KI Media: “Hor 5 Hong is the chief of notorious Boeung Trabek prison” plus 24 more |
- Hor 5 Hong is the chief of notorious Boeung Trabek prison
- Rights group calls for release of Cambodian activist
- Over 80,000 Cambodians Registered for Permits to Work in Thailand
- Upbeat on Thai-Cambodia Ties
- Illegal Cambodian loggers add to tensions
- Election fever in US community
- Ministry’s ‘massive graft’
- Soul Food
- ECCC Law
- Soul Food
- Convention on the Rights of the Child
- Cambodia protests over US cable's Khmer Rouge claim
- "Participation for Survival" By Ven. Maha Phirum
- June Textile Press Alert
- ‘Act now’ land-grab attitude
- US cables detail PM’s thinking on ‘dirty debt’
- Sacrava's Political Cartoon: Banana Stock Exchange
- Sacrava's Political Cartoon: Made in America
- Use your rights to refuse HUN MANY´s access to US Defense Academy
- ហ៊ុន សែន ជាមេរដ្ឋប្រហារ ដោយ ឆាំ ឆានី (Hun Xen the mastermind of 1997 coup d`etat by Chham Chhany)
- Hor 5 Hong’s reaction to US officials on Wikileaks publication about his biography as Boeung Trabek jail chief
- Comrade 5, ex-Boeung Trabek jail chief, protest US charge
- Hun Xen thanks US [taxpayers] for funding his son’s education [-US tax dollars at work to educate a dictator's sons]
- Who said Hun Sen government is strong and patriotic?
- Life on the Tonle Bassac River in Phnom Penh
| Hor 5 Hong is the chief of notorious Boeung Trabek prison Posted: 15 Jul 2011 02:36 PM PDT  Op-Ed: Khmer YoungAnonymous comment on KI Keo Bunthouk who was detained with her husband, former diplomat Ieng Kounsaky, at the Boeng Trabek camp (Section B32 presided over by Hor Namhong) from 1977 to 1979. Which one of these Khmer Rouge(s) list below is a prison chief of Boeung Trabek prison B32? a) Pol Pot b) Nuon Chea c) Ta Mok d) Khieu Samphan e) Son Sen f) Kaing Guek Eav aka Samak Mith Duch g) Ieng Sary h) Ieng Thearith i) Chea Sim j) Heng Samrin k) Hor Namhong aka Samak Mith Yaem l) Keat Chhon m) Ouk Bunchhoeun n) Sim Ka aka Samak Mith Muth o) Hun Sen Source: DC-CAM Document Center of Cambodia Fact: During the Democratic Kampuchea Pol Pot Khmer Rouge Regime; There are 196 prisons. There are 196 prison chiefs. There are 1.7 million innocent Khmer peoples killed by the Democratic Kampuchea Pol Pot Khmer Rouge Regime. Democratic Kampuchea Pol Pot Khmer Rouge Regime's leaders and members:
Kaing Guek Eav is a prison chief of Toul Sleng prison S21. Source: DC-CAM Document Center of Cambodia The UN-backed Khmer Rouge Tribunal court (ECCC) must indict 195 other prison chiefs. "I will not allow the UN-backed Khmer Rouge Tribunal court (ECCC) to indict more Khmer Rouge Regime leaders, I rather let the court (KRT ECCC) fail. Indict more Khmer Rouge Regime's leaders will lead the country into a civil war." Samak Mith Hun Sen Cambodian People's Party Hun Sen Khmer Rouge Regime's leader Samak Mith Hun Sen will not allow the UN-backed Khmer Rouge Tribunal court (ECCC) to indict more Khmer Rouge Regime leaders who is responsible for killing 1.7 million innocent Khmer peoples. Samak Mith Hun Sen threaten to turn Cambodia back into the Killing Fields all over again. War with whom? War with innocent Khmer peoples without weapon? Once a Khmer Rouge, always a Khmer Rouge. A good Khmer Rouge(s) is a dead Khmer Rouge(s). Khmer Rouge(s) continue to kill innocent Khmer peoples. Cambodian People's Party Hun Sen Khmer Rouge Regime's leaders and members:
"(Samak Mith) Duch (Kaing Guek Eav) 19 years sentence is too short and doesn't fit his crimes." Samak Mith Yaem (Hor Namhong) Prison Chief of Boeung Trabek prison B32 Hor Namhong want the whole world to know that he is not a Khmer Rouge and a prison chief of Boeung Trabek prison B32. Hor Namhong is a prison chief of Boeung Trabek prison B32. Source: "A CAMP CALLED BOENG TRABEK" PHNOM PENH POST, JANUARY 19 - FEBRUARY 1, 2001 Keo Bunthouk who was detained with her husband, former diplomat Ieng Kounsaky, at the Boeng Trabek camp (Section B32 presided over by Hor Namhong) from 1977 to 1979. Q: Who should be held responsible for the murders of Boeng Trabek inmates? A: Now you repeat this question and maybe Hor Namhong will want to assassinate me, what will happen to me? I've heard that Hor Namhong wants to sue the newspaper that said he was Khmer Rouge. Keo Bunthouk died under suspicious circumstances in 2001, shortly after she gave interview to the Phnom Penh Post. Keo Bunthouk was a survivor of Boeng Trabek prison B32. Keo Bunthouk was a member of the Cambodian Parliament from FUNCINPEC Party. Hor Namhong said to the French judge that he is not a prison chief of Boeung Trabek prison B32, in fact members of his family was killed by Khmer Rouge(s). Hor Namhong can lies all he want, at the end, he got summoned and will get indict, prosecute, convict and sentence. Criminals likes to lies. The place where criminals lies the most is inside the court room in front of the judge(s). On October 7, 2009 Chea Sim, Heng Samrin, Hor Namhong, Keat Chhon, Ouk Bunchhoeun and Sim Ka has been summoned by the UN-backed Khmer Rouge Tribunal court (ECCC).  | ||
| Rights group calls for release of Cambodian activist Posted: 15 Jul 2011 01:00 PM PDT Jul 15, 2011 DPA
Phnom Penh - An international rights group called Friday for the release of a Cambodian human rights activist currently in prison for 'peaceful political expression.' Leang Sokchouen, a member of the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defence of Human Rights, had his two-year jail sentence upheld on appeal Thursday. On August 30, Leang was convicted of disinformation in connection with the distribution of anti-government leaflets in the country's southern province of Takeo in January. In a statement Friday, the US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the charge against the activist was changed to incitement during the appeal - a charge that did not exist at the time of the alleged crime. It said the trial violated free trial standards and demonstrated the 'politicization and incompetence' of the court system. 'Sokchouen should never have been charged in the first place, but to have the charges changed on appeal with no opportunity to challenge them sets a new standard for arbitrariness,' HRW's Asia director Brad Adams said in the statement. 'The government should immediately drop the charges and release him.' Phay Siphan, a spokesman for the Cambodian Council of Ministers, dismissed the accusations, saying the country's courts worked in the interests of all Cambodians. 'If someone doesn't like the judgement, they have the right to file it to another level, to the Supreme Court,' he said. The claim that the courts were political was 'unfair' and 'groundless,' Phay Siphan said. In recent years, Cambodia has come under increased pressure from rights watchdogs, who say Prime Minister Hun Sen's government has used the court system as a tool to muzzle opposition politicians and other figures. Opposition leader Sam Rainsy currently lives in exile, facing a total of 12 years jail for accusing the government of ceding land to Vietnam.  | ||
| Over 80,000 Cambodians Registered for Permits to Work in Thailand Posted: 15 Jul 2011 12:56 PM PDT 2011-07-15 Xinhua More than 80,000 Cambodians were already registered for work in Thailand as the deadline just passed, a government official said Friday. Hou Vuthy, deputy director general of Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training said that by July 14, more than 80,000 Cambodians were registered with Thailand's authorities to legally work there. He said the Thai side had set a deadline on July 14 for those, not only for Cambodians, who work illegally in Thailand to register for work permit. He said through legal paperwork, those Cambodian workers will no longer face deportation or charges with illegal entry. Even though the deadline has passed, the Cambodian authorities will try their best to help those who are not yet registered so that they will be legally permitted. Thailand is economically richer than its neighbors and needs more workers, thus providing many opportunities to those from neighboring nations to work in the country with hope for more pay. Early this month, Thai authorities said that 454,449 workers from Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar might face deportation if they fail to register by July 14. Some say that at least 10,000 Cambodian workers fail to register for legal permit to date, but Hou Vuthy said no one knows for sure how many Cambodians are actually working there, especially, the illegal ones. He said some Cambodians enter Thailand for one or two days' work, while others might stay up to a week, a month or a year, making the authorities hard to figure out the actual number. Thai authorities have frequently deported hundreds of illegal Cambodian workers through Poi Pet International border gate between Cambodia's Banteay Meanchey Province and Thailand's Sakaew Province. In addition to working in Thailand, many Cambodian workers also work in Malaysia and South Korea.  | ||
| Posted: 15 Jul 2011 12:53 PM PDT July 15, 2011 By Tim LaRocco The Diplomat The changes in a country's foreign policy during the transition to a new regime can sometimes be striking, and al eyes will be on any signs of a shift in Thailand over the coming weeks and months as the new Pheu Thai-led coalition takes power after this month's election victory. The result wasn't just a repudiation of economic policy by the rural majority but, as noted by one Thai civil servant, a refection of nearly three years of failed foreign policies under Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and his administration. Thailand's relationship with global and regional hegemons – the United States, China, and Russia, all fellow members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation – will most likely remain unchanged. However, relations between Thailand and Cambodia is where many observers can expect to see a shift. Tensions between the two states reached their highest point in years in April, when their militaries clashed on the border over the status of the ancient Hindu temple ruins of Preah Vihear. The fighting resulted in 18 deaths and dozens more wounded. After military commanders agreed to a ceasefire in May, the dispute was referred to the International Court of Justice for adjudication. An injunction on the matter is expected to be delivered by July 18. The Abhisit administration's perspective on the conflict in large part reflected the views held by the fiercely nationalist People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), the Yellow Shirts who staged anti-government street demonstrations in 2008. The PAD found the stance taken by the pro-Thaksin Shinawatra government, led by Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, to be an intolerable insult to Thai pride; Samak supported Cambodia's push to list the temples as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, under Cambodian administration. A Pheu Thai victory may, in effect, reset the Thai-Cambodian relationship and mollify the hostility that had underpinned it since 2008. As The Diplomat's Luke Hunt reported last week, Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Nam Hong said of Pheu Thai's big win: 'It's true, we can't hide that we are happy with the victory by Pheu Thai Party in Bangkok.' The lame duck Abhisit administration, which will still be in office when the ICJ makes its ruling on the dispute, has stated that it will comply with any decision the court reaches. That statement is sure to have upset the Yellow Shirts, still licking their wounds from the electoral hammering the government received. But it should be a significant step towards peacefully resolving the differences between the two countries. As articulated by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen last week, a Pheu Thai government will mark 'a new era of cooperation.' Tim LaRocco is a graduate student of international relations at The City College of New York. He has travelled throughout the developing world, including stints as a volunteer worker in the Public Parks Department in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and as a researcher for the South African Human Rights Commission in Cape Town. He currently lives in Long Island, New York.  | ||
| Illegal Cambodian loggers add to tensions Posted: 15 Jul 2011 12:49 PM PDT 16/07/2011 Wassana Nanuam Bangkok Post The felling of Siamese wood by Cambodian loggers could erode the already fragile relationship between Thailand and Cambodia. Reports of Cambodians secretly crossing into Thailand to cut the trees are worrying 23rd Ranger Task Force chief Thanasak Mittraphanon, whose unit is already burdened with its mission to monitor the 4.6 square kilometre overlapping border around the World Heritage-listed Preah Vihear temple. The illegal loggers are cutting the trees because the price of this wood has risen 100,000 baht a cubic metre, Col Thanasak said. He believes they cut the trees almost daily. Known by Thai locals as mai phayung, the wood is highly sought after by furniture makers for its hardness, resistance to insects and beautiful patterns. The largest market for Siamese wood logs is China. The tree species is abundant around Preah Vihear and nearby areas in the Phanom Dongrak mountain range. Thai military rangers have been ordered to take careful action when they spot Cambodian poachers in Thai forests. "We shout at them," Col Thanasak said, explaining how the officers expel them. This method works sometimes, he said, but if they still continue to cut the trees, the rangers have to make arrests. In the worst case, some loggers open fire at the officers who then cannot help but react in kind to protect themselves. But the military response has become a concern for Col Thanasak as the issue may further weaken Thai-Cambodian relations, which are sensitive following the border dispute near Preah Vihear.  | ||
| Election fever in US community Posted: 15 Jul 2011 12:46 PM PDT
 Friday, 15 July 2011 Kristen Lynch The Phnom Penh Post BORN in a refugee camp in Thailand after his parents fled the Khmer Rouge, Van Pech is poised to become only the second person of Cambodian descent to hold public office in the United States. The 27-year-old is running for city council in Lowell, Massachusetts, a bustling manufacturing town on America's Eastern seaboard which has become a quiet magnet for Southeast Asian immigrants. He's set to follow in the footsteps of the first elected representative of Cambodian decent, Rithy Uong, who held the same seat that Pech is vying for from 1999 until he stepped down in 2005. Uong, aged 50, who spoke to The Post during a recent trip to Phnom Penh, fled Cambodia with his family in 1979 after the Vietnamese invasion that toppled the Khmer Rouge regime. "I love Cambodia, but my father felt the country was going to be at war again when the Vietnamese invaded. He lost two sons during the Pol Pot regime and he didn't want to lose any others," he said. Unlike Uong, Pech was spared the experience of living under the Khmer Rouge but he maintains a deep sense of all that his parents endured. "I feel privileged not to go through all the suffering and pain that they went through. I can never truly understand how my parents felt. They were just simple people, farmers, and the war just devastated them and the whole country." Both men believe that Uong's election to city council in 1999 represented a turning point for minority representation in Lowell politics. The Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association estimates the number of Cambodian-Americans in the city is around 30,000 or 40,000. That makes it the country's second-highest concentration of Cambodians, after Long Beach, California. And because Lowell is roughly one-quarter the size of Long Beach – with a population of 106,000 to Long Beach's 462,000 – the Cambodian population comprises a much larger proportion compared to its West Coast sister. Pech says he distinctly remembers meeting Uong after the election, when he visited a community centre. "I remember seeing him come in and I said 'congrats' and shook his hand. We were so excited that he won," he said. Before the 1999 election, Uong says that less than a hundred Cambodian-Americans cast ballots in the previous municipal elections. Much of his campaign focused on mobilising this underrepresented community and was ultimately successful in registering more than two-thousand Cambodian-Americans, he said. "Lowell's always been a home for refugees and immigrants. In the early eighties, jobs were plentiful, earnings were decent, housing was cheap, opportunity was big." According to Uong, Lowell has been a hub for Cambodians and other Southeast Asian immigrants, who he believes were underrepresented in politics. "I was so upset that no people of colour were serving as elected officials, so I called all the leaders to find a candidate that could fit. And everyone just said, 'Why don't you do it?'" "Election night was one of the brightest moments for the city because it never had such a strong show of support from minorities," he said. Van Pech is similarly interested in representing minority interests, which he also feels have been underrepresented in government. "Most people in Lowell are from minority backgrounds, but local government – the city council, the school boards – doesn't reflect this," he said. This dearth of minority candidates is due in part, Pech says, to a perception that exists among some members of ethnic minority communities that running for public office is only for people from certain backgrounds, different from their own. "I think there's a perception that you have to be a lawyer or a business owner or the president of some bank or something to run or serve in public office and it's not true. You can just be a regular person that cares for the city and that wants to be a part of positive change," he said. Role models like Uong were an important part of fostering this mindset among the next generation of Cambodian-Americans in Lowell. Pech says that Uong was one of the first people he called when he was deciding to run for city council. "People look to him [Uong] as the unofficial leader of the Asian community of Lowell, so I went to him before I decided to run for general guidance and advice. He told me he was excited for me and he was happy to see the next generation of Cambodian-Americans getting involved," he said. Uong is supporting both Pech and Vesna Nuon, another Cambodian-American running for city council. He hopes that both of them win, but at the end of the day, he would be happy even if just one was successful. "I want to make sure that at least one of them gets elected," he said. Despite his largely behind-the-scenes role in this year's municipal election, Uong isn't done with politics. His sights are set on next year's general election, when he plans to run for the Massachusetts House of Representatives. If successful, he'll make history yet again.  | ||
| Posted: 15 Jul 2011 12:39 PM PDT Friday, 15 July 2011 Vong Sokheng The Phnom Penh Post MINISTER of Economy and Finance Keat Chhon has requested that the Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation repay an estimated US$5.5 million it paid to "ghost officials" and used in "irregular expenses". In a letter, sent to Social Affairs Minister Ith Sam Heng on July 5 and obtained by The Post yesterday, Keat Chhon asked that about 22 billion riels of irregular spending is repaid to the state – following an investigation by the government's Anticorruption Unit in cooperation with the 24 provincial social affairs departments. "Please advise the expert [financial] department to offer detailed numbers of the ghost officials, irregularity of purchasing … which individual social departments confessed to the ACU," Chhon wrote. The repayment, the letter states, can be taken from the 2011 ministry budget – which is estimated at $62.8 million. The move follows revelations made by Prime Minster Hun Sen late last month that the ACU had completed a graft investigation at the Ministry of Social Affairs. Officials were found to have stolen money from the pensions of dead and retired civil servants, but no arrests were to be made at the time, he said. Hun Sen added that he had personally ordered the investigation in March. "The bureaucracy and ignorance of the officials at the Ministry of Social Affairs dissuaded the retirees from coming back again and again," said the premier. "If you want to try it again, you'll be in trouble." Yesterday San Chey, a fellow at the Affiliated Network for Social Accountability in East Asia and the Pacific, said that more action should be taken and the anticorruption law should be fully implemented. "I think that besides forcing [the ministry] to repay the budget, those individual officials responsible must be punished in accordance with the anticorruption law as a warning to other officials," Chey said. The secretary general of the opposition Sam Rainsy Party, Ke Sovannroth, said that she welcomed ACU's uncovering of "massive corruption" at the Social Affairs Ministry. "I think that the ACU or the Minister of Economy and Finance has to order an investigation of all state assets," he said. Om Yentieng, head of the ACU, could not be reached for comment, while Keo Remy, ACU spokesman, declined to comment. Lem El Djurado, spokesman at the Ministry of Social Affairs, could not be reached for comment. Ghost civil servants are employees being paid a salary without having to show up for work. In April, an official at the Council of Ministers said that more than 4,000 "ghosts" had been discovered during an analysis of the state's payroll that began early last year. A 1995 census uncovered roughly 18,000 ghost civil servants, while a census conducted in 2000 and 2001 revealed about 9,000 ghost civil servants.  | ||
| Posted: 15 Jul 2011 10:59 AM PDT Man is born broken. He lives by mending. The grace of God is glue. - Eugene O'Neill  | ||
| Posted: 15 Jul 2011 10:45 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") the inclusion of amendments as promulgated on 27 October 2004 CHAPTER XI PENALTIES Article 39 Those who have committed any crime as provided in Articles 3 new, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 shall be sentenced to a prison term from five years to life imprisonment. In addition to imprisonment, the Extraordinary Chamber of the trial court may order the confiscation of personal property, money, and real property acquired unlawfully or by criminal conduct. The confiscated property shall be returned to the State.  | ||
| Posted: 15 Jul 2011 10:43 AM PDT In the deserts of his heart Let the healing fountain start, In the prison of his days Teach the free man how to praise. - W.H. Auden  | ||
| Convention on the Rights of the Child Posted: 15 Jul 2011 10:40 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 201. A child temporarily or permanently deprived of his or her family environment, or in whose own best interests cannot be allowed to remain in that environment, shall be entitled to special protection and assistance provided by the State. 2. States Parties shall in accordance with their national laws ensure alternative care for such a child. 3. Such care could include, inter alia, foster placement, kafalah of Islamic law, adoption or if necessary placement in suitable institutions for the care of children. When considering solutions, due regard shall be paid to the desirability of continuity in a child's upbringing and to the child's ethnic, religious, cultural and linguistic background.  | ||
| Cambodia protests over US cable's Khmer Rouge claim Posted: 15 Jul 2011 08:04 AM PDT
AFP PHNOM PENH — Cambodia's foreign minister has strongly protested to US officials over a leaked diplomatic cable repeating allegations that he was a former Khmer Rouge prison chief, his department said on Friday. Hor Namhong summoned the US Charge d?Affaires in Phnom Penh, Jeff Daigle, on Thursday to complain about the "highly defamatory" 2002 cable, which was released via WikiLeaks this week, the foreign ministry statement said. In the meeting, the Cambodian asked Daigle "to convey to the US State Department his strong protest" over the cable, "which is full of unacceptable maligned indictment", the ministry said. The cable cites an "undated, unattributed report" on file at the US embassy, which said Hor Namhong took charge of Boeung Trabek camp in the capital after the brutal communist movement took power in 1975. "Hor Namhong came back to Cambodia after the Khmer Rouge took over, but was not killed because he was a schoolmate of Ieng Sary," the report said, referring to the regime's ex-foreign minister now on trial for genocide. Hor Namhong "became head of the Beng Trabek (sic) camp and he and his wife collaborated in the killing of many prisoners," it added. The minister himself has long said that he and his family were prisoners at a Khmer Rouge camp, and he has successfully sued people in the past for claiming that he had links to the blood-soaked communist movement. The US embassy in Cambodia confirmed that Daigle met Hor Namhong on Thursday but said it was unable to comment on the content of any allegedly leaked US government documents. Up to two million people died of overwork and starvation or were executed under the Khmer Rouge, which outlawed religion, property rights, currency and schools during its four-year rule. A number of the current administration in Cambodia had links to the regime, and Prime Minister Hun Sen himself was mid-level Khmer Rouge cadre. In April, a Cambodian court slapped opposition leader Sam Rainsy -- who lives in exile in France -- with a jail term and a fine for accusing Hor Namhong of being a former regime member. He was found guilty in absentia of defamation and inciting discrimination for claiming in a 2008 speech that Hor Namhong once belonged to the movement. Sam Rainsy, seen as the main rival to Hun Sen, has been convicted by Cambodian courts on various other counts, which his party and rights groups say are an attempt to sideline him ahead of elections in 2013. In May 2010, a French appeals court upheld a guilty verdict against Rainsy for remarks in his autobiography about the foreign minister's alleged role in the movement, but the French Supreme Court overturned the decision last April.  | ||
| "Participation for Survival" By Ven. Maha Phirum Posted: 15 Jul 2011 07:54 AM PDT | ||
| Posted: 15 Jul 2011 07:48 AM PDT PRESS ALERT: Press Conference Sunway Hotel July 17, 2011 09:00AM to 11:00AM June Textile workers, who have been out of work since their factory was set ablaze on March 31st, the Cambodian National Confederation (CNC) and the Cambodian Confederation Unions (CCU) are organizing a press conference at Sunway Hotel from 9:00 until 11:00 am. After the fire at the factory the factory workers have been struggling to get their due compensation from June Textile Co. After the dispute was taken to the Arbitration Council, and an award given to the workers, June Textile has refused to implement the Arbitration Council award. This press conference is aiming to send a message to all stake holders and appealing to June Textile Management to honor the Arbitration Award and respect the Labor Law of Cambodia. We would like to invite all members of the press and human rights observers to attend the press conference. Please Contact: Ms. Morm Nhim, President of the Cambodian National Confederation (CNC) at 012824640. Mr. Rong Chhun, President of Cambodian Confederation Unions (CCU) at 012930706.  | ||
| Posted: 15 Jul 2011 07:45 AM PDT
Friday, 15 July 2011 David Boyle The Phnom Penh Post A RACE to buy up land concessions, in which one investor emphasised the need to "act now" before available land became unavailabe, encouraged companies to side-step the Kingdom's land law with the acquiescence of the government, a United States embassy cable asserts. Companies openly discussed a loophole to avoid the 10,000-hectare limit placed on economic land concessions, US Chargé d'Affaires Theodore Allegra said in a May 2009 cable made public by WikiLeaks on Tuesday. "Saroeun Soush was very eager to push ELCs, saying repeatedly that investors had to 'act now' before available land disappeared, and he even tried to offer [an embassy officer] a 'finder's fee' for bringing in U.S. investors," Allegra wrote, referring to the managing director of Asia Real Property. Saroeun Soush, who was charged with forgery in December 2010 after an article by The Post revealed his company was fraudulent, advertised "everything from 11,000 hectare concessions in Mondulkiri Province to 46,000 hectare concessions in Kampot", Allegra wrote. By creating multiple subsidiaries that lease adjacent plots of land, companies were amassing conglomerated concessions far beyond the 10,000 hectare limit, the cable said. Citing Yous Pheary, head of the Cambodian NGO Community Economic Development in Kratie, the cable said that a Chinese agricultural company had secured 50,000 hectares in Kratie's Sambor district using this strategy. But yesterday Puth Sorithy said he had never spoken to Allegra, nor said anything about a 50,000 hectare concession to US embassy officials. A development drive had pushed the Cambodian government to pursue a "short sighted policy of bending rules and skipping processes" in order to provide quick access to land, Allegra wrote. Concerns over the size of land concessions and related disputes were also voiced in earlier embassy cables. In a February 2006 cable, an embassy official expressed concern that concessions above the 10,000-hectare limit were frequently being acquired by "well-connected business people making flimsy promises to develop the land". "Lands under economic land concessions are typically logged and the lumber sold, but rarely is further action taken to develop the land," the cable stated. A March 2008 cable, which highlighted US citizens embroiled in land disputes, stated that "land disputes have the potential to be destabilising, and could have a chilling effect on investment". Officials at the Ministry of Land Management could not be reached for comment by The Post yesterday.  | ||
| US cables detail PM’s thinking on ‘dirty debt’ Posted: 15 Jul 2011 07:39 AM PDT Friday, 15 July 2011 Thomas Miller The Phnom Penh Port NEWLY-RELEASED diplomatic cables show that Prime Minister Hun Sen reportedly agreed to pay Cambodia's 1970s-era Lon Nol "dirty debt", despite his later calls for its cancellation. They also allege that Japan threatened to pull out of a development project in protest over attempts by the United States to collect the debt. After years of negotiations that included trimming the debt by US$100 million, the US requested in 2006 that Cambodia begin settling the debt. While Cambodian authorities had never expressed enthusiasm about repaying the debt – estimated to have grown to US$445 million at the end of last year – the cables suggest Japan was also an obstacle to collecting the dues. Then-Ambassador Joseph Mussomeli said in a December 2006 cable that Vongsey Vissoth, deputy secretary general at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, said the government "had run into problems with the Japanese Government" on the issue. "Already, said Vissoth, the GOJ has withdrawn funding on a joint Japanese-ADB infrastructure project in Sihanoukville because of the USG debt issue," Mussomeli recounted. He added that his Japanese counterpart had recently "complained about the USG trying to collect on a Lon Nol-period debt accrued under wartime circumstances". Tatsuya Machida, counsellor at the Japanese embassy, declined to comment on the cables and said he had "no information so far to confirm or deny" Japan's alleged role. A 2007 cable shows that the dispute between the US and Japan was eventually resolved, but negotiations over the debt itself went nowhere. According to a May, 2008 cable, Hun Sen accepted Cambodia's responsibility for the debt but requested "flexibility" in repayment options, suggesting a lower interest rate and debt-for-development scheme. "The debt is a state legacy, the PM said, and Cambodia will repay it," Mussomeli reported. But Cambodian officials later became more vocal in their opposition, citing shifts in public opinion on the issue. Ambassador Carol Rodley said in a December, 2009 cable that the "debt remains a continuing sticking point". In January last year, US Congressman Eni Faleomavaega discussed the issue with Hun Sen. The premier allegedly said that "asking approval from the National Assembly and the people to repay it would be a 'real political risk'". "PM Hun Sen compared the Cambodian government's predicament to that of being 'squeezed by pliers – on the one side is the U.S. (the owner of the debt), and on the other side are the victims of a coup supported by the U.S.,'" a cable quoted the premier as saying. Minister of Economy and Finance Keat Chhon later "explained that Cambodian public opinion used to support the idea of recycling debt payments for assistance programs in Cambodia but had changed recently in favor of debt forgiveness". Then, Hun Sen announced in September that he would ask the US to cancel the "dirty debt", and the long-stalled talks on the issue restarted during a visit by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last October. US and Cambodian officials discussed the issue in March this year. US embassy spokesman Mark Wenig said by email yesterday that "governments are generally responsible for the obligations of their predecessors", adding that the US "still hopes that an agreement can be reached soon".  | ||
| Sacrava's Political Cartoon: Banana Stock Exchange Posted: 15 Jul 2011 07:36 AM PDT
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| Sacrava's Political Cartoon: Made in America Posted: 15 Jul 2011 07:34 AM PDT
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| Use your rights to refuse HUN MANY´s access to US Defense Academy Posted: 15 Jul 2011 04:06 AM PDT NOTE: Hun Many is granted scholarship by US Defense Academy. With this, I think if our people there think this is postive for our country, they just let it be, but if not so, they as taxpayers can do something by mobilizing themselves to pettition the US govt to reconsider this scholarship grant.  Chea Dara, Hun Manet , Kheng Someth, Srei Doek and Hun Many in Preah Vihear (CEN)  | ||
| ហ៊ុន សែន ជាមេរដ្ឋប្រហារ ដោយ ឆាំ ឆានី (Hun Xen the mastermind of 1997 coup d`etat by Chham Chhany) Posted: 15 Jul 2011 02:08 AM PDT   | ||
| Posted: 15 Jul 2011 01:47 AM PDT 15 July 2011 By Rithypol Free Press Magazine Online Translated from Khmer by Soch Click here to read the original article in Khmer The Cambodian minister of Foreign Affairs reacted to the publication of his biography which was leaked by Wikileaks on 11 July, indicating that he was the Beoung Trabek jail chief during the Khmer Rouge era. A press communiqué issued by the ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday 15 July, indicated that Hor 5 Hong summoned Jeff Daigle, the US Deputy Head of Mission and Chargé d'Affaires in Phnom Penh, to reply to the secret revelations of the 2002 report written by Alexander A. Arvizu on Hor 5 Hong's biography published online by Wikileaks on Monday of this week. Hor 5 Hong raised to Jeff Daigle about the report written by Alexander Arvizu to the US State Department. The Cambodian ministry of Foreign Affairs called for comments from the US Embassy in Phnom Penh on this issue. According to Wikileaks' publication posted on 11 July, Hor 5 Hong and his wife were close to Ieng Sary, the former KR deputy prime minister and minister of Foreign Affairs. Wikileaks' report indicated that Hor 5 Hong's wife saw her daughter's picture in Tuol Sleng jail, and it also reported about her request to Ien Sary's for intervention. The Wikileaks report claims that Hor 5 Hong is involved with people [sent] to Tuol Sleng during that era.  | ||
| Comrade 5, ex-Boeung Trabek jail chief, protest US charge Posted: 15 Jul 2011 12:53 AM PDT    | ||
| Posted: 15 Jul 2011 12:40 AM PDT 15 July 2011 Everyday.com.kh Translated from Khmer by Soch Hun Xen thanked the US government for providing a scholarship to his son for studying at the US Defense Academy. In a speech given during the handing out of diplomas to students on 14 July 2011, Hun Xen indicated that Hun Many, his younger son, will study at the US Defense Academy for a master's degree in national defense. The cost of the study is estimated to be $255,000. Hun Xen said that Hun Maneth, his oldest son, studied at West Point at a cost of $175,000. He said that he did not ask the US for the scholarships for his sons, but the US wants his son to study there. Hun Xen said that it is not his habit to beg anybody (sic!), nevertheless, he must thank the US for providing education for his sons.  | ||
| Who said Hun Sen government is strong and patriotic? Posted: 14 Jul 2011 11:38 PM PDT Political Analysis Today:  by Khmer Young We will see more communist political tactics employ by Hun Sen government to discredit and demolish the SRP but at the end, Hun Sen will loss face that his power will have no legitimacy because of main opposition leader cannot compete with him in the political ring. Dear Cambodian Compatriots: It has been almost two years since 23 September 2010 court of Cambodia sentenced Sam Rainsy 12 years in jail in absentia. Everyone including kids who are still sucking their fingers know that the decision of the court and the involvement of Cambodian government with this court is politically motivated. However, this card playing by Hun Sen is crucially important. If we idealized about the nature of politics, Hun Sen can play any card for the sake of power like Thomas Hobbs described politics as the use of every means to success and gain the power. But if we idealized this tactic in a Cambodian conscience, it is surely unacceptable and indignant. Why the game of trial of Sam Rainsy including the two farmers at the border is indignant? The answer is because Hun Sen and his court are playing the political game of serving foreigner. In Cambodian constitution clearly stated that every Cambodian people especially government or opposition party obtain full duty to protect the border territory particularly the farmers living along the border. All farmers' complains at the border must be justly cared and solved. So, in this matter, Hun Sen government is not only abusing his power to serve foreigner, but CPP court is also violating the chapter of Cambodian constitution. Cambodian people and opposition party will sue the court and the Hun Sen government about this violation (if the Cambodian court is puppetic and cannot proceed this verdict, we will also raise this issue to the co-signatories of Paris Peace Agreement who has also participated with the ratification of Cambodian national constitution). But it is not necessary to go further for that as Hun Sen now is stuck by his own image of puppetic policy and indignant strategy.
We will see more communist political tactics employ by Hun Sen government to discredit and demolish the SRP but at the end, Hun Sen will loss face that his power will have no legitimacy because of main opposition leader cannot compete with him in the political ring. And the last card Hun Sen will play is the election mechanism and vote-manipulating and buying. But like I mentioned earlier, Hun Sen is aware about it. He can buy power by fake election/voting, but he can not buy Cambodian people heart. And finally, Hun Sen cannot write a new history of Cambodia for younger Cambodians. In that time, Hun Sen will be inscribed as the traitor and murderer like Pol Pot. Certainly, Pol Pot and Hun Sen including few high ranking figures like Hor Namhong and Keath Chon are former Khmer Rouge leaders. At the end, Sam Rainsy and SRP party only that truly work for Cambodia and her beloved people. More Hun Sen try to discredit and demolish this party, more we can see SRP become the leading Naga. Do you understand the "Law of Reaction"? Khmer Young  | ||
| Life on the Tonle Bassac River in Phnom Penh Posted: 14 Jul 2011 11:38 PM PDT
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