The Phnom Penh Post - ENGLISH: “Cambodia volleyball players fire in friendlies” plus 9 more

Cambodia's national volleyball team showed some medal potential during pre-SEA Games friendlies held at the indoor hall of Olympic Stadium over the weekend with two 3-0 shutouts against Vietnamese clubs Sanest and Maseco. Battambang Police Station, however, lost 3-1 to Maseco but managed to edge Sanest 3-2 in Friday and Saturday encounters.

The coach of Maseco, however, refused to validate the results, claiming the Vietnamese players had failed to play to their best. Despite some victories in friendlies during the lead in to the 2011 SEA Games, Cambodia were blanked 3-0 in four of their preliminary matches in Indonesia against regional rivals such as Thailand, Indonesia, Myanmar and Vietnam.

They were also beaten 3-1 by Malaysia. "We lost before because we were too new to the last SEA Games, but now we've trained very well and done good warm-up games against Vietnamese teams.

So I hope we'll get better result in the SEA Games," Cambodia coach Pou Sarak told the Post. Cambodia will meet the gold medal Thailand, Malaysia and Myanmar in Group A at the Zayar Thiri Indoor Stadium in Naypyidaw from December 13.

Tycoon Try Pheap has filed a defamation complaint against two people quoted in an NGO report released last week that accused him of illegal logging and widespread land grabbing, summonses obtained yesterday reveal.

The documents, bearing the signature of Kandal Provincial Court prosecutor Sam Rithy Veasna, are dated Friday.

This is only two days after the Cambodian Human Rights Task Force alleged in a report that Pheap's land empire, built on government concessions, had expanded to more than 70,000 hectares, displacing at least 1,445 families and facilitating an illegal-logging syndicate.

Sen San and Ouk Sambo, from Kandal province's Kandal Stung district, close to where Pheap has a residence, have been ordered to appear for questioning in the provincial court on Friday morning.

"All I said was that he is rich and is a timber businessman. But I have been accused of defamation," San said yesterday. "I fear this summons – because he is rich and powerful. Even though we are in the right, we won't be able to win this case. But I will show up as scheduled."

San, a Cambodia National Rescue Party representative in the commune, said the complaint may also relate to his political alliances.

"What they are doing is intimidating me. Trying to make me afraid," he said.

Pheap, the director of the MDS Import-Export company, could not be reached for comment yesterday.

A company representative, who spoke to the Post last week about the allegations in the CHRTF report, said he knew nothing of the defamation complaints.

CHRTF director Ouch Leng, who compiled the report, said the summonses were an example of the company trying to use the courts to threaten those who spoke "the truth".

"This is the company's culture," he said. "The rich and powerful are always using the judicial system to suppress and discourage people. This must stop in the fifth mandate – the government has pledged reforms."

Sok Sam Oeun, director of the Cambodian Defenders Project, said that if the summonses do relate to the two villagers' comments in the report, it is unusual that police have not investigated the matter first.

"In this case, only the court has taken action following the complaint," he said.

CHRTF's report claims that 1,445 families have been evicted from their homes during Pheap's acquisition of about 68,088 hectares since 2010.

By law, an individual can own only 10,000 hectares of economic land concessions in Cambodia.

CHRTF said it used a team of investigators across the country to monitor the activities of Pheap's companies, which it alleges number 15 and are registered under either his or his wife's name.

The NGO alleges it has seen company officials selling illegally felled timber, primarily rosewood, to dealers operating in Vietnam.

"The main business and politics of tycoon Try Pheap is to operate a timber business under the cloak of ELCs and … transport wood openly from Cambodia to Vietnam," Leng told the Post last week.

Rithy Veasna, the provincial court prosecutor, could not be reached for comment.

A 20-year-old woman was killed and her husband badly injured in a hit-and-run with the car of prominent ruling party lawmaker Cheam Yeap in Kandal province's Kien Svay district on Friday, police said yesterday.

According to Kien Svay district police chief Pa Sa Ith, victim Phin Sophea died after arriving at Phnom Penh's Calmette Hospital, while her husband, Pheoun Tha, 31, also known as Meoun Sokha, is still recovering there.

Yeap maintained yesterday that he was asleep at the time of the accident – as a passenger – and had only left the scene out of fear of mob reprisals. Sa Ith was unsure whether criminal charges would be filed against Yeap's driver.

"It is still quiet so far, because the victim has not yet come to file a complaint, but local police have filed a complaint to Kandal provincial police, therefore the complaint is out of my jurisdiction," he said.

Kandal provincial police chief Eav Chamroeun said his office was still investigating, but the motorbike carrying Sophea and Tha seemed to be at fault, and Sophea – who was in control at the time – was an inexperienced rider.

"I would like to confirm that the husband admitted that he allowed his wife to drive, and was overtaking a remorque [motorbike-pulled trailer] and a car from behind," he said.

The collision, he added, occurred while the motorbike was still in the oncoming lane of traffic.

Yeap yesterday objected to the characterisation of the accident as a hit-and-run, saying that his lawyer had gone there shortly after the accident to speak to police.

"My lawyer took responsibility immediately after the accident occurred," he said. "I was not hit-and-running, but I was running because of my personal safety. For example, in the past, my cousin was in a crash and he was beaten to death by a mob."

Yeap, who declined to give the name of his driver, said his lawyer, the victims and police would meet today to work out a final compromise.

"We were not in the wrong, as the police and the victim told us, and we subsequently supported the victim and the problem is to be resolved," Yeap said. "Moreover, the victim and their relative admitted that they were at fault, and they were grateful for my support."

Kar Savuth, a lawyer at the National Assembly who is representing Yeap, confirmed that he had already consulted with the family and given money for hospital bills.

Cambodian Defenders Project executive director Sok Sam Oeun, who is not involved in the case, said Yeap bore no legal responsibility for his driver's actions, and that the driver was not liable as long as he had been in compliance with traffic laws.

"Hit-and-run can be a crime, and [if] somebody [is] killed, it is a crime," he said. "But the one element is that the accused must abuse the traffic law. It means that they violate a traffic rule, and they cause, because of that, the accident."

Victim Pheoun Tha declined to comment yesterday, but his mother, Suong Kru, 54, said they would not be filing a complaint.

"I don't know who they are, but they supported me well for hospital fees, and they came and visited me at the hospital," she said. "We were wrong ourselves, and I am not going to complain against them."

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STUART WHITE

Shelving any thoughts that 14 months in prison had deterred her from protesting, Yorm Bopha rushed to the capital's Borei Keila community yesterday morning to try to stop authorities from forcing evictees from an abandoned building.

Bopha was one of about 10 Boeung Kak activists called on to help after military police and security guards tried to remove a number of families from a building they once lived in, resulting in a disabled man being dragged out, villagers said.

"When we had heard, we went straight there," said Bopha, who was released on bail from prison on Friday. "We told police to stop ejecting them from the building and offer them a solution first.

"There were many of us there, so police allowed them to stay inside temporarily."

Borei Keila evictee Tim Sakmony, 65, said a group of military police and security guards dragged her son, Uon Kang Pinith, a disabled 47-year-old recyclables collector, out of the empty building after he had joined a number of families seeking shelter inside.

"His recyclables were getting stolen downstairs, so he tried to take them up there. But they dragged and pushed him out of the building."

The officers then left Borei Keila, in the capital's Prampi Makara district, threatening to return later to remove the other evictees, Sakmony said. As of last night, the families were still staying on the first floor.

It's been almost two years since hundreds of residents were violently evicted from their homes at the site.

Developer Phan Imex had agreed to build 10 high-rise buildings to house more than 1,700 families in exchange for the land on which their houses lay. However, the company built only eight of the 10 high-rises and relocated those who missed out to the squalor of relocation sites far from the capital.

Those who refused relocation have lived in tents behind the eight buildings since.

After heavy rain on Friday and Saturday, the ground on which the evictees' tents are pitched was a mixture of mud and rubbish yesterday. The site, where everyone from small children to the elderly eat, sleep and wash in, stunk of human waste.

"Living here is getting worse because of the disgusting smell," Sakmony said. "We are busy protesting, so we don't have enough time to make money to buy food."

Following her release from PJ prison on Friday evening, Bopha pledged to "struggle until she died" to keep protesting for the rights of communities such as Boeung Kak and Borei Keila.

"Even though . . . I face being arrested again, I will keep joining peaceful demonstrations to defend our rights."

Bopha – who also joined a protest at a pagoda in Russey Keo district yesterday – said that before releasing her, authorities had warned her not to protest with fellow Boeung Kak activist Tep Vanny.

"I will not stop. I need to find justice for myself and other communities," she said.

On Friday, the Supreme Court sent her case back to the Appeal Court for a retrial.

"Even though the Supreme Court is releasing me, they still consider me guilty," she said after the hearing. "I'm scared they will arrest me again – just like they did with Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun," she added, referring to the two men wrongfully imprisoned for the murder of union leader Chea Vichea.

The activist was arrested in September last year, accused of ordering her brothers to beat two motodops with an axe and screwdriver at Boeung Kak.

She was sentenced to three years in prison, a term reduced to two years on appeal in June.

Bopha's husband, Lous Sakhorn, 57, was convicted on the same charge, but his sentence was suspended.

Rights groups have called allegations against both of them baseless and aimed at silencing their community.

Cambodian and Chinese police have rescued two of the seven women allegedly sold to men in China by accused human trafficker Bo Sina.

According to police, the two women, aged 24 and 17 from Kampong Cham province's Kang Meas district, were trafficked by Sina earlier this year to marry in China, but were then sold on to other men.

A senior police official from the Intelligence Department at the Ministry of Interior who asked not to be named told the Post the women had been repeatedly beaten and forced to have sex by their Chinese husbands "every day".

"Because they could not support their Chinese husband's desires, they were sold on to other Chinese men and again to a massage parlour," the police official said.

The joint Cambodian and Chinese police task force made the rescue after the women called their parents earlier this month from the massage parlour asking for police intervention.

Both women will be repatriated and returned to their families today, according to the police intelligence official. Meanwhile, police have identified the remaining five women believed to have been illegally trafficked to China for marriage by Sina.

"So far, we have identified their names. We are now working hard to rescue them and send them back to their families in their homeland."

As reported by the Post, Sina, also known as "Yann", and her husband were arrested last week over the alleged sale of more than 30 Cambodian women for marriage in China and South Korea.

According to police, the husband denied all knowledge of his wife's alleged trafficking.

Phnom Penh Municipal Court clerk Sok Vireak told the Post that Sina was charged with three separate human trafficking and sexual exploitation offences on Friday.

Sina has been remanded to custody at Prey Sar prison, while her husband was released "under the court's control".

Sina is expected to face court in the next six months and if found guilty, faces up to 15 years jail.

The accused and their defence lawyers could not be contacted for comment.

As the cost of imports rise, local producers could see an opportunity to increase their market share, but for most a lack of output and quality means potential is limited, industry observers said yesterday.

The Post reported last week that more stringent enforcement of import taxes at Cambodia's borders has led to a hike in the price of many basic products.

Customs officers who had often undercut the official rate are now enforcing the correct rates, leading to price increases in the marketplace.

Meng Saktheara, director-general of the Industry and Secretariat of the Small and Medium Enterprise subcommittee, said hikes on imports may benefit local producers, but the majority of SMEs were not ready to step in to replace more expensive imports from neighbouring countries.

"The variety of our products is limited and production is still not enough [to feed the demand]," Saktheara told the Post, adding that the higher prices of imported goods was negatively affecting the living conditions of Cambodian people.

Saktheara said Cambodia has about 30,000 local producers, while regional countries have "millions".

An importer told the Post last Thursday that basic goods like food and beverages have increased by up to 20 per cent since new customs reforms were introduced earlier this month.

Srey Chanthy, president of the Cambodian Economic Association, said local producers would see little benefit from the rise in import costs as their production was not on the same scale as their international competitors.

"In the short term, I don't think we have any local products that can substitute the imported products in the market," he said, adding that Cambodian producers needed "more time" to develop in order to compete.

Sok Chea, marketing manager of Nguon Heng Ly Foodstuff Enterprise, a local producer of sauces and condiments, said there had been some price-sensitive consumers turning to locally produced products but that limited quality and variety still made it difficult to compete with imports.

"The majority [of local enterprises] are not ready to benefit from the rising price of imported products," Chea said, adding that a lack of local capacity to produce at higher standards meant consumers still looked to foreign products.

Some pockets of production, however, have seen benefits.

Lin Thorn, general manager of the Men Sarun Flour Factory that produces both flour and noodles, said he had received more local orders for noodles recently, as Thai and Vietnamese imports had become more expensive.

Sarun said he was confident that his company had enough capacity to meet rising local demand.

"We need the support from our [local] consumers," he said.

Construction on a new multi-purpose terminal at Sihanoukville Autonomous Port is expected to begin in early 2014 to support Cambodia's rising exports, port officials said yesterday.

The new terminal, linking sea to shore, will occupy three hectares and is expected to be finished by late 2016. It will cost close to $80 million and will be funded with a loan from the Japanese government, according to port authorities.

Var Sonath, deputy director of Sihanoukville Autonomous Port, said that the port is needed to support Cambodia's growing agricultural and garment exports.

"As Cambodia's economy keeps growing, we see an increasing number of agricultural products being exported," Sonath said.

"The new terminal will be built to keep up with the growth."

The terminal was originally slated for completion in 2014, according to Sonath, but was delayed as designs were changed to include more space for warehousing.

With the government targeting the export of one million tonnes of rice in 2015, the president of the Federation of Cambodian Rice Exporters, Kim Savuth, said he welcomed the new construction.

He added, however, that improvements were still needed for the logistics of getting cargo to the terminal.

"What [also] matters is the fee I have to pay when the rice arrives at the port, like the fee for transporting the containers to the scanning machine after they are unloaded from the train," he said.

The opposition announced over the weekend that it will move its mass Human Rights Day demonstration on December 10 from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap to allow civil society groups easier access to City Hall permits for their own demonstrations in the capital.

The party has also announced plans to begin holding weekly demonstrations in Phnom Penh starting from mid-December.

Separately, a Cambodia National Rescue Party spokesman said yesterday that party leader Sam Rainsy has left for Europe to shore up support for a political resolution in Cambodia.

Speaking in Kampong Cham's Prey Chhor district on Saturday, CNRP deputy president Kem Sokha told a crowd of thousands about his party's change of plans.

"December 10 is International Human Rights Day, so in Phnom Penh's Freedom Park, civil society groups have asked for permission to demonstrate," he said.

The CNRP does not want to give ruling party authorities the ability to deny permission to civil society groups on the basis that two groups have requested permits, Sokha said.

"That's why, if civil society [groups] want to hold it, we let them do it. And … will do ours in Siem Reap town."

Opposition spokesman Yem Ponharith said yesterday that the CNRP's change would allow supporters in the northwest to easily join the protest. "We plan for at least 5,000 people … in Siem Reap town," he said.

Ponharith added that following the protest, the CNRP would hold mass demonstrations in Phnom Penh every Sunday from December 15.

Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan, said that although consistent weekly demonstrations were not illegal, the cost of managing such protests – including security and post-protest cleaning costs – would be a burden on authorities.

But Ponharith responded that while the CNRP could bear some minor costs, the maintenance of public order is a government obligation.

Monks will spend days marching hundreds of kilometres to Phnom Penh from five provinces in the lead-up to Human Rights Day on December 10, the head of a dissident monk group said yesterday.

Departing in groups of 20 from Kampong Speu, Kampong Thom, Kampot, Pursat and Svay Rieng provinces on December 1, the monks will walk approximately 20 kilometres a day, Venerable But Buntenh of the Independent Monk Network said.

"We will be meeting up in front of the National Assembly on the 10th in the morning.… At every stop we will hold a forum to interact with local people.… We are looking into the relationship between Buddhist principles and the respect of human rights," he said.

The monks will present a petition calling for better rights protections at the parliament, Buntenh continued, and will ask representatives from both political parties to accept it.

"We are sending this message to the government, because this government is new. We do not want to see the same practices as before. We want to see changes from the human rights perspective."

Earlier this month, members of Buntenh's group walked 30 kilometres through the jungles of Koh Kong province to reach a controversial proposed dam site in the Areng Valley.

Social researcher Kem Ley said despite the recent uptick in monks openly opposing the government, many more would join if they could. "Not all monks belong to the CPP but they just follow under the pressure [from superiors]," he said.

The Ministry of Labour has ordered management at a Kandal province garment factory to clean their workroom and limit employees' overtime hours, in response to over 100 workers fainting over two days.

During a visit to King First Industrial Co, Ltd's Kandal location yesterday, Seng Sakada, director-general of the Labour Ministry, cited excessive overtime, insufficient ventilation and poor sanitation as likely causes for Thursday and Friday's mass faintings.

"The employees work so much overtime, they are weak to the point of fainting," Sakada said, adding that some employees work two to four extra hours every day. "The factory [also] must rid the workplace of all pollution in the air."

Sakada said Labour Ministry inspectors will follow up with surprise inspections.

A King First official who spoke on condition of anonymity said factory management would follow the ministry's order.

Nearly 60 workers fainted at King First's Kandal location on Friday morning, Khouth Touch, president of the factory's Free Trade Union chapter, said.

A day before, about 50 workers at the same branch fainted. King First administrative officer Chea Houth said ventilation had not been a factor.

King First's location in the capital's Russey Keo district temporarily closed its doors last year after paint fumes caused about 60 workers to faint.