The Phnom Penh Post - ENGLISH: “Nobody is listening” plus 9 more

You speak and nobody is listening to you. They cut off your microphone; they don't want to hear anything. They just want to finish.

Opposition officials in Poipet have requested the provincial government intervene after a village chief on Monday confiscated a book of Cambodia National Rescue Party supporters' thumbprints.

Mean Sarith, chief of the CNRP working group in the border town, said Seng Long, the Cambodian People's Party village chief in Kilometre 4, Phsar Kandal commune, had incited villagers on Monday to use violence against opposition members, which he described as "a violation of people's freedom of expression".

"The village chief said we were collecting the thumbprints illegally. I asked him why we were in the wrong. We just asked for their thumbprints voluntarily, to give to international organisations regarding the irregular election. But he did not give it back, and he said he had already sent it to [senior officials]," Sarith said.

"We will ask for our document to continue collecting the thumbprints. If it is not given back, we will ask for the people's thumbprints again," he added.

The authorities have been accused by the CNRP of a concerted campaign to obstruct the collection of signatures for a petition calling on foreign governments to reject the results of July's national elections.

Long admitted to taking the book, but claimed he did so because the CNRP officials were breaking the law and tricking people into signing by saying they would receive compensation for flood damage.

"[The CNRP] did not inform me, making people here confused.… They have lied to people [by saying] that they are collecting thumbprints for flood donations," he said, adding that 46 people would file complaints to the authorities requesting their signatures be removed from the book. He refused to divulge any of the names of the people he claimed were duped.

Amid numerous reported cases of intimidation of CNRP officials in Phnom Penh last week, municipal authorities told the party not to collect prints in public places because it was "disturbing public order".

Since it held a large rally in Freedom Park on October 6, the CNRP claims it has collected 1 million thumbprints and hopes to reach 3 million before October 23, when it plans to hold a mass rally in the capital.

The former president and current party secretary of the struggling Funcinpec party, Nhek Bun Chhay, has been nominated as a government adviser – a position the government ranks equivalent to that of a deputy prime minister.

Senior ruling Cambodian People's Party lawmaker Cheam Yeap said the promotion of Bun Chhay, and other Funcinpec members – which comes after the party failed to win a single seat in the July national election – was simply a continuation of long-standing cooperation.

"The promotion is simple because the CPP's policy has always been to cooperate with the Funcinpec party, and many Funcinpec party members are working in the government as secretaries of state and undersecretaries, and some are working in the provinces," he said.

Bun Chhay, who held the title of deputy prime minister before the election, said yesterday he was promoted to the position on October 1.

"And some of my party members will be promoted to secretary of state and undersecretary of state," he said.

Political analyst Sok Touch said that, in promoting members of Funcinpec, the government was taking precautions, securing a reliable ally "for future actions, if there is a problem in the sixth election".

Funcinpec, which was established by then-King Norodom Sihanouk in 1981, won Cambodia's 1993 election under President Norodom Ranariddh but was forced into a power-sharing arrangement with the CPP and has gradually seen its influence whittled away ever since.

After the party lost the 1998 national election, it returned as a coalition partner of the CPP and has remained cooperative with the ruling party.

More than 300 youth from around Cambodia plan to rally on Friday to demand justice for the man killed during the opposition party's three-day demonstration last month.

Participants from a variety of universities, high schools, youth clubs, civil societies and other groups will march from Wat Phnom to Phnom Penh Municipal Court, according to Meng Heng, 23, a representative of Khmer Kampuchea Krom youths, one of the organisations coordinating the rally.

"We collected 350 thumbprints … and we will send the letter with those thumbprints to City Hall tomorrow for permission to rally," he said.

Heng added that the youth want to urge police and investigators to find the perpetrators who killed Mao Sok Chan and punish them through the law.

Mao Sok Chan, 29, a construction worker and father of four, was shot in the head at the Kbal Thnal overpass while trying to return home during the night that protesters, commuters and security forces clashed. At least nine others were wounded on the bridge during the incident, in which police opened fire with live ammunition.

Mao Sok Chan's uncle, Khim Phorn, 28, said yesterday that he will join Friday's rally.

"I will join … in order to urge the authorities to work harder to find justice for Mao Sok Chan," said Khim Phorn, adding that he was not aware of any investigation into the case.

Choun Sovann, Phnom Penh municipal police chief, and Choun Narin, deputy municipal police chief, declined to comment yesterday.

Six men were arrested and charged with destruction of property and assault following the Kbal Thnal overpass clashes.

Four of the men were granted bail and released from prison last Thursday, but another two remain in prison for further investigation.

Am Sam Ath, technical supervisor for Licadho, said yesterday that the court should have released all of the suspects as they were being held for identical charges.

"The lawyer of two accused [who remain detained] filed the complaint against the Phnom Penh Municipal Court's decision … yesterday," he said.

During a small press conference yesterday, the founder of the Independent Monk Network said about 30 police officers came to Wat Botum two nights in one week, asking to search the premises for "bad men" who may be hiding there.

The visits occurred on the nights of October 9 and 14, But Buntenh, the monk network's founder, said. On both occasions, uniformed and plainclothes officers came to the pagoda after 8pm, and left without searching the site.

"They just said to the monks, 'We want to check [the pagoda],' but they did not check," said Bnutenh, who called the visits another attempt by the authorities to intimidate increasingly politically vocal monks. "I worry much about the monks' security now."

But when asked by the Post yesterday, Chuon Chith, Chamkarmon commune's police chief, said police did not enter Wat Botum on either of the nights Buntenh claims. However, he added that military police forces are present 24 hours a day in front of the pagoda in order to provide safety and security for Phnom Penh residents.

Eang Vuthy, director of Equitable Cambodia, said yesterday that he had not heard allegations of police asking to search Wat Botum, but if the incidents occurred, it could be part of a government effort to stifle opposition among monks.

"[It could] be their reason, to really intimidate some monks who get involved with social issues," Vuthy said.

Butenh founded the Independent Monk Network at the end of August with the goal of empowering monks to stand for their beliefs, he said. About 3,000 monks across Phnom Penh, Kampong Cham, Siem Reap and Battambang are now registered members of the network.

Shows of force by authorities have become a common method of pressuring monks to keep a lid on political dissent in their ranks, according to Butenh.

"I'm not living in peace and harmony," Buntenh lamented at the press conference. "I'm living in fear."

Suspects on trial already detained by authorities will now be forced to wear a prison uniform to court, a director at the General Department of Prisons at the Ministry of Interior said yesterday.

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But lest they be confused with their convicted brethren, those imprisoned who remain on trial will don a dark orange uniform to clearly distinguish them from other prisoners, who will continue to wear blue and white-striped attire, Kuy Bunsorn said.

About 7,000 of the new uniforms will be distributed to prisons nationwide, he added.

"The ministry has issued this prakas since the beginning of the year.… The uniforms have just been tailored, and we have asked the provincial prisons to come and collect them," he said.

Sun Lean, the director of Correctional Centre 1 at Prey Sar prison, said he had received 1,000 new orange uniforms for male accused prisoners to wear while on trial.

"If they wear those kinds of clothes, it is easy to notice and control the inmates. Those clothes will be worn when they attend the hearing, but in prison they can wear normal civilian clothes, because they have not received a sentence yet," he said.

But Am Sam Ath, a technical advisor at rights group Licadho, said the new uniforms violate the rights of the accused as they are yet to be found guilty.

Eight-year-old Sokun* spent almost the first seven years of his life in prison.

Unlike other Cambodian children who have the freedom to play and run free, countless hours of his early life were spent in a hot, squalid and teeming cell in the prison where his mother remains interred for human trafficking.

During those early years behind bars, Sokun witnessed many things that continue to haunt him, including his mother cutting down the body of a fellow prisoner who had hanged herself.

Local rights group Licadho, which released Sokun's story yesterday in an effort to draw attention to the impact prisons can have on children, says that as of July, 51 children were living with their mothers in prisons monitored by the group.

Although the December 2011 Prison Law reduced the age limit of children allowed to stay in prison from six to three, about a dozen children over that age still live behind bars, Licadho reports.

While there are "undeniable benefits" of keeping a child with his or her mother when she is imprisoned, prisons do not provide a child-appropriate environment and are incapable of meeting a child's basic needs, the report says.

To date, no assessment has ever been conducted by a state authority to determine whether a child should be allowed to live with his or her mother in prison or if appropriate family or other alternatives exist.

"The reality of Cambodian prisons is harsh for anyone, but for a child, it can be devastating," Licadho prisons supervisor Nget Sokun said yesterday.

"These children are often forgotten by society, but worse still, they are too often ignored by the authorities responsible for them."

General Department of Prisons director of operations Be Tealeng said that authorities were aware that over-age children continued to reside in prisons.

"We do really want to keep kids out of prison, but outside, there is no one who can be responsible for looking after them," he said. "So their mothers ask us to let them live with them, and for humane reasons, we allow this."

He added that older children were discretely allowed to attend local state schools outside prisons, and that the authorities were in discussion with NGOs to help release and adequately care for more currently incarcerated children.

The current government funding for each adult prisoner is 2,800 riel per day, while children living with their mothers are allocated 1,400 riel.

*Name changed to protect child's anonymity

As flood victims surge to the capital to receive medical treatment, doctors at Phnom Penh's Kantha Bopha Children's Hospital say they've never seen such overcrowding.

Parents holding their sick children and infants line the perimeter of the complex, spending up to seven hours crouched on hot concrete before being admitted to the facility.

"We have never during the last 21 years had so many outpatients and inpatients in the month of October," said Dr Beat Richner, founder of the hospital. "[Yesterday], there were 2,228 severely sick children … that required hospitalisation. [The day before], there were 4,200 sick children in the outpatient stations."

Many of the mothers outside Kantha Bopha blame their children's sickness on the fetid floodwaters.

Prak Khun, 39, said her house has been flooded for two months, and her granddaughter became sick with severe diarrhea and a fever after drinking flood water they boiled.

After traveling to Phnom Penh from Kampong Cham yesterday morning, Khun spent six and a half hours with her feverish one-year-old granddaughter waiting to be admitted to the hospital by staff there.

"This morning, there were a lot of people here; 500 were waiting outside," she said. "We came here because it's free to see the doctor and free for the medicine."

NGOs providing disaster aid said that, in the 20 provinces affected by flooding, fear of disease is paramount.

"The main issue is that a lot of children get sick with the flu, fever, eye infections and especially diarrhea," said Leng Vireak, senior manager for disaster response at World Vision. "Children are more affected than adults; they like to play in the water, but it's dirty and unsafe, and they might drink some of the water while they play."

In addition to a high number of diarrhea-related cases, the hospital says it's seeing a rise in serious diseases, some of which may arise from complications when parents can't afford to treat colds rampant in flood season.

"There are a lot of severe pneumpathias (pneumonia, bronchiolitis). Most are due to the heavy rain and the high water," Dr Richner said. "Further, [there is] a lot of meningitis and encephalitis. These diseases can be due to the rain and the [high water] too."

Though evacuation sites are supposed to be equipped with free care for diarrhea and the flu, disaster relief providers have found that in reality, sites are often not prepared for an inundation of families.

"I would not say that all evacuation sites have enough medical supplies and doctors," said Vireak. "Many remote areas have too few doctors, and hospitals are available at provincial levels only."

Even as the water levels recede, health workers urge continued caution, including taking hygiene precautions and watching children to make sure they do not play in or drink the slurry.

"A lot of children get sick, and a lot drown," said Seng Skhim, 20, while she waited with her daughter outside Kantha Bopha. "But even when parents are careful, children can get sick."

The ruling Cambodian People's Party has reiterated its commitment to carry out electoral reforms ahead of the 2017 poll in an apparent bid to appease key demands of the opposition, civil society and the international community following July's disputed election.

With rare frankness, the party says in a statement that in light of the "obvious situation" following the election and a meeting between the two parties on September 16, the party wished to "solemnly declare" its "commitment [to] upcoming election reforms" to national and international observers.

The statement, released on October 14 and obtained by the Post yesterday, earmarks the election law, the law on political parties and general "regulations and procedures of the election" as possible areas where amendments could be made.

It also proposes the passing of certain laws, including a draft law on political party budgets – the absence of which has long been regarded as an obstacle to campaign-finance transparency.

"An appropriate mechanism will be established to research and form the electoral reform framework in accordance with free democratic principles, fairness and justice," the statement said.

Despite the continued boycott of 55 Cambodia National Rescue Party lawmakers from the assembly and the lack of any public sign of further party negotiations, the statement also says the CPP "firmly maintains its open position".

Senior CPP lawmaker and de facto spokesman Cheam Yeap said yesterday that the party was waiting for the CNRP to join the National Assembly before reforms would be made.

"We have not reformed yet, but we will do it soon. And we are waiting to see whether the CNRP joins the National Assembly," he said.

"Reform is a matter they have raised from the beginning, so we need to discuss to what extent they want reforms to be made."

Although a key cornerstone of opposition and civil society demands has been the scrapping of the National Election Committee and the establishment of a new constitutionally mandated election body, the statement does not mention the NEC.

"We must make some reforms, whether to the NEC or to electoral regulations, and get approval from all," Yeap said.

CNRP deputy president Kem Sokha said yesterday, however, that faith should not be placed in the CPP's "empty promises".

"If the CPP is willing to reform and the international community believes this to be true, they cannot do this alone," he said. "There must be a balance of power before there is reform, and this means that the CPP controls the government, while the CNRP controls the National Assembly."

Koul Panha, executive director at election watchdog Comfrel, said yesterday that the parties must come to a joint political solution on any reforms and that NEC changes should be at the top of the discussion agenda.

"The NEC has not been trusted by the non-ruling parties. That's the problem. They are not confident in the composition of the NEC and its performance," he said.

"Equal say on NEC composition is very, very important for confidence-building."

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY KEVIN PONNIAH

In an elaborate Buddhist ceremony yesterday morning, King Norodom Sihamoni and ruling party ministers laid flowers at the newly erected statue commemorating the late King Father Norodom Sihanouk in observance of the one-year anniversary of his death.

Standing before the crowd of about 500 senior government officials who attended the service at the statue – located just east of Independence Monument – Prime Minister Hun Sen said Sihanouk gave Cambodian people hope for political stability and national unification.

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"We have done and will do our utmost to follow the path taken by the late King," Hun Sen said in his speech, which also credited Sihanouk with achieving independence from France in 1953.

But conspicuously absent opposition ministers-elect yesterday said the Cambodian People's Party fell well short of living up to the late King Father's pursuit of national unity.

The Cambodia National Rescue Party filed a request with the Royal Cabinet for six of its ministers to be allowed to attend, said spokesman Yim Sovann. On Monday, the party received an envelope from the cabinet containing a program for the ceremony with no letter of permission, Sovann said.

That ambiguous reply came the same day about 100 riot police were deployed after authorities told CNRP officials that they could not hold a memorial planned for that day until after the official commemoration.

"It's a total insult," said Mu Sochua, a CNRP spokeswoman. "We are saddened as much as we are appalled about the image of anti-riot police surrounding the statue."

The CNRP will hold a memorial at the statue, Sochua said, but they have not yet set a date.

Born in 1922, King Sihanouk sat on the throne from 1941 to 1955 and reclaimed it in 1993. He voluntarily abdicated the throne in 2004 to his son, King Norodom Sihamoni.

He died of a heart attack in Beijing at the age of 89 after suffering from hypertension, diabetes and several forms of cancer.

More than 100,000 people were estimated to have crowded the streets of Phnom Penh when his body was returned to Cambodia to lie in state days later.