The Phnom Penh Post - ENGLISH: “Some kind of action” plus 8 more

In general, after getting a complaint, we need to take some kind of action against officials, even if they did nothing wrong

The Japanese government has announced a new contribution to the inter­national component of the Khmer Rouge tribunal, just as the court prepares to close the book on Case 002/01, the first segment of its landmark case.

The disbursement of $386,700 was announced last Friday, and brings the country's total contribution to the court to more than $79 million.

According to the announce­ment, the donation was made "despite [Japan's] current financial difficulties … at an important juncture when the ECCC faces a serious budget crunch".

The Japanese are the court's single largest donor, and have provided over 40 per cent of all of its funding since its inception.

A colonel in the Royal Cambodian Navy yesterday denied accusations by the NGO Wildlife Alliance that naval officers opened fire on patrolling rangers on the Tatai River in Koh Kong province as they tried seizing an allegedly illegal shipment of rosewood.

Colonel Tep Vuthy instead accused military police of colluding with the Southern Cardamom Forest Protection Unit of Tatai Station, claiming they were on duty the night of October 10 in Mondul Seima district's Bak Khlang commune.

"I conducted an investigation and found that my [naval] subordinates did not transport the timber or open fire," Vuthy said yesterday, adding that his officials could not have opened fire anyway, as they were unarmed.

"It's ridiculous. I have no more time to meet with them [the Wildlife Alliance]. I do not have any rancour. Everything we do is to protect this nation."

At about 11pm on October 10, four men leapt out of the beached boat seeking cover in nearby forest when rangers attempted to board, then opened fire, according to statements published on Wildlife Alliance's website.

A six-hour stand-off between the rangers and the alleged naval officials followed until rangers managed to gain access to the boat once high tide commenced, confiscating 12 tonnes of rosewood along with the vessel, the NGO said.

A Wildlife Alliance official unauthorised to speak to the press provided the Post with a different version of events than Vuthy.

"At around 11pm, the patrol unit encountered a large wooden boat transporting 12 tonnes of [rosewood] harvested inside the Southern Cardamoms protected forest that was stranded in the low tide sand only 150 metres from Koh Yor Navy Battalion base," the official said yesterday.

Despite saying naval officials had no involvement in the incident, Vuthy said an officer charged with monitoring the area had been temporarily suspended, but refused to reveal the officer's identity as the matter was being dealt with internally.

"In general, after getting a complaint, we need to take some kind of action against officials, even if they did nothing wrong," Vuthy said.

Such a violent response by officials will not be tolerated, the Wildlife Alliance source said.

"This shooting by the Royal Cambodia Navy officers is not acceptable. They should have provided support to the patrol unit instead of attacking them and stopping them from doing their job," the official said, adding that shooting at authorised agents set a bad example for every tier of government.

Wildlife Alliance's founder and CEO Suwanna Gauntlett along with military police officials could not be reached for comment yesterday despite multiple attempts to reach them.

Japan will extend a landmine clearance and victim assistance program to Cambodia for three more years with a grant of more than $9 million, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced late on Tuesday.

According to the statement, Foreign Minister Hor Namhong and Japanese Ambassador Yuji Kumamaru will sign an agreement on Monday confirming the 898 million yen ($9.1 million) transfer.

Heng Ratana, director general of the Cambodian Mine Action Center, said the funds will pay for clearing 5,000 hectares of mined land in Battambang's Bavel and Ratanak Mondol districts.

The first phase of the project, which started in 2009, is due to end this year. Ratana said 3,000 hectares had been cleared since it began.

Last month, CMAC reported that deaths from landmines and unexploded ordnance in the first seven months of 2013 dropped by 36 per cent, down to 74 from 115 landmine casualties in the same period last year.

Despite concerns that political uncertainty would be a drag on the economy, Cambodia's garment exports continued on an upward trend in the first nine months of the year, the latest data show.

Though volume increased, factory profit margins were squeezed due to labour disputes and demands for higher wages, according to the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC).

Cambodia's garment and footwear exports were worth $4.1 billion in the first nine months this year, a rise of 22 per cent from the $3.44 billion amount in the nine months through September 2012, the Ministry of Commerce said yesterday.

The numbers came as something of a surprise following months of election-related tension.

After Cambodia's disputed poll in July, many garment workers were scared to return to factories because of rumours that the country was on the brink of violence. But the tense atmosphere did not keep workers away long enough to make a dent.

The real impact, GMAC says, came in the form of labour demonstrations over unpaid wages, and gripes with management.

An ongoing strike at one of the biggest factories in the country, SL Garment Processing (Cambodia), had cost the company more than $1 million since the latest round of demonstrations began on August 12, according to the management.

International brands H&M and Gap reduced their orders, and Levi's stopped buying from SL in August.

But Ath Thorn, president of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union, dismissed GMAC's suggestion that workers were responsible for lower profits, and said labour demonstrations were too few and far between to have a serious impact.

Thorn attributed any income increase to workers having to do more overtime, and says that a raise in exports can be attributed to enhanced worker output.

"The amount they [employer] pay to worker is increased, and at the same time they get higher quantity too," he said.

According to GMAC, the US is the biggest market for Cambodian garments and textile products, with imports worth about $1.21 billion in the first nine months, or about 30 per cent of market share. The US is followed by Europe, Canada and Japan.

Hing Thoraxy, senior researcher at the Cambodia Institute for Cooperation and Peace, said that the increasing number of garment exports reflects improved economic conditions in Cambodia and in its
export markets.

Thoraxy added that while output is strong, more is needed to diversify and enhance production levels.

"We need to shift from simple T-shirts to produce more complicated products such as coats and shirts with embroidery, to add value to the product," he said.

Although he'd been filming in Cambodia for eight years, Parisian filmmaker Vincent Trintignant-Corneau first came across Phnom Penh's Boeung Kak community when shooting a fiction movie in the area.

He and his wife, director Christine Chansou, were struck by the Boeung Kak residents' distress, and they asked prominent activist Tep Vanny if they could follow her with their camera. Eager to get word out about the campaign, she agreed. The resulting documentary, Even a Bird Needs a Nest, will premiere in Cambodia at Meta House this evening.

Chansou said: "We didn't need to ask people questions – everybody wanted to talk. We just put the camera in front of them and they pushed forward to come and tell us about the situation."

The Boeung Kak 15 and supporters have been protesting for their land rights since 2007, when the Municipality of Phnom Penh granted a 99-year lease of their neighbourhood to a private developer. They are some of the most prominent land activists in the country.

But it wasn't long before Trintignant-Corneau and Chansou realised that forced evictions aren't a problem unique to Boeung Kak.

Trintignant-Corneau and Chansou spent six months documenting some of Cambodia's biggest human rights violations. They followed Tep Vanny through the Boeung Kak protests, as well as the CNRP politician Mu Sochua, who took them to other forced eviction sites in Kampong Speu and Battambang. Aiming to tell the story purely through the voices of those who have lost their homes, the filmmakers refrain from using a voiceover.

The end product, Even a Bird Needs a Nest, has gone on to win awards at festivals including Amnesty's Movies That Matter at The Hague, Films de Femmes in Paris and FidaDoc.

Chansou said: "People back home who've already watched this movie have gone on the internet to research more, and many have asked us about (the incarcerated activist) Yorm Bopha's case. It's really touched people – they don't understand why people are in jail for just protesting their land.

Trintignant-Corneau said: "Nobody in the movie is against development. The main thing is that they want to be a part of the development, they want to be included. They just don't want to lose their homes."

Although many land rights activists have come up against force, Chansou and Trintignant-Corneau were able to film with little intimidation. In fact, the worst that happened was that police would take pictures of them, and ask them not to return. They were even able to spend five hours interviewing Prime Minister Hun Sen for the film.

Chansou said: "If anything it was the Boeung Kak people who faced intimidation, because they threatened them and told them not to speak with foreign people again. Sometimes the government would say that foreigners incite more demonstrations, but that's not true. When we went to the provinces people were already protesting, and they're still protesting today, with or without us."

Tep Vanny, who will speak after the screening, said: 'The film can help educate people about land grabbing so they know about the situation in Cambodia. It will show people the problems in Boeung Kak Lake, so more people can support us."

Even a Bird Needs a Nest will premiere at Meta House tonight at 7pm, followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers and Tep Vanny. Entrance is free.

The two-day General Assembly of the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia concluded at its headquarters on the periphery of the National Sports Complex on Tuesday with incumbent President Thong Khon re-elected for his third successive four-year term in office.

Three new members, Ouk Sethycheat (basketball), Sa Khon (table tennis) and Chhoun Leng (non-Olympic) were also voted in to join the Executive Committee of 10 headed by the president.

The other members of the committee are Nout Sa An (cycling), Sao Sokha (football), Ly Kosal (badminton), San Sopheoun (volleyball), Tem Meun (boxing) and Hem Thon (swimming).

Thong Khon later announced the re-appointment of Vath Chamroeun as the NOCC secretary general for his second term.

The assembly also passed the secretary general's annual report and the Financial Statement for the year 2012-2013.

The morning session on the final day was dominated by a detailed discussion on the status of the SEA Games and Cambodia's performance progression following a comprehensive presentation by the secretary general of the Cambodian Basketball Federation, Ouk Sethycheat.

Vath Chamroeun told the Post: "I am honoured to serve the NOCC for a second term. It gives me a great opportunity to build on several exciting projects we have launched in the last one year and also set in motion the process of creating a master plan for our SEA Games 2023 campaign.

"The roadmap Sieh Kok Chi of Malaysia presented to help us prepare for 2023 Games has been very helpful and an ideal starting point. But our focus will also be on enhancing the performances of our athletes in the coming years," he added.

The Tennis Federation of Cambodia will organise a junior tennis tournament for boys and girls at the National Training Centre this Saturday and Sunday.

The competition involves singles events in the U12 and U14 categories.

Police in Svay Rieng province are searching for the driver of a truck that crashed into a motorbike repair shop early yesterday morning, killing the owner and seriously injuring his wife.

As Sim Nhanh, 28, of Chek commune's Svat village, and his wife, Moa Sreyneang, 25, opened their shop at around 5am, a sand truck veered into the front of the business, Svay Rieng provincial traffic police chief Ouch Narorn said.

Nhanh died at the scene and Sreyneang was rushed to Svay Rieng Provincial Hospital, Narorn said. The driver fled the scene, he added.

"The driver has not been captured yet, but the vehicle was impounded at provincial traffic police office," Narorn said.