Debate on border dispute postponed

31/08/2009
The Nation

The parliament on Monday postponed discussion on three agreed minutes of Thai-Camobida joint boundary commission to Wednesday as many opposition MPs are queuing to grill the government over the issue.

The parliament opened the session as planned on Monday but the session could not continue in the afternoon as many MPs wanted to join the debate and the Senate is scheduled to use the floor.

Defense Minister General Pravit Wongsuwan could not provide sufficient and clear information when an opposition MP questioned about Cambodia's construction of roads in the Thai-Cambodia disputed area.

The parliament president Chai Chidchob decided to postpone the session to Wednesday to allow the minister to prepare more information and many members to have chances to debate in detail.

U.S. Pedophiles Nabbed in Cambodia Sex-Tourist Sting

Monday, August 31, 2009
By William Lajeunesse
Fox News

EXCLUSIVE: LOS ANGELES — Three Americans "tourists" are on their way home from Cambodia Monday after being arrested in an ongoing federal sex tourism investigation.

The arrests are part of “Operation Twisted Traveler,” an effort by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to identify and prosecute American sex tourists in Cambodia.

The suspects — Jack Sporich, 74, Erik Peeters, 41, and Ronald "John" Boyajian, 59 — are all convicted child sex offenders who have served time in U.S. prisons.

After their release, investigators say, the three headed to the most destitute neighborhoods in Cambodia, itself one of the poorest nations in Southeast Asia, where it is believed they once again sexually assaulted young boys and girls.

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U.S. charges three men with molesting children in Cambodia

They are the first to be charged under an international law-enforcement operation that targets U.S. citizens who travel to Cambodia for illicit sex. They could face 30 years in jail for each victim.

September 1, 2009
By Raja Abdulrahim
Los Angeles Times

Three American men who are suspected of traveling to Cambodia to molest children have been charged in federal court as part of a new initiative aimed at cracking down on the child sex tourism business there, authorities said Monday.

Ronald Gerard Boyajian, 49, of Menlo Park, Calif.; Erik Leonardus Peeters, 41, of Norwalk; and Jack Louis Sporich, 75, formerly of Santa Monica and currently living in Sedona, Ariz., were arrested by Cambodian police in February, authorities said. They were recently expelled from the country and arrived Monday at LAX in the custody of U.S. immigration officials.

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Khmer Rouge victims boycott tribunal in Cambodia

Lawyers representing victims of Cambodia's murderous Khmer Rouge regime boycotted a tribunal trying its leaders after being barred Monday from questioning a defendant about his personality and state of mind.

Monday, August 31, 2009
By SOPHENG CHEANG
Associated Press Writer

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Lawyers representing victims of Cambodia's murderous Khmer Rouge regime boycotted a tribunal trying its leaders after being barred Monday from questioning a defendant about his personality and state of mind.

The move by the victims' attorneys - who were granted courtroom rights similar to those held by the defense and prosecution - came after judges overseeing the U.N.-assisted tribunal said they could not question former Khmer Rouge prison chief Kaing Guek Eav about his character.

Kaing Guek Eav - better known as Duch - headed the Khmer Rouge's notorious S-21 prison, where up to 16,000 people were tortured and later taken away to be killed. Duch is charged with crimes against humanity and other offenses.

The tribunal is seeking justice for the estimated 1.7 million people who died in Cambodia from execution, overwork, disease and malnutrition as a result of the communist regime's radical policies while in power from 1975-79.

In court Monday, French psychologist Francoise Sironi-Guilbaud testified that Duch was not suffering any mental problems.

Victims' lawyers were later barred from questioning Duch about his mental health. It was unclear why the judges made the decision.

Chhum Mey, one of a handful of survivors of S-21 prison, said he was disappointed with the ban. "As long as the tribunal is not allowing me or my lawyer to have the right to ask Duch about his personality and character, I will not attend the court," the 79-year-old told reporters, crying as he spoke. "Can we get full justice from this court?"

The tribunal is the first of its kind to integrate victims into legal proceedings. While introducing a human element, the inclusion of the "civil parties" has also complicated and slowed the trial.

Duch (pronounced DOIK), 66, is the first of five senior Khmer Rouge figures to face trial, and the only one to acknowledge responsibility for his actions. Duch faces a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. Cambodia has no death penalty.

Also Monday, Australian William Smith was appointed acting international co-prosecutor of the tribunal. His appointment was an interim measure pending a decision on a permanent replacement for international prosecutor Robert Petit, whose resignation takes effect Tuesday. Smith had been a deputy co-prosecutor.

Petit announced his resignation in June, citing family reasons.

KRouge prison head has no mental problems: experts

31/08/09
AFP

PHNOM PENH — Mental health experts told Cambodia's UN-backed war crimes court Monday that the Khmer Rouge's main prison chief has no mental disorders despite having overseen the killing of thousands of people.

French psychologist Francoise Sironi-Guilbaud and Cambodian psychiatrist Kar Sunbaunat were testifying at the trial of Duch, who is accused of overseeing the torture and execution of some 15,000 people at Tuol Sleng prison.

"Is Duch suffering from a mental disorder? No, we have detected no mental disorder in the accused," Sironi-Guilbaud told the tribunal.

The expert went on to say that Duch, who worked as a maths teacher before the late 1970s Khmer Rouge regime, lived with disappointment but lacked sympathy for others.

"Duch (was) a man with one single idea, with one single thought at that time," she said.

Kar Sunbaunat added that the assessment, which stretched back to Duch's childhood and family life, revealed no signs that Duch had suffered from psychological problems.

Monday's hearing was boycotted by 28 of the 93 civil parties in the case, who are angry with judges after a ruling last week banning them from questioning Duch about his personality.

Chum Mey, 79, a survivor of Tuol Sleng prison, said the group would no longer attend the trial unless they were granted the right to ask the defendant questions.

Duch, whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav, has repeatedly accepted responsibility for his role governing the jail under the regime and begged for forgiveness from the families of the victims.

Led by Pol Pot, who died in 1998, the Khmer Rouge emptied Cambodia's cities in a bid to forge a communist utopia, resulting in the deaths of up to two million people from starvation, overwork and torture.

Cambodia reduces troops, citing improved security

2009-08-31
By SOPHENG CHEANG
Associated Press

Cambodia has reduced by half the number of troops patrolling a disputed 11th century temple along the Thai border, citing improved security and the need for soldiers to help farmers plant rice, a defense ministry spokesman said Monday.

Long-standing tensions over temple ownership reached a fever pitch in July 2008 when UNESCO, the U.N. cultural agency, approved Cambodia's bid to have Preah Vihear named a World Heritage Site. Thailand protested the move, claiming that it undermined its claim to a small amount of adjacent land.

Since then, there have been several gunbattles between Thai and Cambodian troops in the area and a number of soldiers from both sides have been killed or wounded. Both sides have refused to back away from their positions until now, with each saying it has the rightful claim to the land.
Lt. Gen. Chhum Socheat said the troop pullout began Wednesday and was completed Sunday. Along with soldiers, the army has withdrawn tanks and other heavy equipment from the site around the temple.

"We have pulled out 50 percent of our forces from the disputed border near Thailand because we thought that the situation there was getting better from day to day," Chhum Socheat said, refusing to provide specific troop numbers because of security concerns.

"We also want to tell the Thai side that Cambodia wants to solve the border problem by peaceful means and wants the border be a peaceful place," he added.

There was no immediate comment from the Thai Foreign Ministry.

The World Court awarded the temple to Cambodia in 1962, but sovereignty over the surrounding land has never been clearly resolved.

Cambodia and Thailand share a 500-mile (800-kilometer) land border, part of which has never been clearly demarcated because each country relies on different maps.

Vietnam to release thousands of prisoners for independence day

Aug 31, 2009
DPA

Hanoi - Vietnam announced Monday it would release 5,459 prisoners, including 13 jailed under national security laws, as part of an amnesty commemorating its national independence day on Wednesday.

Eleven of those amnestied for national security violations are ethnic minority residents of Vietnam's Central Highlands sentenced in 2003-04. Over the past eight years, hundreds of members of the highland ethnic minorities, known as montagnards, have been arrested following periodic protests over land and human rights issues.

None of the major political dissidents imprisoned in Vietnam over the past three years, such as Catholic priest Nguyen Van Ly and human rights lawyers Nguyen Van Dai and Le Thi Cong Nhan, were among those given amnesty.

Vice Minister of Public Security Le The Tiem told a press conference that Nhan had not yet served enough of her sentence to qualify, while he said Ly had not shown contrition.

'Vietnam has a policy of amnesty and tolerance for people who show progress during their detainment, and show remorse and repentance,' Tiem said. 'But Mr Ly has not yet satisfied this demand.'

Ly was a member of a short-lived dissident movement called Bloc 8406 launched in April 2006. He gained international notice during his 2007 trial with the publication of a photo showing a policeman clapping his hand over the priest's mouth to cut short a political tirade.

The names of the montagnards released did not appear on the lists of detainees compiled by international human rights organizations. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International say the highland minorities continue to face reprisals for attempting to emigrate to Cambodia to seek political asylum.

World Bank in talks with Cambodia over evictions

Monday, August 31, 2009
Reporting by Ek Madra;
Editing by Alan Raybould

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - A senior World Bank official held talks with the Cambodian government over the forced eviction of people from their homes and said the development bank would continue to work with it on land reform to tackle the problem.

Land ownership is a controversial issue in Cambodia, where legal documents were destroyed and state institutions collapsed under the Khmer Rouge regime of the 1970s and the civil war that followed.

The World Bank joined with other aid donors in July to ask the government to halt forced evictions and the problem was raised again by its vice-president for East Asia and the Pacific Region, James Adams, during a visit last week.

"A major focus of the visit was Cambodia's urban land sector and the increasing numbers of disputes and evictions of poor people in urban settlements," the bank said in a statement.

"The discussions on land reform were constructive and it was agreed to continue these discussions over the coming week to agree next steps," it said.

The bank has provided funding of $24.3 million for a land management and administration project from 2002 to 2009, and an estimated 1.1 million land titles were issued, said Bou Saroeun, a spokesman for the World Bank in Phnom Penh.

Other donors such as Germany, Finland and Canada have together provided more than $14 million to support the land title project, Saroeun added.

New school for Vietnamese pupils in Cambodia opened

08/31/2009
VOVNews/VNA

A new primary school for overseas Vietnamese children officially opened in Cambodia’s capital city of Phnom Penh on August 30 to mark the 64th anniversary of Vietnam’s National Day (September 2) and the August Revolution.

The Khmer-Vietnam Tan Tien school, a three-storey building with more than 10 classrooms, is located on an area of 1,200 sq. m in Mienchay district, Phnom Penh. The State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese, the Ho Chi Minh City Fatherland Front Committee and several overseas Vietnamese benefactors will financed the school construction.

Addressing the ceremony, Vietnamese Ambassador to Cambodia Ngo Anh Dung praised the efforts that the Vietnamese community in the country has made in the recent past.

The school will provide training to over 400 pupils in the capital city of Phnom Penh.

On the occasion, the Vietnamese Embassy in Cambodia, the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese, the Fatherland Front Committees of Ho Chi Minh city and neighbouring provinces of Long An, Dong Nai and An Giang together with many sponsors, Vietnamese and foreign alike, donated millions of VND and presented 1,000 sets of textbooks, 4,000 notebooks, computers and music teaching instrument to the new school.

* Chivit Satt Dongkov Ach--"The life of maggot living in a stinking open toilet hole"

Please click on Khmer poem to zoom in. Khmer poem by Vichea Sam (On the web at http://kamnapkumnou.blogspot.com/)

Typhoon brings heavy wind, rain to eastern Japan

File photo shows a Japanese man battling against strong winds with his umbrella in Tokyo

Mon, Aug 31, 2009
AFP

TOKYO — Japan's weather agency issued storm and flood warnings Monday as a typhoon approached the east of the country bringing heavy rain and strong winds to Tokyo and the Pacific coast.

Typhoon Krovanh was expected to move closer to the mainland during the day before tracking north along the east coast through Tuesday, packing gusts of up to 144 kilometers (90 miles) per hour, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

As of 9:00 am (0000 GMT), the storm was 110 kilometers (70 miles) east southeast of the island of Miyakojima, south of Tokyo.

It was moving north northeast at a speed of 35 kilometers (22 miles) per hour, the agency said.

The weather agency issued warnings and advisories for floods, heavy rain, gales and high waves, for Tokyo and nearby areas.

Cambodia cuts troops at temple

Mon, Aug 31, 2009
The Nation/Asia News Network

Cambodia has cut back its military presence at Preah Vihear Temple - a trigger point in the past year - while Thailand's Parliament is expected to allow the two countries to move ahead with boundary demarcation in the overlapping area.

"We have pulled out 50 per cent of the troops from Preah Vihear Temple," Chhum Socheat, spokesman for Cambodia's National Defence Ministry, said yesterday.

"This shows that the situation at the border is really getting better, and that both countries have a mutual understanding of peace," he said.

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Kien Giang boosts friendship with Cambodia’s Kep province

08/30/2009
VOV News

The southern province of Kien Giang on August 29 presented 50 wheelchairs to the disabled in Cambodia’s Kep province and granted scholarships worth US$2,000 to the Cambodian students there.

The gifts were handed over by the Vietnam-Cambodia Friendship Association’s Chapter in Kien Giang and Kien Giang’s Union of Friendship Organizations at a debut ceremony for the executive board of the Cambodia-Vietnam Friendship Association in Kep province.

Private computers and US$500 in initial financial aid were also given to the province on this occasion.

The event was attended by the Cambodian Standing Deputy Prime Minister, Men Sam An, and the Chairman of Kien Giang’s Union of Friendship Organizations, Le Van Hong, who is on a working visit to Kep province.

Mr Hong and his entourage toured the local scenery as well as cultural and historical relic sites in Phnom Penh during their stay in Cambodia.

"All PHOTOS FROM BETSY BAEHR / SPECIAL TO THE REGISTER". A typical slum village in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

A little boy I met at a river slum village in Phnom Penh.

This beautiful little girl lives in a slum village built on stilts over two feet of floating garbage.

August 30, 2009
By BETSY BAEHR
Special to the DesMoinesRegister.com

"The other side of the world" is an impossible phrase to comprehend until you're actually on the other side of the world. Within 15 minutes of my arrival in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, the culture shock hit hard. Within a few short minutes, that simple phrase had a whole new meaning.

Eighteen months ago, as a student at Oral Roberts University, I attended a seminar on the growing problem of child trafficking and prostitution in southeast Asia. I realized that I was rather naive to the topic. I couldn't seem to wrap my mind around this worlds-away issue, and I was immediately intrigued and interested to learn more.

AdvertisementIn 2004, Citipointe Church in Brisbane, Australia, started a child rescue home in Phnom Penh, the capital city of Cambodia. They house 15 girls, ages 3-16. Once I learned of the shocking statistics of child prostitution in Cambodia, and the hope and life Citipointe was bringing, I was both heartbroken and captivated to learn more and to see this country for myself.

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Aug. 30: Yukio Hatoyama, who leads Japan's main opposition party, the Democratic Party of Japan, smiles inside the party's election center in Tokyo. Photo: AP

Sunday, August 30, 2009
AP

TOKYO — Japan's ruling party conceded a crushing defeat Sunday after 54 years of nearly unbroken rule as voters were poised to hand the opposition a landslide victory in nationwide elections, driven by economic anxiety and a powerful desire for change.

The left-of-center Democratic Party of Japan was set to win 300 or more of the 480 seats in the lower house of parliament, ousting the Liberal Democrats, who have governed Japan for all but 11 months since 1955, according to exit polls by all major Japanese TV networks.

"These results are very severe," Prime Minister Taro Aso said in a news conference at party headquarters, conceding his party was headed for a big loss. "There has been a deep dissatisfaction with our party."

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Cambodia reduces troops levels on Thai border

Sun, 30 Aug 2009
Radio Australia News

Cambodia's Defence Ministry says it has reduced the number of troops deployed around an ancient border temple that has been the scene of several clashes with Thai troops.

The two countries dispute the frontier around the 11th century Preah Vihear temple in Cambodia since the ruins were granted UN World Heritage status in July 2008.

The Cambodian statement says it's reduced troops numbers in the region by 50 percent showing that the situation at the border is improving.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said last week that Thailand had just 30 soldiers on the border, meaning that Cambodia could send some of its troops back to their provincial bases.

Cambodia halves border troops

Aug 30, 2009
AFP

PHNOM PENH - CAMBODIA has halved the number of troops around an ancient border temple that has been the scene of bloody clashes with Thailand, the defence ministry said on Sunday.

There have been several skirmishes between the two countries on the disputed frontier around the 11th century Preah Vihear temple in Cambodia since the ruins were granted UN World Heritage status in July 2008.

'We have pulled out 50 per cent of the troops from Preah Vihear temple,' said Chhum Socheat, spokesman for the Ministry of National Defence.

'This shows that the situation at the border is really getting better, and that both countries have a mutual understanding of peace,' he added.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen last week said Thailand had just 30 soldiers on the border, meaning that Cambodia could stand some troops down and send them back to their provincial bases.

'We still have enough troops remaining to protect our territory,' said General Chea Dara, deputy commander of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces.

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Swiss man charged with abuse

Aug 30, 2009
AFP

PHNOM PENH - A CAMBODIAN court has charged a Swiss man with sexually abusing two minors, a government official said on Sunday.

Police said Rudolph Knuchel, 62, was arrested on Friday on suspicion of the sexual abuse of two boys, aged 14 and 16, after bringing them to his home in Siem Reap province.

'The judge has charged him for child sex abuse,' said Sun Bunthorng, the director of the government department that deals with human trafficking and protecting minors.

He said police also found evidence of child porn videos on Knuchel's computer.

The judge could not be contacted for comment Sunday.

Samleang Seila, director of the anti-paedophile group Action Pour Les Enfants, which helped in the arrest, told AFP that his team and police had been tracking the man's action for nearly a year.

Cambodia has struggled to shed its reputation as a haven for paedophiles, putting dozens of foreigners in jail for child sex crimes or deporting them to face trial in their home countries since 2003.

Political Sacravatoons: " The Anti-Ganster's War "

Cartoon by Sacrava (On the web at http://www.sacrava.blogspot.com/)

Cambodia Wants Closer Relationship With Next Japanese PM

Saturday, 29 August 2009
Written by DAP NEWS

Cambodian-japanese cooperation will increase in all fields and a closer relationship with newly the elected Japanese Prime Minister will help ties “become more developed and better than before,” a Foreign Affair and International Cooperation spokesman told DAP News Cambodia on Friday.

A general election will be held in Japan on August 30 as the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leader, Taro Aso, is unpopular among voters having led Japanese into one of the worst economic crises in living memory. According to a survey in Japan, opposition party leader, Yukio Hatoyama (picture), of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) is expected to be voted in as the next PM.

“Cambodia’s relationship with Japan will not be changed whoever will be the next Prime Minister,” said Kuy Koung.

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Electric Crematorium Online

Saturday, 29 August 2009
Written by DAP NEWS

Cambodia’s newly-constructed electric crematorium will soon open to replace the wood burning crematorium located in Resey Sanh pagoda, Preysor commune, Dongkor district, Phnom Penh, according to the Phnom Penh Governor on Thursday.

“This news electronic crematorium cost US$500,000 and will much reduce environmental affects by replacing burning by wood,” Kep Chuktema (First smiling man in picture) told reporters on Thursday.

“This cremation will serve all class of citizens and we do not charge poor people. We don’t force to those who do not want to use this crematorium, but it shows the attention of the Phnom Penh authorities.”

The governor dismissed criticisms that the site is too far from the city centre.

High ranking officials and the rich who wish to be buried at Wat Unaloum and Wat Langka could continue to use these city-center sites, he said. “They have a full right to choose; it is their decision,” he confirmed.

Both the crematoriums at Wat Unaloum and Wat Langka have been demolished, as will other crematoria around the capital.

Khmer Rouge trial enthrals Cambodian public

29 August 09
IPS

The ongoing Khmer Rouge tribunal here of Kaing Guek Eav, known as Comrade Duch, has heard some highly charged testimony in recent weeks, as civil parties have told the court of how the murders of their loved ones ruined their lives.

Robert Carmichael/IPS - On Aug. 17 it was the turn of French national Martine Lefeuvre, who was married to Cambodian diplomat Ouk Keth, to testify.

At the invitation of the Khmer Rouge government, Ouk Keth returned to Phnom Penh in 1977 to help rebuild the nation, but was immediately arrested, tortured for six months and then killed at the infamous Tuol Sleng, otherwise known as S-21, prison that Duch (pronounced Doik) ran.

Duch is the first senior Khmer Rouge cadre to be tried in the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, or the Khmer Rouge tribunal, which is backed by the United Nations (UN). He faces a life sentence on charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes, as well as homicide and torture.

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Thai woman jailed for 18 years over royal slur

Saturday, August 29, 2009
AFP

BANGKOK — A Thai court Friday convicted and sentenced a female "Red Shirt" protester to 18 years in prison for insulting the country's revered monarchy during anti-government rallies, an official said.

Daranee Charncherngsilapakul, 46, a hardcore supporter of Thailand's ousted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, was found guilty of making speeches that were insulting to the Thai royal family.

The judge at Bangkok's main criminal court said her speeches at Sanam Luang park in the capital during three pro-Thaksin rallies in June and July last year were against the law of lese majeste, the court official told AFP.

"The court convicted the defendant on three counts and sentenced her for six years on each count," she said.

"Although the defendant testified that she did not intend to insult the monarchy or make the public believe her, she could not escape her wrongdoing," the verdict said.

Lese majeste -- insulting the monarchy -- is a serious charge in Thailand. Anyone can file a complaint, and police are duty-bound to investigate it in a country where the king is treated with almost religious adulation.

Media watchdogs have criticised increased use of the law in recent months, with crackdowns on Internet freedoms leading to more than 4,800 web pages being blocked under the law since March last year, according to officials.In April a 34-year-old Thai engineer was jailed for ten years for posting a doctored clip on the Internet.

Daranee is better known as Da Torpedo because of her hard-hitting speeches at political protests.

Her fellow "Red Shirt" demonstrators are planning a mass rally on Sunday but the government has said it will use a harsh internal security law to prevent the gathering.

Thai air conditioner makers worry about Chinese imports

Aug 29, 2009
DPA

Bangkok - Thailand's manufacturers of air conditioner units have expressed concerns about tough competition from Chinese imports when the China-ASEAN free trade agreement (FTA) cuts tariffs on the item in January, media reports said Saturday.

'This FTA will cause difficulties for domestic sales and exports to neighbouring countries,' Phairat Uechooyos, chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries' Air-Conditioning Club told The Nation newspaper.

Phairat said that Chinese-made air conditioners in some categories sell for about one-third the price of Thai-made units. China produced about 34 million air conditioners last year compared to 17 million units manufactured in Thailand. Thai A/C exports earned the country 300 billion baht (8.8 billion dollars) in 2008.

The Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) signed a FTA with China in 2006, immediately removing tariffs on 3,906 items. Another 2,660 items, including air conditioners, will become tariff free in January 2009.

ASEAN includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, a combined market of about 600 million people.

For love of tomatoes: Couple has cultivated a bountiful life

Saran Gnoato, originally from Cambodia, grows tomatoes in her garden at home on Netop Drive in South Providence. The Providence Journal / Sandor Bodo

Saturday, August 29, 2009
By Mark Reynolds, Journal Staff Writer
The Providence Journal

PROVIDENCE — Saran Gnoato and her husband are an unlikely couple who came to Rhode Island from opposite sides of the world, overcoming war and cultural barriers to discover a mutual affection for a ripe, juicy, homegrown tomato.

The tomatoes they grow in the backyard of their Elmwood home from imported seeds have resisted the blight that has affected many tomato crops this summer. And they are big. Some weigh in at 2½ pounds.

The success the couple have had growing the fruit may have something to do with the place tomatoes have had in their lives.

Gnoato says that tomatoes make her happy, and she realizes now that what her mother and her grandmother told her when she was a little girl was quite true. They told her that a homegrown garden would help her “eat good and look good and see the flowers,” she says. She could do it herself and never need to worry about anything, they told her.

“It’s true,” she says. “I have a happy life. You can see. My husband comes home from work. We have a beautiful house and a great yard where everyone wants to be. You can see.”

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US Congress to review the violations of human rights and abuses of the judicial system in Cambodia

SRP MP Mu Sochua and Ho Vann

27 August 2009
By Moeung Tum
Source: Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy for KI-Media

The Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission (TLHRC) of the US Congress plans to hold a public hearing to discuss the current violations of human rights and abuses of the judicial system in Cambodia.

The public hearing is scheduled for 10 September 2009, between 1 and 3 PM at the US Congress in Washington DC.

According to the announcement issued by office of the co-chairs of the US Congresss human rights committee, dated 26 August 2009, the committee plans to invite SRP MP Mu Sochua, Dr. Pung Chiv Kek, President of the Licadho human rights group, Moeun Tola, President of the Cambodia Labor Organization, to participate in the hearing, as well as representatives of the US State Department.

The public hearing plans to focus on social problems in Cambodia. The TLHRC organized this public hearing after it received numerous information from trusted sources showing that the Phnom Penh regime is using the legal system to discriminate against the opposition and opposition activists, against journalists who criticize the government and against victims of land dispute cases. The government does not provide justice to people in the resolution of land disputes, but instead, it is supporting the companies [accused of land-grabbing] in full violation of human rights. These issues are major concerns for the US.

More Tribunal Complaints Sought in US

By Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
28 August 2009

Efforts to bring Khmer Rouge survivors in the US to file with the UN-backed tribunal in Cambodia are continuing, as the deadline for filing approaches.

“The trials that are going on in Cambodia right now are very unique that they allow victims to participate,” Audrey Redmond, a legal advisor for the Applied Social Research Institute of Cambodia told VOA Khmer, as she distributed flyers encouraging people to participate in a session organized for Sunday. “So in addition to helping Cambodians heal by telling their stories, we hope to use this for educational purposes and hope to use it for the court.”

Civil parties and witness statements are an integral part of the UN-backed court, with lawyers sitting in on hearings and testimony used in the trials, in the hopes of providing some national reconciliation to the process.

Through its Cambodia Diaspora Victims’ Participation project, Applied Social Research and the Asia/Pacific/American Institute at New York University have organized several meetings for Khmer Rouge survivors, to help them share their experiences, as well as properly file for the tribunal.

The next one, on Sunday, will be held at Puthikaram pagoda in Maryland.

“Getting together to talk about Pol Pot’s regime is very important to have mental healing, because the experiences from going through that time will traumatize us for life,” said Him Chanrithy, author of “When Broken Glass Floats.” “This is the first step for Khmers who never talk about the regime to get healing.”

The Khmer Rouge tribunal is currently undertaking its first trial, for former prison chief Duch, but it is still receiving complaints from witnesses in its next case, against four senior-most leaders of the regime: Noun Chea, Khieu Samphan, Ieng Sary and Ieng Thirith. The deadline for filing complaints in that case is the end of 2009.

The tribunal has received 4,000 complaints, 67 of which have come from overseas. Applied Social Research has collected nearly 50 complaints, but has not submitted them yet.

“If there are people who wish to participate in the tribunal process, our unit here will always welcome them,” said Kassie Neou, coordinator for the tribunal’s outreach team in Phnom Penh.

Cambodians ‘Regret’ Loss of Ted Kennedy

By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
28 August 2009

Sen. Edward Kennedy, who died Tuesday at the age of 77, is being remembered around the world for his accomplishments.

In Cambodia, officials said they regretted the loss of a man with so many achievements, but whose deeds would not be forgotten.

Cambodians have an expression, “that the physical is lost in deed, but the reputation remains as a widespread fragrance inside and outside the country,” said Cheam Yeap, a Cambodian People’s Party lawmaker.

The youngest brother of John F. Kennedy, the US president assassinated in 1963, Edward Kennedy promoted better living for the American poor, opposed the US war in Iraq and fought to put an end to the US war in Vietnam and war in Cambodia. He helped improve rights for immigrants and endorsed the presidential candidacy of Barack Obama.

Son Chhay, a parliamentarian for the opposition Sam Rainsy Party, said Cambodia needed examples like Edward “Ted” Kennedy.

“As we’ve seen, in the US there have been memorials to the work of Edward Kennedy, over his achievements,” Son Chhay said. “He was a senator who helped contribute to the government of the US, paid attention to assisting people to live with dignity and advocated without thinking of himself personally.”

Politically, Kennedy was a Democrat and a strong ally of Obama, and his presence would be missed, said Koul Panha, executive director of the Committee for Free and Fair Elections.

“It has an effect, because the senator was an important person,” he said. “He had influence and he had a lot of support from people, because he’s in the Kennedy family.”

He was also able to work with Republicans in the Senate, Koul Panha said.

Prak Sereyvuth, vice chairman of the Federal Khmer Krom Association, based in the US, said Kennedy had understood the plight of Cambodians and the US role in it, with the backing of Lon Nol and the wars and consequences that followed.

“He had sympathy for Cambodians…and any refugee who wrote letters to him or their families to intervene,” he said. “His office paid attention and responded quickly, asking the State Department and immigration to take refugees in to the US.”

Thai Trial for 16 Cambodians Delayed

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
28 August 2009

A Thai provincial court on Friday postponed a hearing for 16 Cambodians who have been charged with illegal entry and illegal logging on Thai soil.

The group was arrested late last month, but Cambodian officials say they had not crossed into Thailand when they were arrested. The Ubon provincial court will hear the case Sept. 23.

The Cambodians live near the disputed border at Preah Vihear temple, and officials say they were looking for wild honey and wood in the forest.

“The Thai court ordered a reinvestigation of the cases…because there was not enough evidence to try them,” said Koy Kong, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The 16 had “absolutely denied” the charges against them, leading to the decision, he said.

Cambodia is providing an independent lawyer to defend them, and the consulate in Sras Keo province was working hard on the case as well, he said.

Sar Thavy, Preah Vihear deputy governor, said he had requested the 16 be returned.

“I believe the Cambodians could not go to cut trees inside Thailand, because the mountain is high and the walk is difficult to the top of the mountain,” he said.

The case comes at a time of easing tensions over a longstanding border dispute, with Cambodians withdrawing some of its troops from positions near Preah Vihear temple earlier this week.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, the Banteay Meanchey provincial court sentenced a Thai man to three months in jail for illegal entry into Cambodia.

Authorities had originally sought to charge him for insulting the national symbol of Angkor Wat, by carving its image into cement near a public toilet in Poipet.

Japan Poised for Historic Political Shift in Predicted Election Landslide

Yukio Hatoyama, left, greets supporters during a Parliament's lower house election campaign in Tokyo, 23 Aug 2009
28 August 2009
By Kurt Achin, VOA
Tokyo

More than half a century of all but uncontested political leadership in Japan appears set to end this weekend, as voters elect new parliamentary representatives. Polls indicate a center-left party is set to topple conservatives who are viewed by many as out of touch with the average Japanese family. The election may recast how Japan views itself and its relations with the international community.

Just days before the election, polls continue to support the widely held belief that the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) of Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso will experience a crushing defeat in Sunday's vote for the lower house of the country's parliament.

One major late-week poll indicated at least twice as many voters would cast ballots for the Democratic Party of Japan, led by the country's likely next Prime Minister, Yukio Hatoyama.

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2009 Drought in Cambodia

PREY KLA, CAMBODIA - A Cambodian farmer, Chhun Samnang, 49, plants rice on the dry earth in the rice paddy at Prey Kla village, Kampong Speu province some 35 kilometers (22 miles) south of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, Aug. 28, 2009. According to the government's rice agency, the Cambodian Center for Study and Development in Agriculture (CEDAC), said this year drought has affected thousands of hectares of rice paddy through out the country, and eight provinces are hit by drought. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

PREY KLA, CAMBODIA - A Cambodian farmer plants rice on the dry earth in the rice paddy in Kampong Speu province, some 22 miles south of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. According to the government's rice agency, the Cambodian Center for Study and Development in Agriculture (CEDAC), said this year drought has affected thousands of hectares of rice paddy through out the country, and eight provinces are hit by drought. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

A Cambodian farmer, plows in the rice paddy at Prey Kla village, Kampong Speu province, some 35 kilometers (22 miles) south of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, Aug. 28, 2009. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Friday, 28 August 2009
Written by Michele Cempaka
Asia Sentinel

A Jesuit priest transforms centuries-old growing practices

The traditional methods that Asian farmers have used for hundreds of years to grow rice are beginning to give way to what its supporters say are new, environmentally healthier and more productive practices developed in Madagascar by Henri de Laulanie, a Jesuit priest, in the 1980s.

SRI – the universal acronym for what de Laulanie called System of Rice Intensification – didn't begin to spread out of Madagascar until about 1999. But in the past 10 years, farmers from China to India to Indonesia and the Philippines have begun to shift to the new method, which paradoxically involves planting fewer and younger seedlings, spaced wider apart, and using less water than Asian farmers have used for centuries.

The new method is not without its critics, who say it is difficult to replicate dramatically higher yields outside the original plantings in Madagascar. Nonetheless, SRI is estimated to have spread across 400,000 hectares of Tamil Nadu in India. Some 30,000 farmers in Indonesia now practice SRI, more than 100,000 in Cambodia; over 50,000 in Myanmar; 223,000 last year in Vietnam and around 5,000 in Laos. Some 20,000 farmers in the Philippines are estimated to be using SRI.

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WB eyes on agriculture sector in Cambodia

August 28, 2009
Source: Xinhua

A senior World Bank official who had paid a visit to Cambodia early this week said that the world is now looking into agriculture which is one of the important sectors in the country, officials at Ministry of Economy and Finance said Friday.

During a meeting early this week, Jim Hagan, executive director at the World Bank, representing a constituency of 13 countries told Keat Chhon, minister of economy and finance that World Bank's new policy is to focus on agriculture, citing it as a priority demand by the Royal Government of Cambodia, according to the officials.

The officials said, in response, Keat Chhon welcomed World Bank's interest in agriculture by saying that development in agriculture will help reduce the heavy reliance on external factors such as the reliance on investors for garment sectors or foreign tourists.

Garment and tourism have been, for many years, the main earning revenues for Cambodia.

After forming a new government following the 2003 general election, Prime Minister Hun Sen set in his rectangular policy that agriculture is one of the priorities that his government is committed to achieve it.

Some 80 percent of Cambodia's nearly 14 million populations are farmers.

Last year, Cambodia produced 7.15 million tons of rice from a total farming land of 2.25 million hectares.

World Vision to Hold Culture Ceremony to Taise Children Sex Tourism Awareness

Friday, 28 August 2009
Written by DAP NEWS

World Vision in Cambodia, an aid organization with Christian affiliations, on Saturday this week is to hold a culture ceremony to help rpomote the protection of children from sex tourism, according to a World Vision press release on Thursday.

A series of Cambodian cultural performances, including dances and shadow puppet shows, will showcase Cambodia’s cultural pride and simultaneously send the message that everyone should help prevent child sex tourism.

The Cultural Night—Protect Children from Sex Tourism—will take place on Saturday 29 August from 5pm at the well-known cosmopolitan bloc Pub Street near Phsar Chas, Siem Reap, the statement added.

Organized by World Vision Cambodia’s Child Sex Tourism Prevention (CSTP) project, the Cultural Night aims to encourage local and international tourists to build safe living environment for children— with no child sex abuse and exploitation.

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Thailand Provides US$40 Million for Cambodian Road Repairs

Friday, 28 August 2009
Written by DAP NEWS

Thailand has provided US$40 million to Cambodia to repair National Road 68 in Oddar Meanchey Province, a finance officer said on Thursday.

The project was cosigned between Cambodian for the Ministry of Finance and Economy (MEF) with Thai Vice MEF Secretary General Director. The signing ceremony was presided over by Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and MEF Minister Keat Chhon, and Vong Sy Visoth, acting president of the Thai development cooperation agency Achkiri Buranasiri on August 27, an MEF official said.

At the ceremony Vong Sy Visoth stated that “Cambodia and Thailand are working together step by step to cooperate and develop bringing both countries closer, especially through the providing of credit to Cambodia.” The credit provided to Cambodia allowed Cambodia to implement the Government’s strategies and reduce poverty, he added.

The project will benefit both countries despite the ongoing global recession, he stressed. Northern Cambodia is to be developed to boost the economy, an effort the National road Road 68 would play a part in as a major artery for trade, Vong Sy Visoth said.

This is the third time the Thai Government has provided funds to Cambodia for similar projects, with the amount now standing at US$99 million, included the development of National Road 48 from Koh Kong to Sre Ambel and US$ 37 million for National Road. 67 from Anlong Veng to Siem Reap. The road from Cheam Srangam to Anlong Veng also received US$ 10 million. The current project will repair on the road beween Anlong Veng and Banteay Srey and build four bridges on National Road 48, an MEF official said.

Vietnam ramps up investment in Laos, Cambodia

08/28/2009
VOV News

Vietnam has become one of the leading investors in the Southeast Asian countries of Laos and Cambodia.

A recent issue of Laos’ Economic and Social newspaper reported that foreign projects in Laos, especially those of Vietnam, have contributed to the Lao economy and have improved the lives of Lao clan members.

Vietnam ranks third among the 32 countries that invest in Laos, according to the Lao Ministry of Planning and Investment. Statistics through June showed that the Lao government had licensed 186 Vietnamese projects at a total capitalization of more than US$2 billion. These projects are mainly in four areas: electric power, mining, agriculture and services.

Vietnamese businesses are constantly expanding their operations in Cambodia. Local experts believe that Vietnam is likely to surpass China, the Republic of Korea and Russia to become the largest investor in Cambodia in 2009, thanks to a surge in Vietnam’s investment in the past eight months.

The President of the Cambodian Economic Association, Chan Sophal, said that with great untapped potential, Cambodia is now an attractive destination for Vietnamese investors.

Vietnam and Cambodia have signed a total of 13 new joint venture contracts worth nearly US$500 million since early July.

Russian coast guards return 8,000 poached crabs to sea

VLADIVOSTOK, August 28 (RIA Novosti) - Some 8,000 live crabs, confiscated by Russian coast guards earlier in the week, have been released into the Sea of Japan, a spokeswoman for the local Coast Guard Service said on Friday.

Natalya Rondaleva said that on August 24 coast guards detained the Cambodia-flagged Trojana fishing vessel with 12.5 metric tons of live crab on board, worth some 5.5 million rubles ($174,000).

"The captain failed to provide documents verifying the legality of the catch. The Trojana was escorted by coast guards to the port of Nakhodka on Thursday," she said.

Russia banned exports of live crab in May 2007, but large volumes are still smuggled out of the country, primarily to Japan and South Korea.

RIGHTS-CAMBODIA: Newest Evacuation ‘Biggest in Decades’By Robert Carmichael

By Robert Carmichael

PHNOM PENH, Aug 28 (IPS) - Dozens of families this week started dismantling their homes and moving away from lakeside land in the centre of the capital after giving up on their lengthy struggle to remain. By the end of the eviction process at this site, around 30,000 people will have been moved off now-valuable land.

Human rights workers said it will be the biggest movement of Cambodians from their homes in decades.

Residents do not want to leave, but said they are being driven out by threats from the municipality. Some have not given up yet.

Sixty-seven-year-old Pol Vanna has lived at Village Four at the city centre site, called Boeung Kak, since the early 1980s. The former railwayman is adamantly opposed to moving to the relocation site – a field with no facilities some 30 kilometres away.

"We don’t want to leave Boeung Kak," he told IPS during a small demonstration outside City Hall earlier this month. "The company should give us some land for us to live on instead of forcing us to move away. I don’t understand why they can’t give us the land."

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Duch’s trial: black day for victims’ participation

Kambol (Phnom Penh, Cambodia). 27/08/2009: The hands of François Roux, Alain Werner, Ty Srinna, Nil Nonn, Jean-Marc Lavergne, Hong Kim Suon, Vincent de Wilde and Kar Savuth during the debate on the admission of civil parties on Day 66 in Duch’s trial at the ECCC © John Vink/ Magnum

27-08-2009
By Stéphanie Gée
Ka-set

The role of civil parties is one of the main issues at stake in Duch’s trial, which enshrines their first participation in a jurisdiction with international support established to judge crimes against humanity. However, this characteristic of the Khmer Rouge Tribunal – often presented as an important progress – was severely curbed on Thursday August 27th, following a debate abruptly opened by the Trial Chamber and which it quickly ruled on by taking a brutal decision that partially closes the victims’ participation to the trial. The Chamber’s move occurred ten days before the plenary session – when judges revise and amend, if necessary, the directions and Internal Rules – and may hint at the possible adoption then of potentially critical changes regarding the place of victims in the next trials before the ECCC. Often criticised for failing to measure up to their mission and frequently overstepping their role, the civil party lawyers appeared to try and make up for a failing prosecution office. For its part, the Chamber rarely sought to channel these abuses or drifts and did not use its full authority to ensure a strict direction of the hearings. Thursday, while there was likely only a few days of hearings left, the Chamber allowed itself to invent a new rule of the game. On the substance, this turning point stirred consternation, not only among civil parties, but also the prosecution and the defence, whilst among the judges, judge Lavergne registered a dissenting opinion for the first time.

A new debate

As the hearing opened, the president announced that, after the review of the last civil parties contested by the defence, there would be a debate to determine whether civil party lawyers had the right to ask questions to the accused and witnesses summoned to testify on the last theme addressed in this trial, Duch’s personality. That this question was asked already raised a few eyebrows in the courtroom.

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Kambol (Phnom Penh, Cambodia). 26/08/2009: Ty Srinna, co-lawyer for civil parties, on Day 65 in Duch’s trial at the ECCC © John Vink / Magnum

26-08-2009
By Stéphanie Gée
Ka-set

The issue of the admissibility of victims’ applications as civil parties in Duch’s trial was unresolved since the initial hearing on February 17th and 18th 2009. Two weeks ago, the Chamber asked the defence to prepare their observations on these applications, should they have any. The defence did. Since Tuesday August 25th, a heated debate started between the defence counsel and civil party lawyers, with the former challenging the legitimacy of some of the civil parties in the absence of adequate relevant documents while the latter protested such a questioning of the civil parties’ word barely a few weeks away from the end of the hearings.

26 civil parties challenged by the defence

Marie-Paule Canizarès, colleague of François Roux, Duch’s international lawyer, announced yesterday that the defence intended to challenge the admissibility* of 26 civil parties, all civil parties who did not request to be heard by the Chamber. These objections related to two elements: it appeared from the case file there was no filiation or other family link established between the civil party and the victim represented, or there was no element proving that the victim represented could have been detained at S-21.

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Restoring health and hope with construction

Lance Cpl. Nicolette J. Hawkins, a combat engineer with combat engineer platoon, Engineer Operations Company, Marine Wing Support Squadron 172, Marine Wing Support Group 17, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, and Lun Thea, a soldier with the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, fix the tiling in a room at the Pechmony Health Center in Kampong Speu Province, Cambodia. (Photo by Lance Cpl. Jeffrey Cordero).

By Lance Cpl. Jeffrey Cordero
U.S. Marine Corps Bases Japan

KAMPONG SPEU PROVINCE, Cambodia (August 28, 2009) -- At the center of a small market town in the Kampong Speu Province, the sounds of drills and hammers were heard among the busy shops as U.S. Marines and sailors along with Royal Cambodian Armed Forces engineers worked throughout August to restore a closed down medical facility.

Restoring the Veal Ang Popel Health Center was part of the Cambodia Interoperability Program Engineer Civic Assistance Project 2009. Not only did they finish construction, but they finished before the expected completion date of Tuesday.

The health center was once a children's clinic and a delivery hospital.

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Gun economy rules Thai south

Arming civilians against militants has sparked weapons race and more violence

About 40 per cent of the killings in Thailand's south since 2004 have been due to shooting incidents. But not all are related to separatism. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

Aug 28, 2009
By Nirmal Ghosh, Thailand Correspondent
Straits Times

BANGKOK - THE conflict in southern Thailand has spawned an expanding 'gun economy' which is fuelling the violence that has killed well over 3,000 people since January 2004, independent research groups said on Wednesday.

In a response to militant violence, several government agencies have been arming and training civilian militias - mostly from the minority Buddhist community.

The programme includes free or subsidised guns, ranging from handguns and shotguns to automatic weapons. But this has led to a free-for-all weapons race, with legal and illegal guns being supplied under the table to anyone with the money to buy them.

Guns are brought in from neighbouring Cambodia, or supplied over the counter or surreptitiously by dealers in Bangkok often working with the connivance of corrupt officials - including rogue soldiers. And in many cases, guns are stolen off victims of the violence.

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Cambodia cuts forces on Thai border

Cambodian soldiers stand guard near the Preah Vihear temple. [AFP]

Thu, 27 Aug 2009
ABC Radio Australia

Cambodia has begun withdrawing some of its troops from its disputed border with Thailand, a move which is likely to ease tensions over the Preah Vihear temple.

Reuters news agency reports the deputy commander-in-chief of Cambodia's armed forces, General Chea Dara as saying the move is a show of the country's "positive position".

Thailand says it had no plans to follow suit.

The Preah Vihear temple, a 900-year-old Hindu temple, has been a source of tension between the two countries for decades.

The Cambodia and Thailand have been embroiled in a series of standoffs over the temple in the past year, resulting in border skirmishes that claimed the lives of seven troops.

Thailand is challenging a United Nations decision to make the temple a world heritage site under Cambodia's sole jurisdiction.

It wants joint development and supervision of the temple, which could one day become a lucrative tourist site.

Military representatives from both sides agreed on Monday to exercise restraint at the border.

The Cambodian pull-back is due to end on Sunday.

Acid Attack Documentary Finds Audience

By Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
27 August 2009

Tat Marina answers questions about her current situation and living with the suffering and memories of the attack.

Finding Face,” a new documentary detailing the life of an acid attack victim, showed in the US on Sunday, moving Cambodian and American audience members to take a stand against the crime.

The film profiles Tat Marina, a karaoke singer and mistress of a powerful government official, who was doused with acid in 1999, allegedly by a jealous wife, and nearly died a result. Over 40 percent of her body, including head and face, were burned.

“Many, many people asked what are the concrete actions that we can take to help not only on this issue of acid violence in Cambodia and worldwide, but about Tat Marina’s case,” Skye Fitzgerald, the films producer, told VOA Khmer.

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New Zealander Gives Testimony at Duch Trial

By VOA Khmer,
Yann Ker Video
Editor: Manilene Ek
27 August 2009

WATCH VIDEO, click here.

New Zealander Gives Testimony at Duch Trial

The brother of a New Zealand man tortured and killed by the Khmer Rouge on Monday (August 17) had a courtroom confrontation with the man who had him executed, wishing him a similar gruesome fate.

Kerry Hamill was 28 when he was captured by the Khmer Rouge after his yacht was blown off course into Cambodian waters in 1978. He and a shipmate were taken to Phnom Penh's notorious S-21 prison.

About a dozen Westerners were among the estimated 16-thousand people held there before being put to death in 1975-79.

His brother, Rob Hamill, wept as he testified on Monday at the genocide trial of S-21's commander, Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Duch.

Rob Hamil: “Duch, at times I have wanted to smash you, to use your words. In the same way that you smashed so many others. At times I've imagined you shackled, stabbed, whipped and clubbed viciously, viciously! I have imagined your scrotum electrified, being forced to eat your own faeces, being nearly drowned and having your throat cut."

Earlier this week, Duch asked the Cambodian people to give him "the harshest punishment." Duch is being tried for crimes against humanity, war crimes, murder and torture.

Up to 16-thousand people were tortured under his command and later killed during the Khmer Rouge's 1975-1979 rule. Only a handful survived.

Duch later became an evangelical Christian and worked for international aid organisations after the ouster of the Khmer Rouge. Duch is the first of five senior Khmer Rouge figures scheduled to face long-delayed trials and the only one to acknowledge responsibility for his actions. His trial, which started in March, is expected to finish by the end of the year. He could face a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. Cambodia has no death penalty.

Information for this report was provided by APTN.