DAP: The breaking news in Cambodia: “Cambodia's Anti-Corruption Unit receives 800 complaints in 8 months” plus 5 more

PHNOM PENH, Sept. 27, (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) has received about 800 corruption-related complaints in the first eight months of this year, exceeding the whole last year of only 700 cases, Om Yintieng, ACU's Chairman, said Thursday.

"Among the 800 complaints, a half of them are made in conditions of anonymity," he told reporters on the sidelines of an anti-corruption seminar. "So far, we have investigated about 30 percent of the complaints, and in some cases, arrests will be made next week or next month."

Cambodia is riddled with bribery and corruption. The Government of Cambodia sees corruption as obstacles to economic development, rule of law, democracy, social stability, as well as the main cause of poverty.

The country made the anti-corruption law and promulgated it on April 17, 2010; then, in the same year, the ACU was launched.

Since the launch, a number of corrupt officials in ministries and armed forces, and court judges and prosecutors have been brought to court for punishment.

According to the law, a corrupt official will be jailed between 5 years and 15 years.

HANOI, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for the Western Pacific Shin Young-soo said Thursday that member states in the region should accelerate implementation of the HIV interventions.

"HIV will remain endemic in key populations for many decades, with increasing public health and economic costs. Countries must now make strategic investments in HIV to halt new infections," Shin said during the ongoing 63rd meeting of WHO Regional Committee for the Western Pacific in Hanoi.

According to Shin, political commitments made by countries at the United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting in 2011 to reach bold HIV targets by 2015 have not yet led to increased resources to help meet those targets.

He said some countries have pioneered effective health sector responses, such as developing national HIV strategies, improving access to HIV testing and counseling and increasing antiretroviral coverage. However, there is a real danger that the gains of recent years might be eroded by dwindling resources, leaving a majority of countries relying mostly on external funding for HIV prevention and care.

"Renewed strategic and programmatic approaches to increase political leadership, country ownership and community involvement, and to expand prevention and antiretroviral therapy, are needed," Shin said.

According to WHO, more than 90 percent of people living with HIV in the region are from Cambodia, China, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea and Vietnam. The Philippines is among the few countries globally where incidence of HIV is rising.

In 2010, an estimated 1.3 million adults and children were living with HIV in the Western Pacific Region, with a prevalence rate of 0.1 percent. New infections declined from 150,000 per year in 2001 to 130,000 in 2010. The number of annual AIDS-related deaths rose from 33,000 in 2001 to 80,000 in 2010, but has stabilized over the past four years.

PHNOM PENH, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia is expected to receive 3.3 million foreign tourists this year, a 15 percent rise year-on-year, Prime Minister Hun Sen said Thursday.

"The country's cultural and eco-tourism has seen remarkable development, there is steady growth from year to year," he said in a message to mark the 33rd World Tourism Day. "This truly demonstrates that Cambodia has peace, political stability, security and safety, better infrastructures, clean resorts and good services."

He said last year tourism industry attracted 2.88 million foreign visitors, earning 1.9 billion U.S. dollars, equivalent to 12 percent of the nation's GDP.

Speaking at an event to celebrate the 33rd World Tourism Day on Thursday, Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Men Sam On said that tourism is the country's green gold.

The country has two world heritage sites. One is Angkor Wat Temple in Siem Reap province, situated 315 kilometers northwest of Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, and the other is Preah Vihear Temple in Preah Vihear province, located about 500 kilometers northwest of Phnom Penh.

Tourism industry is one of the main four pillars supporting the economy. The others are garment industry, agriculture and real estates.

PHNOM PENH, Sept. 26 (Xinhua)-- Cambodia has hosted a series of meetings among ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) in order to discuss on the planned adoption of the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration (AHRD) later this year.

In a statement released Wednesday by Cambodia it said the meetings took place from 21 to 24 September 2012 in Siem Reap and were chaired by Om Yentieng, Senior Minister and President of the Cambodian Human Rights Committee (CHRC), the Representative of Cambodia and Chair of AICHR.

At their Tenth Meeting on the AHRD, AICHR drafted the proposed statement of the ASEAN Leaders on the Adoption of the AHRD.

The Statement will be submitted to the ASEAN Foreign Ministers for their consideration in preparation for the expected adoption of the AHRD by the ASEAN Leaders during the 21st ASEAN Summit in November 2012. The meetings also discussed among other things the AICHR priority programmes/activities for 2013, including their budget details, as well as the proposed guidelines for AICHR's Engagement with civil society groups.

AICHR finalized the content of their regional website and booklet, which will be launched in conjunction with their third anniversary on 23 October 2012 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

They were the last meetings of AICHR in the year 2012 under the chairmanship of Cambodia before it will be handed over to Brunei Darussalam whose Chairmanship will start in January 2013.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.