graduation ceremony at the Royal School of Administration. The premier made the remarks after the Bangkok Post online newspaper reported that Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said on June 5 Cambodia should withdraw all border dispute cases from international bodies and return to talks with Thailand. "Cambodia should first show good will by withdrawing his country's request that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) interpret its 1962 ruling on Preah Vihear temple," said Abhisit. He also insisted that a joint management plan for the disputed area near Preah Vihear temple must be made, and that Cambodia must also withdraw the temple from world heritage listing. Hun Sen said: "It's impossible for the joint management plan for Preah Vihear temple with Thailand." "Cambodia has never known and heard about the overland overlapping areas with Thailand; Cambodia does not know where the 4.6 square kilometer area is." He reiterated that the dispute between Cambodia and Thailand on the border dispute near Preah Vihear temple has already reached the hands of international bodies -- the United Nations Security Council, the Asean and the Hague, "it is no way to return to bilateral talks as insisted by Thailand." "Cambodia cannot withdraw its troops from its own territory in order to exchange with the deployment of a few Indonesian observers," he said. Cambodian and Thai border has never been fully completed. The conflict occurred just a week after Cambodia's Preah Vihear temple was enlisted as a World Heritage Site on July 7, 2008. Thailand claims the ownership of 4.6 square kilometers (1.8 square miles) of scrub next to the temple. Since then, both sides have built up military forces along the border and periodic clashes have happened, resulting in the deaths of troops and civilians on both sides. The latest flare-up between the two countries' troops from April 22 to May 3 at the 13th century Ta Moan temple and Ta Krabei temple in Oddar Meanchey province have left 19 people dead on both sides as nearly 100,000 civilians fled homes for safe shelters. The two sides agreed to accept Indonesian observers to monitor a ceasefire on their respective border side on Feb 22 at the Asean foreign ministers meeting in Jakarta, but the deployment was always delayed because Thailand demanded that Cambodian soldiers and locals be withdrawn from the disputed area of 4.6 sq km near the temple first.  | ||||
| Cambodia begins to attract money Posted: 05 Jun 2011 11:50 PM PDT June 5 2011 By Peter Shadbolt Financial Times Cambodia, once regarded as a spill-over investment from Vietnam, is showing signs of standing on its own feet as frontier funds start to produce strong returns. Frontier investors such as Leopard Capital – a private equity fund which launched a potential $100m Cambodia-focused fund in 2008 only to close with $34m – is now finding renewed interest in the country, holding the door open as other regional funds begin to sense an opportunity. Vietnam's largest asset manager, Vinacapital Investment Management, in January announced it would be expanding into Cambodia with a pledge to invest $100m, launching a dedicated fund targeting real estate, infrastructure, hospitality and agriculture investments. "On the face of it, it is looking like a great opportunity," says Kathleen Ng, managing director of the Centre for Asia Private Equity Research. "There's huge interest in directing funds to south and south east Asia – Sri Lanka, Laos and Cambodia – and we are seeing funds, from Vietnam in particular, beginning to regionalise. "There's an emerging sense of opportunity with some funds having a lot of luck in raising funds. Leopard Capital, in particular, was oversubscribed last year," she says. Larger funds such as Frontier Investment and Development Fund and Cambodia Emerald fund are aiming to raise $250m and $100m respectively. Douglas Clayton, chief executive at Leopard Capital Cambodia, says his fund is achieving returns of between 25 and 30 per cent, albeit on relatively small investments by the standards of the region. "We have achieved that in our exits so far," says Mr Clayton. "We have made 10 investments and exited two." Leopard says a Cambodian hydropower scheme showed returns of 66 per cent on a partial exit and the country's first mobile telephone group, CamGSM, is showing an initial rate of return of 25-30 per cent. "Cambodia is positioned to outgrow most of the world as it has avoided any debt crisis, has a young population willing to work hard for modest wages, and is resource rich," Mr Clayton says. The ground-floor appeal of the country – sandwiched between the regional economic giants Vietnam and Thailand – meant the fund could pursue a highly varied portfolio, taking a 33 per cent stake in an established microfinance company and a 55 per cent stake in Kingdom Breweries, a company incubated by the fund. "In general, we have supported the development of high-quality Cambodian brands, which are still in short supply," he says. Ms Ng says real estate had been profitable for one fund and that others were now scouting for condominium deals. With the condo market in Thailand reaching saturation point, locations such as Cambodia are an obvious choice. "It's always the same for most first movers, you're getting in ahead of the regulators and there are profits to be made before loopholes are closed," she says. Leopard says it is yet to see meaningful challenges from competitors in the country. "Vinacapital announced plans to raise $100m to invest in Cambodia but hasn't said it has actually raised any money yet," Mr Clayton adds. "A consulting firm, Emerging Markets Investments, has reportedly raised a $10m fund for Cambodia and Laos but hasn't announced any investments yet. We still don't really face a competitive environment yet, which is nice." Nevertheless, there are still obstacles to investment in one of Asia's poorest countries – where gross domestic product in 2010 barely broached $30bn – not least that it has yet to gain a stock exchange that allows foreign funds to list their investments locally and exit them. The Cambodian finance ministry this week announced the long-awaited exchange, which had been scheduled to open in July, would be delayed until the end of the year to allow companies time to comply with listing regulations. So far, there have been 15 licences issued to securities companies to operate on the Cambodian exchange, including four brokers, two investment advisers, two dealers and seven underwriters partly or wholly owned by US, Malaysian, Vietnamese, Japanese or South Korean companies. Laos already has a functioning exchange and Leopard says its second Cambodia fund will also target the south-east Asian country since "we keep getting shown interesting deals that we wish to include". The company says it is also considering opportunities in nearby Burma. "We eagerly await further reform in Myanmar [Burma] since that country will enter a multi-decade phase of rapid growth once its regulatory environment liberalises and sanctions are eased," Mr Clayton says. Besides the microfinance company and brewery, Leopard's portfolio includes a power transmission company, a property development group, a hydro-electric company, a seafood processing plant and a bank. In the future, the fund hopes to invest in commodities, playing to Cambodia's strengths of food production, timber and rubber. "We are increasingly focusing on agricultural investments given the elevated prices of commodities," Mr Clayton says. "We are also looking to migrate the most successful business models from one frontier economy to another."  | ||||
| Montreal (Canada), 5 June 2011: Public meeting with Sam Rainsy attended by some 300 people Posted: 05 Jun 2011 11:40 PM PDT |
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Yes
You motherfucker brainless and never learn ASEAN history
or your mother passed away and leave u with an uneducated status~