KI Media: “Disgruntled Lake Families Plea for Donor Help” plus 24 more |
- Disgruntled Lake Families Plea for Donor Help
- Not Enough Cambodians Pitching In for Development: Volunteers
- Cambodian toddler suckles milk straight from the cow
- Sacrava's Political Cartoon: A Gift
- Nobody at the CPP capable of taking over Hun Xen’s position?
- A number of important issues in Cambodia - Source: Unknown
- វាចារអ្នកសុំទាន ដោយ ឆាំ ឆានី (The cry of beggars by Chham Chhany)
- NGOs and Cambodia
- [Thai] PM pledges to secure release of 2 detained Thai activists [-Don't expect Hun Xen to do the same for Khmer opposition party members]
- Xayaburi dam may cause earthquakes: Vietnamese report [-Laos and Vietnam on a loggerhead?]
- Chief accused of threatening villagers over land dispute
- Voter-drive complaints
- Tuol Sleng daughters reconcile the past
- Veera, Ratree to be freed?
- [Thai] PM: No clue about release of 2 Thais
- Suthep: [Yingluck] Govt rushing to help Thaksin
- Phnom Penh residents score landmark victory over proposed land grab
- First Day of Kan Ben
- Another rat and his wife jump off the Funcinpec ship
- COMFREL's electoral activities for the period of voter registration and revision
- Stolen Innocence: One Woman's Fight Against Child Sex Slavery
- Beware ...
- Judges dismiss Khmer Rouge tribunal claimant
- ADB raises Cambodia's growth forecast to 6.8 per cent
- Migrants tell of slavery on Thai fishing boats
| Disgruntled Lake Families Plea for Donor Help Posted: 14 Sep 2011 05:10 PM PDT
Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer | Phnom Penh
A small group of residents at the Boeung Kak lake development in Phnom Penh submitted a petition to major donor embassies on Wednesday, pleading for further intervention in their ongoing dispute with a developer. Thirty-four families from two villages in the lakeside area say they have not received land titles as expected under a deal ordered last month by Prime Minister Hun Sen with the developer Shukaku, Inc. The families said they sent a their petition to the embassies of Australia, the EU, France, Germany, Japan, the UK and the US, in hopes of getting plots on 12 hectares of the 133-hectare development. More than 20 families have said they have not received titles, even though the ruling-party senator who heads the development company has received land. Tep Vanny, a representative of the residents, said the petition was aimed at drawing international intervention into the 34 cases. Of the seven embassies, the US and French missions confirmed receipt of the petition.  | ||||||||||
| Not Enough Cambodians Pitching In for Development: Volunteers Posted: 14 Sep 2011 05:01 PM PDT
Wednesday, 14 September 2011 Say Mony, VOA Khmer | Phnom Penh
If more Cambodians do not start pitching in and volunteering, the country risks missing key development goals in coming years, a youth advocate said Monday. Cambodia is trying to meet a series of UN Millennium Development Goals by 2015, but it is lagging behind in key sectors. And while there are a number of foreign volunteers working in the country, there is not enough local help, Diep Sovannaroth, a program assistant for UN Volunteers, told "Hello VOA." "Only when we Cambodians ourselves contribute to the solutions to existing challenges or problems will the country develop," she said. "So volunteerism plays a very important role here." Cambodia marked the 10th anniversary of the International Year of Volunteers last week, as development officials called on more volunteer activities to push the country towards its 2015 goals. "You can be a part-time volunteer with an organization wherever you see a problem and think you can offer a hand to help fix it," Diep Sovannaroth said. "Then you become part of the solution." Visal, a "Hello VOA" caller from Kampong Cham province, said that the idea of volunteering is not new to Cambodians, but few seem eager to take on volunteer work. And there is little encouragement from the government. "Apart from youth community participation, why doesn't the government encourage them to voluntarily engage in its work too?" Visal asked. Sarom, a caller from Phnom Penh, said volunteer work should be encouraged at universities "across the country." Chhuon Thavrith, a former volunteer at UN Volunteers who now works for UNDP, who was also a guest on Monday, said volunteer work does more than develop the country; it helps boost personal development as well. "Being a volunteer gives us self-worth when we sacrifice for the cause of development and peace in the country," said Chhuon Thavrith, who also volunteered recently in the vote to split the new country of South Sudan from Sudan. "As workers, we are proud to have contributed to building history and…to gain experience for future jobs."  | ||||||||||
| Cambodian toddler suckles milk straight from the cow Posted: 14 Sep 2011 04:54 PM PDT http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLjuGKClhsc  | ||||||||||
| Sacrava's Political Cartoon: A Gift Posted: 14 Sep 2011 04:39 PM PDT
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| Nobody at the CPP capable of taking over Hun Xen’s position? Posted: 14 Sep 2011 04:34 PM PDT  13 September 2011 By Taing Sarada Radio Free Asia Translated from Khemr by Soy Doubts linger among the people over Hun Xen's leadership at a time when the ruling party keeps on selecting him as their PM candidate. Some observers said that the decision to pick Hun Xen as candidate for premiership among the CPP rank is due to the fact that CPP party officials do not dare confront him. However, CPP officials said that Hun Xen is reasonable for the premiership candidacy because he has high leadership experience. Four mandates has passed since the 1993 election and a number of observers are still puzzled as to why the CPP only presents Hun Xen as its sole candidate for premiership? Some commentators indicated that because Hun Xen is more powerful than any ruling king, and he is equipped with a bodyguard unit of several thousand men strong who are armed up to their teeth, he shook all top national institutions, from the National Assembly, the Senate, all the way to the judicial system and the party rank and file. Chit Chulsa, a political science analyst, said that the fact that the CPP always select Hun Xen as its candidate for premiership is because party officials do not want to see [internal] division, they do not want to lose their positions, power and their personal interests. He believes that there are many qualified intellectuals who are intelligent and have the needed ability within the CPP rank, and these people can compete for Hun Xen's candidacy, but they have been scared away. Phay Siphan, mouthpiece of the Council of Ministers, said that, in order to strengthen an administration and turn it into a modern administration, it needs a courageous leader who has sufficient experience both in terms of the army rank, the economy, the commerce and welfare etc… Phay Siphan added that: Hun Xen is a needed leader for the CPP. The CPP was borne from the Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Party (KPRP) in the 50s, a party that was formed along the Workers Party of Vietnam and the Pathet Lao in Laos during the French colonial rule. The KPRP changed its name to the CPP prior to the 1993 election. The CPP includes 36 permanent committee members, and 50 central committee members, Chea Xim is the party president, Hun Xen the party's vice-president and Heng Xamrin, the party's honorary president. Currently, the CPP rules with the majority of seats at the National Assembly. The CPP occupies 90 of the 123 seats at the National Assembly, the SRP occupies 26 seats, the NRP 2, the HRP 3 and Funcinpec 2. In August 2009, Hun Xen publicly announced that he will be Cambodia's PM until 2023. Dr. Lao Monghay, an independent commentator on the political situation in Cambodia, said that if the CPP dares change the party's premiership candidate, an internal war will explode within the party. Tep Ngon, a permanent committee member of the CPP, said that his party does not have any new candidate for the premiership besides Hun Xen. Kong Korm, the current vice-president of the Sam Rainsy Party who was a former CPP central committee member, said that the reason the CPP chose Hun Xen as its candidate for the premiership is because the latter has good relationship with the Vietnam government, he can speak Vietnamese well and he is trusted by the Viets. Hun Xen was born in 1952. In 1970 he joined the KR army. He later fled to Vietnam in 1977 and joined the anti-KR resistance movement there. At the beginning of 1979, following the aggression and occupation of Cambodia, the Viet army installed Hun Xen as a leader. He subsequently led the country in 1985. Up to now, Hun Xen ruled Cambodia for 26 years already. He is one of the longest ruling leaders in Asia, along with leaders in countries such as Burma and North Korea. Kem Sokha, president of the HRP, said that the majority of dictatorships and communist regimes in the world pick leaders who lack quality and who are cruel. Counting from the 1993 election, Hun Xen is Cambodia's PM for almost 2 decades already. Furthermore, important ministries are administered by the same people over and over. There is no change at all, even though no noticeable progress has been made for the nation. Cambodia politics observers added that, as long as high-ranking government officials are faithful to Hun Xen, and as long they serve the interest of the ruling party, that's all they need, i.e. they can continue to preserve their positions for a long time. Leaders in countries with long-ruling term, such as Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen and Libya were removed from power by democratic uprising because the people could no longer stand to live under a long-ruling corrupt, clannish and unfair dictatorship and nepotism. -------------- មតិវិភាគជុំវិញបេក្ខភាពនាយករដ្ឋមន្ត្រីរបស់លោក ហ៊ុន សែន ដោយ តាំង សារ៉ាដា 2011-09-13 ភាពមន្ទិលសង្ស័យរបស់មហាជនទៅនឹងការដឹកនាំរបស់លោក ហ៊ុន សែន ស្របពេលដែលគណបក្សកាន់អំណាចតែងសម្រេចជ្រើសរើសយករូបលោកជាបេក្ខភាពនាយករដ្ឋមន្ត្រី។ ក្រុមអ្នកឃ្លាំមើលខ្លះនិយាយថា ការសម្រេចយកលោក ហ៊ុន សែន ជាបេក្ខភាពនាយករដ្ឋមន្ត្រីក្នុងជួរគណបក្សប្រជាជនកម្ពុជានេះ គឺដោយសារក្រុមមន្ត្រីក្នុងជួរបក្សទាំងនោះមិនហ៊ានតតាំង ឬប្រឈមជាមួយលោក ហ៊ុន សែន។ ប៉ុន្តែក្រុមមន្ត្រីគណបក្សកាន់អំណាចនិយាយថា លោក ហ៊ុន សែន ស័ក្ដិសមឈរជាបេក្ខភាពនាយករដ្ឋមន្ត្រី ដោយសារលោកមានបទពិសោធន៍ខ្ពស់ក្នុងការដឹកនាំប្រទេស។ រយៈពេលបួនអាណត្តិមកហើយ ក្រោយពីការបោះឆ្នោតឆ្នាំ១៩៩៣ ក្រុមអ្នកឃ្លាំមើលមួយចំនួននៅតែមានចម្ងល់ថា ហេតុអ្វីបានជាគណបក្សប្រជាជនមានតែលោក ហ៊ុន សែន តែម្នាក់ប៉ុណ្ណោះ តែងជាប់ជាបេក្ខភាពនាយករដ្ឋមន្ត្រី? អ្នកវិភាគខ្លះបកស្រាយថា ដោយសារលោក ហ៊ុន សែន មានអំណាចលើសពីស្ដេចផែនដី អមទៅដោយកងអង្គរក្សរាប់ពាន់នាក់ បំពាក់សព្វាវុធគ្រប់ធុន អង្រួនគ្រប់ស្ថាប័នកំពូលៗរបស់ជាតិ ទាំងពីរដ្ឋសភា ព្រឹទ្ធសភា ហៀររហូតដល់ប្រព័ន្ធតុលាការ រួមទាំងជួរបក្សរបស់ខ្លួន។ លោក ចិត្ត ជលសា ដែលជាអ្នកវិភាគខាងផ្នែកវិទ្យាសាស្ត្រនយោបាយ មានប្រសាសន៍ថា ការដែលគណបក្សប្រជាជនកម្ពុជា តែងជ្រើសរើសយកលោក ហ៊ុន សែន ជាបេក្ខភាពនាយករដ្ឋមន្ត្រី ដោយសារក្រុមមន្ត្រីនៅក្នុងជួរបក្សនេះទាំងអស់ មិនចង់បែកបាក់ មិនចង់បាត់បង់មុខតំណែង និងអំណាច ព្រមទាំងផលប្រយោជន៍ផ្ទាល់ខ្លួន។ លោកជឿថា មានបញ្ញវន្តជាច្រើនរូបដែលមានគុណសម្បត្តិពោពេញទៅដោយភាពឆ្លាតវៃ និងមានសមត្ថភាពគ្រប់គ្រាន់ក្នុងជួរបក្សប្រជាជនកម្ពុជា ដែលអាចប្រជែងជាបេក្ខភាពនាយករដ្ឋមន្ត្រី ប៉ុន្តែពួកគេត្រូវបានរងនូវការបំភិតបំភ័យ។ អ្នកនាំពាក្យនៃទីស្ដីការគណៈរដ្ឋមន្ត្រី លោក ផៃ ស៊ីផាន មានប្រសាសន៍ថា ដើម្បីពង្រឹងរដ្ឋបាលមួយឲ្យក្លាយទៅជារដ្ឋបាលទំនើបបាន លុះត្រាតែមានអ្នកដឹកនាំម្នាក់មានសេចក្ដីក្លាហាន មានបទពិសោធន៍គ្រប់គ្រាន់ ទាំងកិច្ចការកងទ័ព សេដ្ឋកិច្ច ពាណិជ្ជកម្ម និងសង្គមកិច្ចជាដើម។ លោក ផៃ ស៊ីផាន បន្តថា លោក ហ៊ុន សែន គឺជាមេដឹកនាំដ៏ចាំបាច់សម្រាប់គណបក្សប្រជាជនកម្ពុជា។ ដើមកំណើតនៃគណបក្សប្រជាជនកម្ពុជា កើតចេញពីបក្សប្រជាជនបដិវត្តន៍ កម្ពុជាក្នុងទសវត្សឆ្នាំ១៩៥០ ជាដៃគូជាមួយបក្សពលករវៀតណាម និងបក្សប្រទេសឡាវ ក្នុងកំឡុងអាណានិគមបារាំង។ បក្សប្រជាជនបដិវត្តន៍កម្ពុជា បានដូរឈ្មោះទៅជាគណបក្សប្រជាជនកម្ពុជា នៅមុនការបោះឆ្នោតសកល ឆ្នាំ១៩៩៣។ គណបក្សប្រជាជនកម្ពុជា មានសមាជិកគណៈអចិន្ត្រៃយ៍ចំនួន ៣៦រូប ហើយសមាជិកនៃគណៈកម្មាធិការកណ្ដាលមានចំនួន ៥០រូប ដែលមានលោក ជា ស៊ីម ប្រធាន លោក ហ៊ុន សែន ជាអនុប្រធាន និងលោក ហេង សំរិន ជាប្រធានកិត្តិយស។ គណបក្សប្រជាជនកម្ពុជា សព្វថ្ងៃកំពុងគ្រប់គ្រងសំឡេងភាគច្រើនក្នុងរដ្ឋសភានៃអាណត្តិទី៤។ គណបក្សនេះមាន ៩០អាសនៈ ក្នុងចំណោមអាសនៈចំនួន ១២៣ ក្នុងរដ្ឋសភា ខណៈគណបក្ស សម រង្ស៊ី មាន ២៦អាសនៈ គណបក្សហ៊្វុនស៊ិនប៉ិច ដែលធ្លាប់ឈ្នះឆ្នោតឆ្នាំ១៩៩៣ មាន ២អាសនៈ គណបក្សសិទ្ធិមនុស្សមាន ៣អាសនៈ ហើយគណបក្ស នរោត្តម រណឫទ្ធិ មាន ២អាសនៈ។ កាលពីខែសីហា ឆ្នាំ២០០៩ លោកនាយករដ្ឋមន្ត្រី ហ៊ុន សែន ធ្លាប់ប្រកាសជាសាធារណៈថា លោកនឹងធ្វើជានាយករដ្ឋមន្ត្រីរហូតដល់២០២៣។ លោកបណ្ឌិត ឡៅ ម៉ុងហៃ ដែលជាអ្នកវិភាគឯករាជ្យអំពីស្ថានការណ៍នយោបាយនៅកម្ពុជា មានប្រសាសន៍ថា ប្រសិនបើគណបក្សកាន់អំណាចធ្វើការផ្លាស់ប្ដូរបេក្ខភាពនាយករដ្ឋមន្ត្រី វាអាចនាំឲ្យមានសង្គ្រាមផ្ទៃក្នុងបក្ស។ លោក ទេព ងន សមាជិកគណៈកម្មាធិការអចិន្ត្រៃយ៍នៃគណបក្សប្រជាជនកម្ពុជា មានប្រសាសន៍ថា គណបក្សរបស់លោកមិនមានបេក្ខភាពថ្មីណាក្រៅពីលោក ហ៊ុន សែន ឈរឈ្មោះជានាយករដ្ឋមន្ត្រីនោះឡើយ។ អនុប្រធានគណបក្ស សម រង្ស៊ី លោក គង់ គាំ ដែលជាអតីតសមាជិកគណៈកម្មាធិការកណ្ដាលនៃគណបក្សប្រជាជនកម្ពុជា មានប្រសាសន៍ថា ការដែលគណបក្សប្រជាជនកម្ពុជា សម្រេចយកលោក ហ៊ុន សែន ជាបេក្ខភាពនាយករដ្ឋមន្ត្រី ព្រោះលោកមានទំនាក់ទំនងល្អជាមួយរដ្ឋាភិបាលវៀតណាម អាចនិយាយភាសាវៀតណាមបានល្អ ព្រមទាំងមានការជឿទុកចិត្តពីវៀតណាម ថែមទៀត។ លោកនាយករដ្ឋមន្ត្រី ហ៊ុន សែន កើតក្នុងឆ្នាំ១៩៥២។ នៅឆ្នាំ១៩៧០ លោកបានចូលរួមជាមួយកងទ័ពខ្មែរក្រហម បន្ទាប់មកបានភៀសខ្លួនទៅប្រទេសវៀតណាម ក្នុងឆ្នាំ១៩៧៧ និងបង្កជាចលនាតស៊ូនៅទីនោះ ដើម្បីផ្ដួលរំលំរបបខ្មែរក្រហម។ នៅដើមឆ្នាំ១៩៧៩ ក្រោយបានឈ្លានពាន និងគ្រប់គ្រងប្រទេសកម្ពុជា កងទ័ពវៀតណាម បានលើកបន្តុបលោក ហ៊ុន សែន ជាមេដឹកនាំមួយរូប និងបានឡើងកាន់អំណាចដឹកនាំប្រទេសនៅឆ្នាំ១៩៨៥។ រហូតមកទល់ពេលនេះ លោក ហ៊ុន សែន បានកាន់អំណាចនៅកម្ពុជា អស់រយៈពេល ២៦ឆ្នាំ មកហើយ។ លោកគឺជាមេដឹកនាំដែលកាន់អំណាចយូរក្នុងចំណោមប្រទេសមួយចំនួនក្នុងតំបន់អាស៊ី បើប្រៀបធៀបទៅនឹងប្រទេសភូមា និងប្រទេសកូរ៉េខាងជើងនោះ។ ប្រធានគណបក្សសិទ្ធិមនុស្ស លោក កឹម សុខា មានប្រសាសន៍ថា គណបក្សផ្ដាច់ការ និងបក្សកុម្មុយនិស្តក្នុងពិភពលោកភាគច្រើនជ្រើសរើសមេដឹកនាំណាដែលខ្វះគុណធម៌ និងចិត្តដាច់។ បើគិតត្រឹមតែក្រោយការបោះឆ្នោតសកលឆ្នាំ១៩៩៣ ក្រៅតែពីលោក ហ៊ុន សែន ដែលជានាយករដ្ឋមន្ត្រីមុខដដែលៗអស់រយៈពេលជិត ២ទសវត្សមកនេះ គេឃើញរដ្ឋមន្ត្រី នៃក្រសួងសំខាន់ៗជាច្រើនរូបទៀត ដែលមានមុខដដែល មិនផ្លាស់ប្ដូរចេញសោះ ទោះជាការដឹកនាំរបស់ពួកគេមិនឃើញមានការរីកចម្រើនដ៏គួរឲ្យកត់សម្គាល់សម្រាប់ប្រជាជាតិក៏ដោយ។ អ្នកសង្កេតស្ថានការណ៍កម្ពុជា បន្តថា ដរាបណាមន្ត្រីធំៗទាំងនេះមានស្វាមីភក្ដិចំពោះលោកនាយករដ្ឋមន្ត្រី ហ៊ុន សែន និងផ្ដល់ផលប្រយោជន៍ជូនគណបក្សកាន់អំណាចនោះ វាជាការស្រេច គឺគេអាចរក្សាមុខតំណែងរបស់គេបានយូរ។ ក្រុមមេដឹកនាំនៃបណ្ដាប្រទេសដែលកាន់អំណាចយូរឆ្នាំក្នុងពិភពលោក ដូចជានៅប្រទេសអេហ្សីប (Egypt) ទុយណេស៊ី (Tunisia) យេមែន (Yemen) និងប្រទេសលីប៊ីយ៉ា (Libya) សុទ្ធតែត្រូវបានកម្លាំងមហាជនធ្វើការបះបោរទម្លាក់ ដោយសារតែពលរដ្ឋទាំងនោះមិនអាចទ្រាំរស់នៅតទៅទៀតក្នុងវប្បធម៌ផ្ដាច់ការ ប្រពៃណីនៃអំពើពុករលួយ បក្សពួក គ្រួសារនិយម និងភាពអយុត្តិធម៌ដ៏រ៉ាំ រៃនោះ៕  | ||||||||||
| A number of important issues in Cambodia - Source: Unknown Posted: 14 Sep 2011 12:27 PM PDT Dear Readers, The following document was sent to us by an anonymous reader. The source is unknown. The issues discussed in the document include: (1) the number of Vietnamese immigrants in Cambodia and their distribution and structure, the Vietnamese interferences in Cambodia's internal affairs including the border dispute with Thailand and Cambodia's political affairs; (2) the election situation in Cambodia; and (3) the general political situation of Cambodia in the future, as well as democracy in Cambodia. Thank you, KI- media team      | ||||||||||
| វាចារអ្នកសុំទាន ដោយ ឆាំ ឆានី (The cry of beggars by Chham Chhany) Posted: 14 Sep 2011 11:17 AM PDT   | ||||||||||
| Posted: 14 Sep 2011 07:52 AM PDT September 14, 2011 By Tim LaRocco The Diplomat Civil society in Cambodia is typically a highly contentious issue. As a past volunteer with an NGO based in Southeast Asia, I'm fully aware of the ambivalence associated with civil societal organizations. It's a subject that has been well chronicled as commentators have attempted to reconcile diverging opinions by highlighting the urgent need for NGOs in the developing world, while recognising that many of these institutions are victims of their own benevolence. The problem, of course, is rooted in greed, an issue that transcends national borders. There are myriad NGOs promoting very worthy causes in the developing world, such as gender equality, poverty reduction and securing access for the most at risk segments of the population to basic human rights. But if there's no money to be made – for both individuals and organizations – what incentive is there to devote time and resources to such causes? The latest contribution to the discussion comes from The New York Times' Elizabeth Becker who, in a recent article, laments the new law under consideration by Phnom Penh designed to force NGOs operating in the country to adhere to stricter regulations and 'win (the) approval' of the government. As she takes some not-so-subtle jabs at Cambodia's ruling party, Becker bemoans the revenue to be lost and, as a member of the Board of Directors at Oxfam America, naturally claims that the poor will be the ones who suffer the most. Her position has some merit. Cambodia wouldn't be the first country in the world to use the democratic process to curtail democracy. While such efforts usually manifest themselves in referendums on term limits or laws designed to limit press freedom, it's highly doubtful civil society would be permitted to retain much autonomy in Cambodia if the government had the final say on its projects. The very point of a non-governmental organization is that it is non-governmental. As Virak Ou, the president of the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights recently said, 'Ultimately, the fear is that the law may be used as a legislative weapon to stifle grassroots democracy and freedom of expression and association in Cambodia, in violation of the Constitution and the principle of the rule of law.' Some point out that Cambodia doesn't have nearly enough oversight of civil society at present. High maintenance costs, and the salaries and benefits of the expatriate staff of Cambodia's two thousand or so NGOs, haven't resulted in many tangible benefits for the impoverished segment of the population that civil society is supposed to be helping. Ken Silverstein's brilliant analysis is particularly helpful on this: 'After arriving to provide immediate relief, they gradually transform themselves into survival-focused grant-proposal-writing shops chasing dollars and holding PowerPoint-heavy workshops on "empowerment," "governance," "capacity-building."' The proposed NGO law's core demand is to have organizations register with the government so that Phnom Penh could be kept informed of potential projects. If a nonprofit wants to build a new road, would it be an outrageous request to inform the government of their plan to do so? All this begs the question: would a country like Cambodia be better off without the influx of western institutions? Despite the deficiencies, there's still a strong argument for NGOs. One needs only to look at Burma. The military junta there prohibits any type of outside influence; they even initially barred relief agencies from distributing humanitarian aid after Cyclone Nargis killed more than 130,000 people in 2008. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen is surely politicizing the NGO issue to his benefit, despite claims to the contrary. And nonprofits operating within the country shouldn't be immune to standard regulatory checks to ensure that these institutions are in compliance with state laws. But none of this should stop NGOs from having a positive impact if they remain true to their ultimate objective of helping those in need and find ways of working with host governments. 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.  | ||||||||||
| Posted: 14 Sep 2011 07:47 AM PDT BANGKOK, Sept 14 (MCOT online news) - Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Wednesday said she has not received official confirmation from Cambodia over the possible release of two Thai activists detained on espionage charges, but pledged to help secure their release during her official visit to Phnom Penh Thursday. The prime minister is scheduled to leave for Phnom Penh as part of a round of official introductory visits to Thailand's ASEAN neighbours, her first since assuming her post last month. Following reports that Cambodia plans to release the two activists of the Thailand Patriot Network, Veera Somkwamkid and Ratree Pipattanapaiboon, now detained in a Cambodian prison for illegal entry and spying charges, Ms Yingluck said there has been no coordination on the matter from Cambodian authorities yet. A Cambodian court on Feb 1 ruled that the two were guilty of espionage, illegal entry, and trespassing in a military zone. Mr Veera was sentenced to an eight-year jail term while Ms Ratree received six years in jail. The Thai premier said the release of two Thais depends on the consideration of the Cambodian government but she, on behalf of the Thai government, will discuss with her Cambodian counterpart to help set them free during her visit. Whether the pair will be released and return home with the premier or not, Ms Yingluck said she cannot answer but will do her best to secure their release. As Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen confirmed that the fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra will visit Phnom Penh on Friday, Ms Yingluck, who is the deposed premier's youngest sister, said it's a personal matter and has nothing to do with her visit. Meanwhile, a Thai court on Wednesday allowed three Red Shirt leaders charged with terrorism to attend a friendly football match with Cambodian politicians in the neighbouring country. The match between politicians of Pheu Thai Party and Cambodia's political figures is scheduled to be held Sept 24. Four Red Shirt leaders now working with the Pheu Thai government sought court permission to leave Thailand Sept 15-19 and 23-25, saying they must enter Cambodia prior to the match for the preparations. The four are Veerakarn Musikapong, Pheu Thai MP Natthawut Saikua, Pheu Thai MP Weng Tojirakarn and Yosawarit Chooklom aka Jeng Dokjik, now secretary to the deputy interior minister. The court however granted permission only to three of them with each person posting Bt600,000 as bail bond and required them to report to the court before Sept 26. Regarding Dr Weng, he must submit a request on Thursday for the court's consideration. The Red Shirt leaders have been charged with terrorism in connection with last year's violent Red Shirt demonstrations against the Abhisit administration and have been released on bail on condition that they must not join any political gathering or leave the kingdom without permission.  | ||||||||||
| Xayaburi dam may cause earthquakes: Vietnamese report [-Laos and Vietnam on a loggerhead?] Posted: 14 Sep 2011 07:41 AM PDT Wednesday, 14 September 2011 Don Weinland The Phnom Penh Post The Xayaburi dam project in northern Laos might increase the probability of earthquakes in a region already prone to seismic activity, according to a recently translated report from Vietnam. The 1260-megawatt project sits about 100 kilometres south of the Lai Chau-Dien Bien fault line. Construction activity on the 32-metre-high dam, the first in a series of 11 planned in the area, could lead to more seismic activity in the region and threaten the Mekong's downstream inhabitants in three countries, according to a report by Nguyen Hong Phuong, a researcher at Vietnam's Centre for Earthquake and Tsunami Warnings. "After the tsunami in Japan, I find this report to be very serious," Tran Tu, commercial attaché at the Vietnamese Embassy in Phnom Penh, said yesterday. "More studies must be made on this dam before they announce the beginning of construction." Viraphonh Viravong, director general of the Department of Electricity at Laos's Ministry of Energy and Mines, announced Thursday during an interview in Hanoi that construction on the dam will begin before year's end, according to a Bloomberg report. Construction on the dam has been underway since late 2010, Ame Trandem, a campaigner for Rivers International, said yesterday via phone from Thailand. The project poses a seismic threat to the people of Laos and other countries in the region, she said "Given the risk and probability of another earthquake occurring near the Xayaburi Dam site, Laos should immediately stop all construction on the Xayaburi," Trandem said. "Neighbouring countries should demand that an independent review of the project according to international safety standards carried out and that the dam's trans-boundary impacts on public safety be assessed." The accumulation of water in reservoirs also adds to the risk of earthquakes, Trandem said, and the dam had failed to meet international safety standards regarding earthquake safety. Te Navuth, secretary general of the Cambodia National Mekong Committee, said Cambodia had expressed it concerns over a potential earthquake disaster to the Laotian government, but appropriate action had yet to be taken. Before construction can start, an independent and specialised research team must assess the risk of earthquakes and dam safety, Te Navuth said yesterday. The Xayaburi dam project, which is on the Lower Mekong River has drawn strong condemnation from conservation groups over the negative effects it will have on fish stocks and water supply on countries downstream.  | ||||||||||
| Chief accused of threatening villagers over land dispute Posted: 14 Sep 2011 07:38 AM PDT Wednesday, 14 September 2011 May Titthara The Phnom Penh Post A commune chief in Preah Vihear province's Kulen district threatened yesterday to arrest and detain 160 villagers in Srayong commune for blocking a rubber company from clearing forest land, villagers told the Post. Village representative Meas Ren, 50, said the Siladamich company was attempting to clear land that belonged to the villagers. "We asked the commune chief to intervene, but he did not help us. Instead, he threatened to arrest us and put us in prison if we continued to block the company," she said. However, Kulen district governor Chum Poy said yesterday the land belonged to the company, through a 2009 economic land concession. He said the villagers had no right to the disputed land because they lacked the appropriate titles. In the past, the commune chief had tried to protect the disputed forest land, but vill-agers continued to destroy it by cutting down trees, he said, resulting in the company's decision to grant the ELC. "Normally we always support the villagers in these disputes, but we can't forget about the company," he said, adding that villagers had threatened to burn down company property. Meas Ren said that last Wednesday, representatives of Siladamich had asked villagers to resettle in order to make way for the forest clearing, but none of the villagers had agreed. Despite this, she said, the company began clearing land on Monday. "Even though we did not come to an agreement, they still came to clear the land, but that land is not free land," she said. Sem Long, one of the villagers involved in the dispute, said yesterday the commune chief had tried to force 124 families to agree to give up their land by threatening them with prison. Sat Ty, the commune chief accused of threatening the vill-agers, could not be reached for comment yesterday.  | ||||||||||
| Posted: 14 Sep 2011 07:31 AM PDT Wednesday, 14 September 2011 Meas Sokchea and Bridget Di Certo The Phnom Penh Post Opposition parties voiced complaints to the National Election Committee yesterday accusing commune authorities across Cambodia of harassment and bias during voter registration drives. During an NEC meeting attended by representatives from the ruling Cambodian People's Party, the Human Rights Party, Funcinpec and other political parties, Sam Rainsy Party lawmaker Ho Vann said SRP members were being harassed by commune authorities when they distributed leaflets encouraging people to register to vote. "We want to have more registration. I would like the NEC to make it clear whether distribution of leaflets or use of microphones to spread the word of voter registration is forbidden or not," Ho Vann said at the meeting. NEC secretary-general Tep Nytha said parties must not use the voter registration period as an election campaign and could only distribute information in accordance with the law. "Political parties can distribute leaflets and use microphones if they have permission from local authorities," he said. "Distributing leaflets affects public order: that is why it is prohibited. "Every political party can have a meeting in its party office or a private home with agreement from the home owner without asking permission from the authorities." Responding to queries on whether the NEC had the capacity to inform citizens about voter registration, Tep Nytha said the NEC was publicising information for voters. "I don't say it is enough, I just say it is wide," he said. "Some still say it is not enough." Opposition parties also voiced accusations of interference in the voter registration process by the ruling party. Ouk Suy, an HRP official, claimed the CPP had set up a voter registry at a Kampong Chamlong commune party office in Svay Rieng province's Svay Chrum district. "We would like to ask the NEC to take legal action," Ouk Suy said. The NEC stated that a voter registry had not been set up in the party office, but at a commune office next door. The SRP also claimed that CPP officials had attempted to pay an SRP member US$1,500 to vote for a CPP candidate in upcoming council elections for Phnom Penh's new Po Senchey district in December. "I decline to give his name to avoid endangering him," Hing Sokhom, an SRP member in the municipal council, said, adding that the SRP member had not accepted the money. CPP lawmaker Chheang Von said the party was not interested in claims that officials had harassed SRP members. "The SRP always says the same," he said, denying allegations that the CPP had set up a voter registry in a commune party office.  | ||||||||||
| Tuol Sleng daughters reconcile the past Posted: 14 Sep 2011 07:26 AM PDT
John Anthony The Phnom Penh Post Huy Senghul and Norng Chen Kimty's fathers were tormentor and victim, respectively, at the Khmer Rouge's infamous Tuol Sleng interrogation facility, but the two now work together, at times sharing a desk, to document the crimes of the genocidal regime. Their fathers, former Tuol Sleng executioner Him Huy and child survivor Norng Chanphal, have since quite remarkably reconciled, and the children now work as researchers at the Documentation Centre of Cambodia, a key source of written evidence for the Khmer Rouge Tribunal. Both daughters share a common goal: to search for the truth about those slain during the three years, eight months and 20 days that the Khmer Rouge ruled Cambodia. Huy Senghul, 20, said yesterday when the girls first became friends she felt guilty for her father's involvement in the Khmer Rouge but then realised there was nothing to be ashamed of. "We don't care about the past; we care about the future," she said. "This is a sign of reconciliation, so we can both heal together." Norng Chanphal's parents were both killed at Tuol Sleng. He was rescued from the facility by the Vietnamese days before Phnom Penh was liberated on January 7, 1979. Him Huy, who was responsible for transporting prisoners at Tuol Sleng to the Choeung Ek killing fields and also lost a family member incarcerated at the interrogation facility, is now a farmer. Norng Kimty, 15, said she felt she had come about half way to achieving her aim of discovering the truth about the regime, since joining the centre in 2009. "So far I have found 50 percent of the truth through the documentation and the people who work here, and talking about it with my father," Norng Kimty said. She and Norng Chanphal are both conducting research to verify deaths during the Khmer Rouge before adding them to DC Cam's Book of Memories. One million of those names have so far been recorded and the pair expect to encounter at least another million.  | ||||||||||
| Posted: 14 Sep 2011 01:22 AM PDT
14/09/2011 Bangkok Post Thai Patriots Network coordinator Veera Somkwamkid and his secretary Ratree Pipattanapaiboon may possibly be released and allowed to return home when Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra makes an official visit to Cambodia on Thursday, a younger brother of Veera said on Wednesday. Preecha Somkwamkid said he learned from a news report from Cambodia that preparations had been made by Cambodian authorities to release his brother Veera and Ms Ratree. According to the report, the two might return home with Ms Yingluck's entourage, Mr Preecha said. Mr Preecha said Veera's relatives were trying to confirm the report. If it was true, they would themselves go to Cambodia to welcome them and bring them home, he said. It was earlier reported that Cambodia might free Veera and Ms Ratree as relations between the two countries had considerably improved and it would be a gift for Ms Yingluck on the occasion of her official visit. It was also reported that the Thai Foreign Ministry had been informed of this. Veera and Ms Ratree were among the seven Thai people arrested by Cambodian authorities for illegal entry in late December last year. Five of them had been released after being sentenced to a jail term for illegal entry and having served some time during the investigation. Veera and Ms Ratree were sentenced to eight and six years imprisonment respectively for espionage and illegal entry.  | ||||||||||
| [Thai] PM: No clue about release of 2 Thais Posted: 14 Sep 2011 01:16 AM PDT 14/09/2011 Bangkok Post Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said on Wednesday that she had no knowledge about reports that Cambodia would release two Thai yellow-shirts jailed in Prey Sar prison in Phnom Penh during her official visit there on Thursday. The two Thais, Thai Patriots Network coordinator Veera Somkwamkid and his secretary Ratree Pipattanapaiboon, were sentenced to eight and six years imprisonment respectively for espionage and illegal entry. Ms Yingluck said there was no coordination on the issue between authorities of the two countries and any decision on their release rests with the Cambodian government. "There will be a discussion on seeking a way for the release of Mr Veera and Ms Ratree during my visit," she said. The prime minister said her first visit to Cambodia is aimed at restoring the good relationship between the two countries. She called on all parties not to link her trip to the planned visit to Cambodia by her elder brother Thaksin starting on Friday. Former prime minister Thaksin's trip was his personal affair. Ms Yingluck said there will be no discussion of sensitive issues, particularly cooperation on energy. She will leave for Phnom Penh tomorrow, Sept 15, and is scheduled to make a one-day official visit to Loas on Friday, Sept 16. She has already made official visits to Brunei and Indonesia since taking office.  | ||||||||||
| Suthep: [Yingluck] Govt rushing to help Thaksin Posted: 14 Sep 2011 01:14 AM PDT 14/09/2011 Bangkok Post The major reshuffle of state officials approved by the cabinet on Tuesday, particularly at the Corrections Department, seems to have been designed to facilitate the return of fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Democrat Party MP Suthep Thaugsuban said on Wednesday. Mr Suthep, former deputy prime minister for security affairs in the Democrat-led government, said the replacement of Chartchai Suthiklom as director-general of the Corrections Department by Pol Col Suchart Wong-ananchai, an inspector-general at the Information and Communication Technology Ministry, seemed aimed at helping Thaksin return home without being put in jail. Thaksin was sentenced to two years imprisonment by the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions for abuse of power while prime minister in the Ratchadapisek land case involving his then-wife Khunying Potjaman Na Pombejra. The reshuffle worried many people, Mr Suthep said. Mr Suthep said he had wished Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra well in the hope her government would administer the country without touching on issues involving Thaksin, only to find out that during the past month she had taken hasty steps to help the fugitive former prime minister and his family. The former deputy prime minister also strongly denied as untrue Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen's remarks that they he secret talks with Mr Suthep at his residence at Ta Khmau in Kandal province over the overlapping maritime area. Mr Suthep said in fact it was Hun Sen who raised this matter for discussion with him during a visit a made to Cambodia. The Democrat Party had had no conflicts of interest concerning this matter, he said. Mr Suthep said he was sorry Hun Sen had made false accusations against the previous government which had tried hard to maintain relations with Cambodia. The Cambodian prime minister should instead try to improve the relations between the two countries, he said.  | ||||||||||
| Phnom Penh residents score landmark victory over proposed land grab Posted: 14 Sep 2011 01:08 AM PDT
Cambodian PM awards substantial chunk of land earmarked for property development to eviction-threatened locals Wednesday 14 September 2011 Tom Fawthrop The Guardian (UK) Thousands of Cambodians threatened with eviction from land skirting Phnom Penh's Boeung Kak lake have scored a landmark victory, it has emerged. On 17 August, shortly after the World Bank froze all future loans to Cambodia over plans to allow a property developer to build flats and shops on the land, prime minister Hun Sen - who dislikes aid conditionalities - issued a special sub-decree awarding 12.44 hectares of the land to lakeside residents. David Pred, Cambodian director of the international NGO Bridges Across Borders, hailed this sudden change of government policy as "a human rights victory that has stopped a massive forced eviction and land grab". The Shukaku lake development project acquired the 133-hectare (329 acre) Boeung Kak lakeside site from the municipal authorities on a 99-year lease. Lao Meng Khin, the Shukaku director, is closely linked to the prime minister's top cabinet officials. In March, thousands of residents received eviction notices from the land speculators, clearing the way for a controversial new "city of the east". The plan is to replace a park and urban poor area with a posh residential and leisure complex. The $98m investment is based on a joint venture agreement with a Chinese investment partner from Inner Mongolia, Erdos Hongjun Investment Corp. Housing rights activists expressed grave concern that Phnom Penh was being rapidly transformed into an exclusive city for the rich, devoid of public spaces, while the poor were deported to the capital's periphery, where jobs and amenities are non-existent. What made matters far worse for people protesting the land grab was the complicity of the World Bank's Cambodia Land Management and Administration Project (LMAP), which maps land claims, rights and titles. LMAP agreed with the Cambodian authorities to the arbitrary exclusion of Boeung Kak lake residents from the scheme. Together with other NGOs, David Pred of Bridges Against Borders filed complaints to the World Bank HQ, prompting an internal audit and investigation. The report, released in March 2011, concluded that "poor management and a lack of monitoring by the World Bank had left thousands of Cambodians at Boeung Kak Lake vulnerable to forced eviction". This stinging criticism prompted the Cambodia office to change tack and apply pressure on the government to stop further evictions, and provide for on-site land rights, as the condition for future loans. The combined pressure of the World Bank, NGOs and the rolling protests by Boeun Kak residents has apparently worked. Annette Dixon, the World Bank country director in Phnom Penh, cautiously observed: "This appears to be a positive development." Civil society views the policy reverse of the World Bank as a landmark achievement. Pred said: "This is what accountability looks like. It is probably the most significant positive outcome that has ever come out of the World Bank's internal accountability process." It is not a complete victory. Boeun Kak lake, once a popular site for music concerts and picnics, and the most important green space in central Phnom Penh, is all but gone; 90% of it is filled with sand. Environmental warnings from Cambodia's urban planner Vann Molyvann, who said filling in the lake would aggravate drainage problems and floods during the rainy season, were ignored. But Pred argues an important principle has been established. "This outcome flies in the face of the conventional wisdom among Cambodia's international donors, who are ever-reluctant to hold the government and themselves accountable, when flawed development projects end up harming people and violating their rights."  | ||||||||||
| Posted: 14 Sep 2011 01:00 AM PDT
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| Another rat and his wife jump off the Funcinpec ship Posted: 13 Sep 2011 11:26 PM PDT  14 Sept 2011Everyday.com.kh Translated from Khmer by Soch Kieng Vang and his wife, who are both high-ranking Funcinpec party members, have resigned from the party last week because he is joining another party. Keo Puth Rasmey, Funcinpec president, declared that he ended the pair's duties at Funcinpec on 10 September. Keo Puth Rasmey did not say which party Kieng Vang will be joining, however, a source close to the CPP indicated that Kieng Vang joined the CPP.  | ||||||||||
| COMFREL's electoral activities for the period of voter registration and revision Posted: 13 Sep 2011 11:10 PM PDT Dear All, Attached file is the release of COMFREL's activities related to election during the period of voter registration and revision in English version. Within this period, COMFREL has been conducting "Voter list revision and registration observation, audit of 2011 voter list, voter information, media monitoring, and misuses of state resource monitoring". For more information, please see the attachment. Thank you for your cooperation and attention. COMFREL http://www.box.net/shared/j6lqmj0qd2eehz0vip2j  | ||||||||||
| Stolen Innocence: One Woman's Fight Against Child Sex Slavery Posted: 13 Sep 2011 10:59 PM PDT http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llfsKMo_mEQ Sold to a brothel as a child, Somaly Mam now leads an effort to rescue young sex slaves. Wednesday, September 14, 2011 Alice Daniel SuccessMagazine.com Somaly Mam grew up orphaned in a tiny community, a speck of cleared land with bamboo huts in the wooded hills of northeastern Cambodia. She survived by scavenging for her food, sleeping in a hammock and sometimes getting help from a local family. She doesn't know when she was born exactly, but when she was around 10, a stranger who called himself her grandfather came to her little village and took her away to be his servant. A few years later, when he needed money, he sold her to a brothel in Phnom Penh. For the next decade, she was forced to endure the unthinkable. But she survived, severely traumatized, yet strong. And committed. Today, when she advocates through the Somaly Mam Foundation for the millions of girls enslaved in brothels in Cambodia and worldwide, she is advocating in part for herself. Mam, who was likely born in 1970 or 1971, often says the evil done to her and the trauma and rage she continues to experience are what propel her to help others; if she had her choice, she would have a little plot of land, a beautiful garden and family and friends to nourish. But she knows too much to pretend or look away. If she forgets, her nightmares remind her. During her time at the brothel, Mam suffered repeated rapes by men or gangs of men who paid pennies for their violent pleasure. She was beaten and tortured for resisting until she was so broken she eventually became dead to herself. One time, she tried to escape, and when she was caught, the brothel owner tied her to a bed naked and beat her with a cane. Afterward, he let a group of his friends take turns raping her for a week until she was shaking with fever. When she hadn't shown enough fear in the punishment room, which housed scorpions and snakes and smelled of sewage, he threw a bucket of maggots on her. Mam was about 20 when she was finally able to pay off her grandfather's debts and escape the brothel in 1990. It started ironically with a humanitarian worker from Switzerland who gave her extra money for her services. When she went with him to a hotel, it was the first time she had seen a mattress or a clean bathroom. Through him, she met other aid workers who sincerely wanted to help her, including a Frenchman, Pierre Legros, who focused on who she was, not what she was. They eventually married (they are now divorced but share three children) and spent some time in France, where Mam learned French, one of six languages she speaks. When they moved back to Cambodia, Legros found a job with Doctors Without Borders, and Mam's relentless courage enabled her to find a new identity. She was working as a volunteer translator for the Doctors Without Borders clinic in the town of Kratie when a girl from a brothel came in. Seeing this wounded individual ignited something in Mam, and soon she began visiting the brothels herself, distributing condoms and soap and ferrying sick girls to the clinic. She started helping them escape to a village 10 miles away where she paid a seamstress to teach them a vocation. In 1996, then living in Phnom Penh, Mam and Legros co-founded AFESIP (Agir Pour les Femmes en Situation Precaire, or Acting for Women in Distressing Situations). The goal was not only to help victims escape, but also to give them the tools, both emotionally and educationally, to be on their own. In time, the organization received international attention, due in part to media coverage and a French documentary. But financially, it continued to flail until 2007, when two young American entrepreneurs, Jared Greenberg and Nicholas Lumpp, helped her launch The Somaly Mam Foundation. The foundation operates as a funding source to support anti-trafficking efforts worldwide and to give victims and survivors a voice. Board members include such activists as Susan Sarandon and Daryl Hannah. When Mam first met Sarandon, she had no idea she was a famous actress. "I didn't know who she was," Mam says. "But I can tell you I love her." Today, at least 30,000 children are victims of sex trafficking in Cambodia, and at least one-third of the prostitutes in Phnom Penh are kids. Trying to explain the brutality of this industry is impossible, Mam says, even in a country hardened by years of war, dictatorship and genocide under Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. She wants to stop the atrocities by getting people involved worldwide and by helping one girl, and then the next. Her organization has branched out to other Southeast Asian countries where the sex trade also thrives, including Vietnam, Laos and Thailand. Her work is taxing. Justice is often for sale, and police and government officials sometimes collude with the billion-dollar sex industry. Pimps and brothel owners have threatened her life, and her own daughter was once kidnapped for several days. But Mam says the backlash is not the hardest part of the foundation's work. It's the rehabilitation that is so difficult, as the girls' horrific pasts are hard-wired to the present. "They cannot escape, they cannot escape their mind. They have been destroyed inside," Mam says, speaking from a shelter for the girls in Phnom Penh. "These girls are completely broken, like a glass completely broken." In her autobiography, The Road of Lost Innocence , she writes about these girls, each one sold by parents, kidnapped or lured away with the promise of decent work in the city. Mam writes of 6-year-old Moteta, who was sold to a brothel by her mother. Shortly thereafter, the owner's business declined, and he blamed her for bringing an evil spirit to the place. So he put her in a cage, beat her to get rid of the spirit and left her there. Moteta now lives in one of the foundation's centers. She calls Mam "Grandmother" and Mam promises her no one will hurt her again. Moteta was so used to always doing chores in the brothel that she still tries to clean rooms and wash the other girls' clothes. Another lost girl, Tom Dy, was found alone on the street. She was filthy, her hair matted, her skin covered with sarcomas from AIDS. People were throwing stones at her, and she was bleeding. Mam rescued her and brought her to a center where she was cleaned and fed. Soon Tom Dy embraced a caretaking role herself, looking after the younger girls. But she couldn't survive AIDS. She died in a hospital when Mam was away in Paris working. It was one of Mam's worst days. Reintegrating the girls and young women successfully into society can take years. Mam starts by just holding them and telling them they are beautiful. She remains close to them, using Skype when she travels to stay in touch; she is happiest when she has the girls near her because they return the love tenfold. Sometimes, there are powerful results. One survivor, says Mam, is going to law school. She was rescued at the age of 6 and stayed in the shelter for 14 years. Others learn vocations such as hairdressing and tailoring. And then there is the program called Voices for Change, which gives survivors who have gone through the rehabilitation process an opportunity to share their stories with the public. This can happen through speaking engagements and public service announcements, and in courts of law. Survivors also work in the shelters, helping new victims who need to look in the face of someone who really understands. "We know them better than anyone," Mam says. "We want to empower the survivor to be part of the solution." It's what Mam does every day, for herself and for others.  | ||||||||||
| Posted: 13 Sep 2011 10:55 PM PDT
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| Judges dismiss Khmer Rouge tribunal claimant Posted: 13 Sep 2011 10:51 PM PDT September 14, 2011 ABC Radio Australia Observers of the Khmer Rouge Tribunal in Cambodia have described a recent decision to block a woman from being involved as insensitive and outrageous. The woman, who is not named in the court documents, applied to be a civil party to Case 3, claiming that she suffered psychological damage when her husband was taken to a forced labour camp and later executed. But the German and Cambodian co-investigating judges ruled her application out, saying they thought her claims of suffering were "highly unlikely to be true". Presenter: Bill Bainbridge Speaker: Anne Heindel, legal adviser to the Documentation Centre of Cambodia, or DC-Cam, a non-government organisation that spent years collection evidence for the trial  | ||||||||||
| ADB raises Cambodia's growth forecast to 6.8 per cent Posted: 13 Sep 2011 10:42 PM PDT Sep 14, 2011 DPA Phnom Penh - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said Wednesday that Cambodia's economy would grow 6.8 per cent this year, slightly up from its April projection of 6.5 per cent. The bank's senior country economist Peter Brimble credited the rise to a 23-per-cent jump in the value of garment exports to the United States in the first six months of the year. He also credited 'tourism increasing by about 13 per cent in arrivals over the first six months, and some good signs on rice exports and in general agricultural production' with contributing to the improved forecast. 'However the current slowdown in global trade is likely to temper growth momentum in 2012.' Economists have long said Cambodia must diversify into key sectors such as agriculture and tourism. Brimble said there were signs that was happening, adding that the ADB would help the country to meet those goals over the next two years. But he warned that high electricity prices and graft would remain key concerns for investors. The ADB said Cambodia should also boost connectivity through its southern corridor linking Vietnam and Thailand, and cut transport costs and unnecessary delays. 'If we can do that, I am pretty sure more companies are going to look at Cambodia,' Brimble said. The ADB said Cambodia's economy would grow 6.5 per cent next year. It predicted inflation of 5.5 per cent in 2011 and 4.6 per cent next year, provided oil prices remain constant. The bank said there was no new data on Cambodia's poverty rate, which was measured at 30.1 per cent in 2007. Brimble said 'we would expect that in terms of the (economic) crisis in 2009 there would be an increase.' Cambodia experienced an average annual economic growth of 9.1 per cent in the decade to 2008.  | ||||||||||
| Migrants tell of slavery on Thai fishing boats Posted: 13 Sep 2011 10:39 PM PDT
Wednesday, September 14, 2011 By Kelly Macnamara (AFP) RAYONG, Thailand — Thousands of men from Myanmar and Cambodia set sail on Thai fishing boats every day, but many are unwilling seafarers -- slaves forced to work in brutal conditions under threat of death. The day Hla Myint saw the sea for the first time was when traffickers delivered him, after a week's trek through the jungle from Myanmar, to a ship on Thailand's coast. He said it was the beginning of seven months of "hell", during which there were beatings "every day, every hour". His is one of a multitude of stories of slavery in Thailand's multi-million dollar fishing industry, which campaigners say relies on forced labour to provide seafood for restaurants and supermarkets around the world. Hla Myint decided to escape -- throwing himself into choppy waters and clinging to a life buoy for five hours before reaching land -- after seeing his captain kill a crewmate. The man, who had been caught trying to escape, was savagely beaten and tortured in front of the rest of the fishermen. "Later they took him to the back of the ship, stood him on the edge and shot him in the head. My heart pounded so hard when I saw that," said Hla Myint, whose name AFP has changed to protect his identity. Now he works with a local aid group helping others to flee. He told his story to AFP during a dash to rescue four young Myanmar men hiding in bushes near the coastal town of Rayong, just hours after they broke out of a locked room and ran for their lives. "They threatened that if we tried to run away, one bullet cost only 25 baht ($0.83)," said Myo Oo, 20, whose name has also been changed. Another member of the group, a teenager clearly still petrified, described beatings with the butt of a gun. The UN recently acknowledged Thailand's "significant progress" in efforts to tackle trafficking, but said it needed to go further and warned that trafficking of forced labour in the fishing industry was "growing in scale". Sirirat Ayuwathana of Thailand's Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, which is in charge of tackling trafficking in the country, said authorities were aware of the problem and planned to set up a commission to work on registering all fishing boats and crew members. "We cannot know what happens when the boats leave the shore. The workers could be tortured or detained. The captains have total control of the boat, and they may mistreat these people," she said. Life on the boats is incredibly hard. Men toil for up to 20 hours a day, seven days a week, only able to snatch a few moments for food and rest between hauling nets, according to a report by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). Some boats use "mother ships" to refuel and take on new crew to avoid returning to land and many fishermen spend months or even years trapped in waters as far away as Somalia, the IOM said. Phil Robertson of Human Rights Watch, who wrote the report, said marine police in one Thai coastal area told him they found up to 10 bodies a month washed up on the shore. In a 2009 study, more than half of Cambodian migrants trafficked onto Thai boats surveyed by the United Nations Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking (UNIAP) said they had seen their captains killing one of their colleagues. But Mana Sripitak, of the National Fisheries Association of Thailand, said it was "impossible" that forced labour was used, saying migrants were willing workers. The Thai fishing industry is a lucrative business. According to official figures, 16.95 billion baht ($565 million) worth of fish was hauled into Thailand from the sea in 2010. China, the European Union, the United States and Japan were among the major export destinations. There are 35,000 migrants officially registered as working on the boats, mostly from Myanmar, also known as Burma, and Cambodia. But campaigners say poor working conditions put off Thai seafarers, so captains use trafficking victims to restock their crews. Robertson said thousands of people had been trafficked onto boats over the last decade. "This has been essentially a lawless industry for years and within that the system of brokers and trafficking has grown up as the defacto model for a fishing boat captain... They know who to call," he said. He urged governments and consumers to boycott wild-caught fish from Thailand unless the industry reforms. The US State Department has placed Thailand on a trafficking in persons "watchlist" for two years running. It estimates there are tens of thousands of people caught in a web of trafficking across the country -- in various types of forced labour and sexual exploitation. On a recent visit to Thailand UN special rapporteur on people trafficking, Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, said the country was not doing enough to curb the trade. "The immunity of traffickers, especially the collusion with the official law enforcement agencies, is really diluting the government's effort and efficacy of its policies and programmes to combat human trafficking," she told AFP. Andy Hall, a migration expert at Mahidol University, said Thailand should take responsibility for staunching the flow of trafficked labour. "Without these people the fish don't get caught, the products don't get made. They are lost in a globalisation process, they are lost in an industrialisation process, it's really scary," he said. Myo Oo paid a broker 1,000 baht ($33) to take him into Thailand, hoping to find factory work for himself and his 16-year-old brother in Bangkok, where his two sisters already live. After five days in the jungle, the brothers were crammed into a truck and driven to Rayong, where they were separated. Barely more than a boy himself, Myo Oo fears for his teenage brother and is doubtful of his chances in trying to flee the boats. He said they knew they would face challenges in Thailand, "but in reality it is much more difficult. I never expected I would have to be so worried about my life". But he was reluctant to be identified by Thai authorities, who would inevitably deport him, and determined to try again to find work. Once in Bangkok, Myo Oo and the others slipped away, carrying little but the clothes on their backs and hope for a better life.  |
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