Thailand’s Krabi mudslides kill 3 villagers

A man looks at what is left of his village after landslides struck tambon Na Khao in Krabi’s Khao Phanom district. At least 3 people were killed in the landslides which were triggered by flooding.

Death toll from southern storms and floods hits 15

31/03/2011
Bangkok Post

At least 3 people have been killed and six others are reported missing as mudslides swept away villages and heightened the southern flooding crisis. The overall death toll has risen to at least 15.

Mountain run-off and landslides hit villages in tambon Na Khao in Krabi’s Khao Phanom district yesterday and washed away up to 50 homes, provincial governor Prasit Osathanont said.

Hours after the landslides struck, rescue workers were still sifting through the mud in a desperate search for other victims.

Earlier it was reported that as many as 200 villagers were missing, but Mr Prasit said rescue workers who struggled to reach the devastated villages had confirmed that so far only three bodies had been found. About 300-400 people lived in the areas hit by the landslides.

News of the disaster came as 12 people were earlier confirmed dead in the heavy floods that have hit eight southern provinces.

The eight provinces are Nakhon Si Thammarat, Phatthalung, Surat Thani, Trang, Chumphon, Songkhla, Krabi and Phangnga.

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Libyan foreign minister Moussa Koussa defects to Britain

Libya’s foreign minister defected from Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s government last night in a significant blow to the dictator.

31 Mar 2011
By Thomas Harding, and Robert Winnett
The Telegraph (UK)

Moussa Koussa flew into Britain and told Foreign Office staff he was “no longer willing” to serve the regime.

The move was welcomed in Whitehall where fears have been growing that poorly organised Libyan rebels cannot defeat Gaddafi without being given arms or training on the ground.

“We encourage those around Gaddafi to abandon him and embrace a better future for Libya that allows political transition and real reform that meets the aspirations of the Libyan people,” a Foreign Office spokesman said.

David Cameron had earlier admitted that the Government was considering arming the rebels following talks in London with Libyan opposition leaders.

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Boeung Kak residents deceived by city’s rejection

31 March 2011
Source: Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Soch for KI-Media

Boeung Kak residents have expressed their deception after their discussion with Kep Chuktema, the Phnom Penh city governor, on Wednesday afternoon to resolve the 15-hectare land dispute was unsuccessful. Mrs. Mey Sina, a 52-year-old resident of village 24, was extremely deceived when she heard the news from Mrs. Ly Mom, her representative, telling her that Kep Chuktema rejected the request of 15-hectare of land by the residents to develop onsite. Kep Chuktema indicated that there will be no more discussion on this 15-hectare land plot.

Echoes from the Killing Fields

Thursday, March 31, 2011
By SIMON ROUGHNEEN
The Irrawaddy News (Burma)

PHNOM PENH—Clad in a blue shirt under a cream jacket, Kaing Guak Eav sat back, seemingly relaxed to the point of boredom. The judge, prosecution and defense debated the finer points of the relationship between Cambodia’s penal code and the tribunal set up to examine crimes committed under Khmer Rouge rule from 1975 to 1978. Meanwhile, the man known as Comrade Duch, sitting alone two rows behind his legal team, punctuated an impassive stillness with the occasional bout of fidgety restlessness.

As head of the S-21 torture camp, Duch—pronounced “Doik”—oversaw the torture of around 16,000 prisoners at the former school, now the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. Most of the detainees were later murdered at Choeung Ek, one of the country’s thousands of mass graves or “Killing Fields,” around 15 miles from Phnom Penh’s city centre. S-21 was only one of over 190 similar detention, torture and murder camps set up all over Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge era.

Duch was not part of the Khmer Rouge leadership and is the only one of the five accused to have expressed remorse for his crimes, offering at one point to face a public stoning and to allow victims to visit him in jail. But he made a u-turn on the final day of his trial in November 2009, asking to be acquitted and freed, which left many wondering if his contrition was sincere.

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Observers See Role for Former King on Border Issue

Former Cambodian King Norodom Sihanouk and Queen Norodom Monineath Sihanouk are greeted by students along a Phnom Penh road during during the marking of the country’s 50th Independence Day in 2003. (Photo: AP)

Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Washington Wednesday, 30 March 2011

“Before he is gone, we should make a request to him asking his opinion.”

Former king Norodom Sihanouk could be a valuable asset in the Thai-Cambodian border dispute, a Cambodian historian says.

As monarch, Norodom Sihanouk led Cambodia’s bid to regain Preah Vihear temple from Thai occupation in 1962 through the International Court of Justice.

The court determined the temple belonged to Cambodia, but Thailand continues to dispute the ownership of land nearby, an issue that has led to a prolonged, deadly military standoff.

Michel Tranet, a history professor in Cambodia, told VOA Khmer in an interview that Norodom Sihanouk is a living witness to those events and could shed light on the court’s decision and the border standoff.

“Before he is gone, we should make a request to him asking his opinion,” Tranet said.

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Lake Residents Vow To Continue Protests

Cambodian villagers from the Boeung Kak Lake area react during a protest in front of the City Hall in Phnom Penh March 25, 2011. The villagers gathered to protest against what they said was a broken promise by a government official to set up a meeting with the capital city’s governor regarding a real estate development project that might cost them their homes. Activists say around 2,000 families have already been evicted and forced to accept minimal compensation after the government leased the land around the lake to a private developer. REUTERS/Samrang Pring

Cambodian villagers from the Boeung Kak Lake area cry during a protest in front of the City Hall in Phnom Penh March 25, 2011. The villagers gathered to protest against what they said was a broken promise by a government official to let them meet the capital city’s governor regarding a real estate development project that might cost them their homes. Activists say around 2,000 families have already been evicted and forced to accept minimal compensation after the government leased the land around the lake to a private developer. REUTERS/Samrang Pring

Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Washington Wednesday, 30 March 2011

“We legally hold the ownership, and we have voted for them for three terms.”

Residents of the Boeung Kak lake area say they are still angry at the city government’s policy, which they say favors development over the needs of people in the capital.

Up to 1,500 families have had to leave the lake area to make way for a massive commercial and residential development undertaken by a company linked to a ruling party senator.

“Their development is a development for a company, not for the people,” said Tep Vanny, a lakeside community representative, as a guest on “Hello VOA” Monday.

Residents have requested 15 hectares of land from the 133-hectare development, a request Phnom Penh Governor Kep Chuktema denied in a meeting with residents on Wednesday.

The city leased the land to the developer, Shukaku, Inc., without consulting the people, Tep Vanny said. “They did not ask the people if this land belonged to the people,” she said.

Many of the residents say they have lived on the land for years, making them eligible for title, a claim the city denies.

“We legally hold the ownership, and we have voted for them for three terms,” said Ly Srey Mom, another resident and guest of “Hello VOA,” referring to city officials for the Cambodian People’s Party.

Kong Chantha, a third guest, said she was beaten unconscious in a recent protest by residents and she remains concerned about her health in the future. She criticized the city for resorting to violence instead of negotiation and vowed to continue to protest the development, where nearly 4,000 families remain.

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Boeung Kak Residents warn of protest

Residents threatened with eviction from the Boeung Kak lake area protest outside City Hall in Phnom Penh last Friday. (Photo by: Sovan Philong)

Wednesday, 30 March 2011
Khouth Sophak Chakrya
The Phnom Penh Post

Resident of the Boeung Kak lakeside said yesterday that they would organise protests if a meeting scheduled for today with Phnom Penh Municipal Governor Kep Chuktema did not achieve a resolution to their alternative development plan for families threatened with eviction.

City Hall on Monday issued a letter confirming the meeting between Kep Chuktema and five villager representatives to discuss a request for the allocation of 15 hectares of land for villagers at the site of a commercial and residential development project on the Boeung Kak lakeside.

Huot Muth Dy, a resident of Village 20 in Daun Penh district’s Srah Chak commune, said that she hopes the meeting will end in a victory for potentially displaced villagers.

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Doubts linger on NGO law

Wednesday, 30 March 2011
Thomas Miller
The Phnom Penh Post

Representatives from NGOs again requested that officials at the ministries of interior and foreign affairs accept changes to a second draft of the government’s contentious draft NGO law during a closed-door meeting yesterday, but found limited success.

Officials said it would be “the last consultation” with them on the law, following a large public meeting in January and several smaller private meetings since, said Chith Sam Ath, executive director of NGO Forum.

Lun Borithy, executive director of the Cooperation Committee for Cambodia, said relations between the government and NGOs were “very tense”.

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Soy Sopheap begs for forgiveness

Media personality Soy Sopheap adjusts a poster at the re-opening of Deum Ampil Newspaper in December 2010. Soy Sopheap attended court yesterday to clarify defamation allegations. (Photo by: Heng Chivoan)

Wednesday, 30 March 2011
Buth Reaksmey Kongkea
The Phnom Penh Post

Prominent television personality Soy Sopheap was summoned to Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday to clarify defamation accusations alleged by Son Soubert, a political analyst and former member of the Constitutional Council.

Ek Chheng Huot, deputy prosecutor at the Municipal Court, said yesterday that Soy Sopheap, director of Deum Ampil News and a presenter for Bayon TV, faced a complaint by Son Soubert on February 4 over accusations of defamation stemming from comments suggesting that Son Sann – Son Soubert’s father and former prime minister – sold land located near Preah Vihear temple to Thailand in the 1980s.

“Soy Sopheap was accused with defamation of Samdech Son Sann who is the father of His Excellency Son Soubert. He has already appeared in court and clarified about his accusations yesterday and I have not decided whether he will be charged or not yet,” Ek Chheng Hout said yesterday.

Soy Sopheap said in court that he was confused and had made a mistake in his political commentary regarding Son Sann and had pleaded for a pardon from Son Soubert with regard to the comments. He said he had also made a correction publicly on Bayon TV shortly after the incident.

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Vietnam: Montagnards Harshly Persecuted

Forced Renunciation of Faith, Harassment, Violence, and Arrests

March 30, 2011
Source: Human Rights Watch

“Freedom of religion does not mean freedom for state-sanctioned religions only. Vietnam should immediately recognize independent religious groups and let them practice their beliefs.” – Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director.

(Bangkok) – The Vietnamese government has intensified repression of indigenous minority Christians from the country’s Central Highland provinces who are pressing for religious freedom and land rights, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.

The 46-page report, “Montagnard Christians in Vietnam: A Case Study in Religious Repression,” details the latest government crackdowns on these indigenous peoples, known collectively as Montagnards. The report documents police sweeps to root out Montagnards in hiding. It details how the authorities have dissolved house church gatherings, orchestrated coerced renunciations of faith, and sealed off the border to prevent asylum seekers from fleeing to Cambodia.

Human Rights Watch found that special “political security” (PA43) units conduct operations with provincial police to capture, detain, and interrogate people they identify as political activists or leaders of unregistered house churches. More than 70 Montagnards have been detained or arrested in 2010 alone, and more than 250 are known to be imprisoned on national security charges.

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UN-backed tribunal concludes appeal hearing for convicted Khmer Rouge figure

Source: UN News Centre

30 March 2011 – The United Nations-backed tribunal in Cambodia dealing with mass killings and other crimes committed under the Khmer Rouge three decades ago today concluded the appeal hearing for the former head of a notorious detention camp who was convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity last year.

Kaing Guek Eav, whose alias is Duch, was sentenced last July to 35 years in prison by the trial chamber of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), with a five-year reduction to remedy his illegal detention at a Cambodian military court.

The court found that Mr. Kaing not only implemented, but also actively contributed to the development of the policies of the Communist Party of Kampuchea at the S-21 camp, where numerous Cambodians were unlawfully detained, subjected to inhumane conditions and forced labour, tortured and executed in the late 1970s.

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Tea Banh: Prawit will attend GBC

Tea Banh: ‘Thailand cannot be stubborn’

31/03/2011
Wassana Nanuam
Bangkok Post

Phnom Penh: Cambodian Defence Minister Tea Banh is optimistic that his Thai counterpart Prawit Wongsuwon will attend the Thai-Cambodian General Border Committee meeting on April 7-8 in Bogor, Indonesia.

Gen Tea Banh yesterday quoted Gen Prawit as saying he had agreed to attend the meeting in Indonesia after they spoke over the phone recently.

Gen Tea Banh said he would leave Cambodia for Indonesia on April 6 to attend the meeting.

“The Thai side can no longer be stubborn because it is the resolution by the UNSC [United Nations Security Council] and Asean that Indonesia should play a role as mediator,” he said in Thai.

“[Thailand] cannot simply change its mind and it has to follow what it has promised to do.

“I still believe that Gen Prawit will surely go to the meeting in Indonesia on April 7-8. I’ll wait [for him] there,” said Gen Tea Banh.

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30/03/2011
Wassana Nanuam
Bangkok Post

Despite the long-standing border conflict between the two countries, the Phnom Penh government insists Thai investors are welcome in Cambodia.

Thai investors, too, are confident the tense border conflict will not affect their investment plans.

Cambodian Minister of Tourism Thong Khon said Thai investors are eligible for tax privileges and Thai products imported by them are exempted from taxation for a period of three to eight years.

Mr Thong Khon was full of praise for such Thai businessman as Supachai Verapuchong, managing director of the Sofitel Phnom Penh Pookeerhra Hotel, for his continued investment in Cambodia even though the hotel, formerly known as the Royal Phnom Penh, was severely damaged in an anti-Thai rioting in Phnom Penh in December 2006.

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Thai Constitution Court refuses to rule on JBC minutes

30 March 2011
The Nation

The Constitution Court Wednesday rejected a request by lawmakers to rule whether the Thailand-Cambodia Joint Boundary Commission (JBC)’s minutes of meeting saying it was not the stage for the court to have any injunctions on this matter.

By the consequence of the court’s decision, the parliament needed to resume its consideration of the JBC’s documents, according to the Parliament President Chai Chidchob. The parliament was scheduled to discuss the issue on April 5.

Tea Banh: Prawit agrees to Indonesia GBC meeting

Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon (left) and his Cambodian counterpart Tea Banh (Photo by Thiti Wannamontha)

30/03/2011
Wassana Nanuam
Bangkok Post

Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon has agreed to attend the General Border Committee (GBC) meeting in Indonesia, according to Cambodia’s Defence Minister Tea Banh.

Gen Tea Banh announced the agreement in an interview with the Bangkok Post in Phnom Penh on Wednesday.

Gen Prawit has repeatedly said he would not go to the GBC meeting, scheduled to be held in Bogor, Indonesia, on April 7-8. He has said the GBC should be purely bilateral and the meeting held in either Cambodia or Thailand, not in Indonesia or any other third country.

Gen Tea Banh claimed he had talked over this matter with Gen Prawit and that the Thai minister had agreed to go to the meeting in Indonesia.

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[Thai] Govt caught in JBC tangle

ANALYSIS: There’s no light at the end of the tunnel.

31/03/2011
Nattaya Chetchotiros
Bangkok Post

It will be a long bumpy road for the government in dealing with issues surrounding the minutes of the Thai-Cambodian Joint Boundary Commission.

A major hurdle came yesterday when the Constitution Court threw out a petition seeking the court’s ruling as to the status of the JBC minutes.

The court reasoned the petition submission was not in line with the regulations of petitioning the court to give a final ruling on a particular dispute under Sections 190 and 154 of the constitution.

The court also said more steps would have to be completed in parliament before a request for the court to give a final ruling on whether the JBC minutes could be lodged properly.

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Dispute Over Sentence of Khmer Rouge Prison Chief

March 30, 2011
By SETH MYDANS
The New York Times

BANGKOK — Prosecutors and defense attorneys both asked for drastic changes this week in the sentence given to the former commandant of the Khmer Rouge’s main prison and torture center.

In a three-day appeal hearing outside Phnom Penh prosecutors asked for a maximum sentence of life in prison. The defense asked for an acquittal that could allow the immediate release of the defendant, Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Duch.

He is the first Khmer Rouge official to stand trial for atrocities committed when the radical Communist regime held power in Cambodia, causing the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million people from 1975 to 1979. Four senior Khmer Rouge leaders are in custody in what is known as Case Two, which court officers say is expected to start this summer.

Last July Duch was sentenced to 35 years in prison for war crimes and crimes against humanity after an emotional and sometimes lurid trial describing the torture and killing of inmates at the Tuol Sleng prison.

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Khmer Rouge torture victims seek justice in appeal

30 March 2011
AFP

PHNOM PENH : Survivors and relatives of some of the 15,000 people who died in a Khmer Rouge prison listened as its torture chief Duch pleaded for absolution on the last day of his appeal on Wednesday.

“I still maintain my position to ask for forgiveness for the souls of the victims… and for the families of those victims to accept my apology,” he told the hearing, which also saw a last attempt by those affected to win increased reparations.

Cambodia’s UN-backed court sentenced Duch in July to 30 years in jail for war crimes and crimes against humanity for overseeing mass murder at the notorious prison Tuol Sleng – or S-21 – in the late 1970s.

Reading from a handwritten note, the bespectacled 68-year-old, who is seeking acquittal, told the court he only survived the brutal regime “because I respectfully and strictly followed the orders”, even if at times he felt “very depressed”.

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Khmer Rouge jailer Duch seeks acquittal & forgiveness

30 March 2011
AFP

PHNOM PENH : Ex-Khmer Rouge cadre Duch asked for forgiveness for running a feared jail where thousands died, but maintained he was only following orders as he took the stand for a final time on Wednesday.

Cambodia’s UN-backed court sentenced Duch, 68, in July to 30 years’ jail for war crimes and crimes against humanity for overseeing the deaths of some 15,000 people at the notorious prison Tuol Sleng – or S-21 – in the late 1970s.

Reading from a handwritten note, Duch said he only survived the brutal regime “because I respectfully and strictly followed the orders”, even if at times he felt “very depressed”.

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Distressed maid set to return

Wednesday, 30 March 2011
Mom Kunthear and David Boyle
The Phnom Penh Post

A woman who reportedly said she was being tortured and forcibly detained by her employer in Kuala Lumpur during a phone call has been located and will be sent back to Cambodia next week, officials from the Malaysian embassy said yesterday.

Kampuchea Thmey newspaper reported on March 18 that the woman had made a random call to a university student in Phnom Penh pleading her to ask the Cambodian government to help her escape from her employer.

In a statement issued yesterday, the Malaysian embassy said they had taken swift action to locate the woman and had sent officials in Malaysia to her residence to provide essential assistance.

“The embassy contacted the woman through the phone number posted in the paper and talked to a woman who expressed that [she was] abused and suffered,” the statement said.

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Cambodia’s riel survives alongside the dollar

People use the Cambodian currency for anything less than a dollar

30 March 2011
By Guy De Launey
BBC News, Phnom Penh

In Cambodia, money talks as loudly as it does anywhere else in the world – but at least it never burns a hole in your pocket.

That’s because there aren’t any coins. You can’t talk about coppers or nickels in Cambodian riel. The national bank gave up striking anything metallic more than a decade ago.

Instead there’s a lot of paper. Right down to the seldom-seen 50 riel note. That’s worth all of a cent and a quarter – and it’s regarded with about as much affection as the pitifully lightweight one yen coin in Japan.

So wallets, billfolds and purses bulge with dozens of notes – ranging from the crisply-minted to the well-used and filthy. But to many people, the riel is simply small change.

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Website carrying ancient Cambodian manuscripts launched

30 March 2011
By Monica Kotwani
Channel News Asia (Singapore)

Click here for www.khmermanuscripts.org

SINGAPORE: The Singapore Embassy in Cambodia, together with UNESCO, has launched a website, carrying contents of ancient Cambodian manuscripts.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the Embassy has been supporting UNESCO, through a fund, for the last two years in its work to digitise the manuscripts.

The manuscripts, written on latania leaves, faced extinction in the 1990s.

They are Cambodia’s only written heritage available, apart from stone inscriptions, and an information source for researchers on the country’s religious and cultural practices and customs.

The website was launched on Wednesday evening at the French Cultural Centre in Phnom Penh.

Photo: new vipers discovered in Asia’s rainforests

Hard to miss the bright red ruby eyes of the world’s newest pitviper: Cryptelytrops rubeus. Photo: Peter Paul van Dijk.

March 30, 2011
Jeremy Hance
mongabay.com

Researchers have discovered two new species of pitviper in Southeast Asia. After collecting snakes throughout the Asian tropics—Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia—researchers were able to parse out a more complex set of species than had been recognized. One of the new vipers has been dubbed Cryptelytrops rubeus for its ruby-colored eyes.

Over 12 years of work researchers conducted genetic tests, looked at physical differences, and then geographical separations of various viper populations that were all considered big-eyed pitviper (Cryptelytrops macrops). Out of the various population two new distinct species have been described: Cryptelytrops rubeus and Cryptelytrops cardamomensis.

“They are genetically distinct at mitochondrial and multiple nuclear genetic markers, and are geographically separated, occupying different mountainous areas […] There are some superficial differences involving the color of the eye, the presence and width of lateral stripes on the head and body and so on, but they are quite subtle,” co-author Anita Malhotra, a molecular ecologist at Bangor University, explained to mongabay.com.

Although little more is known about the behavior or status of the species in the wild, Malhotra says it is possible they are threatened.

“Depending on the species, the main threats are habitat destruction, and over-collecting (the vast majority of the latter is for traditional medicinal use, in some cases also for other purposes such as leather and the captive trade),” she told mongabay.com

Each of these pitviper species are poisonous and dangerous, although a bite is not usually fatal to humans.

The paper will appear in Zootaxa.

Australian IT in box seat for Cambodia

Wednesday, 30 March 2011
By Beverley Head
ITWire.com

Australian systems integrator Tripoint Corporation is in the box seat to act as the prime contractor on a $25 million three year project to install a new financial management information system for the Royal Government of Cambodia.

Chief executive officer Vaughan Stibbard said the World Bank funded project was just waiting on final sign off, but that the company was expecting to be appointed as prime contractor for the whole of government project. The Australian company has been pitted against Spanish firm Indra Sistemas, and a decision was originally expected in February, but Mr Stibbard indicated to iTWire this week that all that was missing was a final sign off of the paperwork from the World Bank.

The company currently has a team of three people operating out of its Singapore office to support clients in Asia, but is likely to grow that if the Cambodian project gets the green light.

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Cambodia inaugurates monument to Vietnamese volunteer troops

30/03/2011

(VOV) – A monument to Vietnamese volunteer troops was inaugurated on March 30 in Kompong Chnang province, 100km from Phnom Penh capital.

It was built on an area of over 500sq.m, replace the old one, which was smaller and beyond repair, and symbolises the solidarity and strong attachment between Vietnam and Cambodia.

The funding for construction came from the Vietnamese Overseas Association in Cambodia and Kompong Chnang’s three sister cities and provinces, Can Tho, Soc Trang and Hau Giang in Vietnam.

Vietnam-Cambodia friendship to develop strongly

30/03/2011
VOVNews/VNA

State Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan has expressed her belief that with efforts by states and people, the friendship between Vietnam and Cambodia will continue to grow and flourish.

The Vice State President was speaking at a reception for visiting delegation of Cambodian citizens headed by Khun Chhy, former Cambodian Transport Minister, in Hanoi on March 29.

She applauded the traditional friendship and mutual assistance and fostered by generations of Vietnamese and Cambodians during the past struggle for national liberation and the current process of national construction and emphasized the need to uphold these precious traditions.

Khun Chhy appreciated assistance from the Vietnamese people to help the Cambodian people escape from genocide and said Cambodia will never forget the help and devotion of the Vietnamese volunteer soldiers in the past.

He informed the host that during the visit the delegation met Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and experts, who had helped the Cambodian people overcome their past difficulties.

The same day, the Cambodian delegation was received by Vu Xuan Hong, President of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations, who expressed his hope that the visit would contribute to boosting the traditional friendship between the two people.

The Cambodian delegation also paid a tribute to President Ho Chi Minh at his mausoleum.

Victims of KRouge torture prison seek justice in appeal

PHNOM PENH, March 30, 2011 (AFP) – Survivors and relatives of some of the 15,000 people who died in a Khmer Rouge prison run by torture chief Duch made a final call for more reparations as his appeal case drew to a close Wednesday.

Cambodia’s UN-backed court sentenced Duch, 68, in July to 30 years in jail for war crimes and crimes against humanity for overseeing mass murder at the notorious prison Tuol Sleng — or S-21 — in the late 1970s.

The only reparations the court awarded the victims, known as the civil parties, was to include their names in the judgment and agree to publish Duch’s apologies.

Financial compensation for victims is not an option but their lawyers on Wednesday called for other forms of collective and moral redress, such as memorials or free psychological support.

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Khmer Rouge jailer pleads for freedom

March 30, 2011
ABC Radio Australia

In Cambodia this week, the Khmer Rouge tribunal has been hearing an appeal by Duch, the head of a detention centre that oversaw the deaths of around 15,000 people in the late 1970s.

During his trial last year, Duch repeatedly apologised and asked for forgiveness for the deaths he oversaw… but then at the last minute, to the shock of many including his own international lawyer, he asked to be acquited of the charges. The 68-year-old , whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav was found guilty and sentenced to 35 years jail for crimes against humanity. Today, his legal team will wrap up their apeal.

Presenter: Liam Cochrane
Speaker: Clair Duffy, Open Society Justice Initiative

Click here to listen to the audio program (Windows Media)

COCHRANE: Now what was Duch’s legal teams main appeal argument?

DUFFY: Well, his main argument was really that he should never have been prosecuted by the Khmer Rouge court at all. The court’s equivalent of a Constitution gives the court power to try senior leaders from the Khmer Rouge era and those who are said to be most responsible. But Duch says he wasn’t a senior leader or somebody who was most responsible and so he should never have been tried in the first place. I suppose it’s what in legal terms we would call it jurisdictional argument.

COCHRANE: And is that consistent with the arguments that were made in the main body of the trial?

DUFFY: It’s not consistent with the arguments that were made during the trial. In fact this argument was really raised very late on in Duch’s trial, mostly during the closing arguments. Essentially Duch pleaded guilty, that’s at least what we would understand in places like Australia where we have a common law system, but there was no real provision for him to do that in the Khmer Rouge court. But as you just said, Liam, he did admit responsibility for the detention, torture and execution of thousands of people. He apologised on a number of occasions during his trial for what he had done, but then at the eleventh hour in his closing arguments, he said he should be set free.

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Former Khmer Rouge Jailer Appeals Against Conviction

3/29/2011

(RTTNews) – The hearings on an appeal filed by former Khmer Rouge jailer Kaing Khev Iev, alias Duch, against his conviction on crimes against humanity began at the Cambodia’s UN-backed war crimes tribunal on Monday, with defense lawyers arguing that the tribunal does not have jurisdiction to convict their client.

The defense lawyers argued during Monday’s hearing that their client was only following orders when he oversaw the deaths of some 15,000 people at Tuol Sleng torture prison in the late 1970s. They insisted that Duch was obliged to carry out orders as he was only a low-ranking official in the regime.

But the prosecution stressed that the defense should made such an argument when Duch’s trial began in early 2009, and reminded the court that it has already found Dutch to be one among those responsible for the regime’s crimes.

“In addition, Duch himself frequently acknowledged his responsibility for crimes committed within the framework of S-21 as chief of the center,” prosecutor Chea Leang said referring to the Tuol Sleng torture prison.

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Prosecution Wants Increased Sentence for Khmer Rouge War Criminal Duch

Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, gestures in the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, March 29, 2011 (Photo: Reuters)

Robert Carmichael, Voice of America
Phnom Penh March 29, 2011

The prosecution at Tuesday’s appeal hearing for Comrade Duch, the former head of the Khmer Rouge’s notorious S-21 prison, has asked the United Nations-backed war crimes tribunal to increase the jail term it handed down last year.

March 29 marked day two of the scheduled three-day appeal court hearing for Comrade Duch, the Khmer Rouge’s former chief jailer, who has asked to be acquitted and released.

Last year, the United Nations-backed tribunal sentenced Duch to 35 years in prison but reduced the term to 19 years because of time served and other factors.

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Prosecutors demand life term for KRouge jailer

This handout photo taken and released by the Extraordinary Chamber in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) on March 29, 2011 shows former Khmer Rouge prison chief (S21) Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Duch (AFP)

PHNOM PENH, March 29, 2011 (AFP) – Prosecutors at Cambodia’s UN-backed war crimes court on Tuesday appealed for a life term for former Khmer Rouge cadre Duch, saying he lacked remorse for overseeing the deaths of some 15,000 people.

Duch, 68, was sentenced to 30 years in prison last July for war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role at the notorious torture prison Tuol Sleng in the late 1970s.

The prison chief, real name Kaing Guek Eav, was the first former Khmer Rouge cadre to face an international tribunal and both the defence and prosecution are appealing against the punishment in three days of hearings at the court.

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Prosecution Demands Life for Duch

Cambodians attend Duch’s trial at the ECCC in Phnom Penh, March 29, 2011. (AFP)

2011-03-29
Radio Free Asia

Appellants at Cambodia’s war crimes tribunal say the former jailer ‘showed no remorse.’

Prosecutors at Cambodia’s UN-backed war crimes tribunal have demanded a life sentence for convicted former Khmer Rouge prison warden Duch, saying he showed no remorse for his role in the slaughter of thousands of his compatriots.

Duch, 68, whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav, was sentenced by the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) to 30 years in prison last July for crimes against humanity, torture, and premeditated murder as overseer of the notorious Tuol Sleng torture prison in the late 1970s.

On the second day of a three-day appeal process, the prosecution on Tuesday requested the ECCC’s Supreme Court judges to order that Duch be locked up for life.

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Cambodia fully supports Timor-Leste to enter ASEAN: PM

March 29, 2011

PHNOM PENH (Xinhua) – Cambodia will fully support the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste to become the 11th member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) this year or next year, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Tuesday.

Hun Sen made the remarks during a 30-minute meeting with the visiting President of Timor-Leste, Jose Ramos-Horta at the Peace Palace.

“Cambodia fully supported Timor-Leste to become the 11th member of ASEAN,” said Hun Sen during the meeting. “Cambodia’s support is regardless Timor-Leste is a small or big, poor or rich country, but to reflect the equal rights of the countries in the region.”

Hun Sen expressed his hope that Timor-Leste will be able to join the association this year or next year.

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Workers face off with police

Disgruntled workers look on as tyres burn outside the Tack Fat Garment Factory in Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district yesterday. Police and protesters clashed during the day after about 1,000 former employees of the factory briefly blocked National Road 2. The workers are demanding compensation following the closing of the factory earlier this month. (Photo by: Sreng Meng Srun)

Garment factory workers scuffle with police during a protest outside Tack Fat Garment Factory in Meanchey district yesterday. About 1,000 former employees participated in the protest. (Photo by: Sreng Meng Srun)

Tuesday, 29 March 2011
Tep Nimol
The Phnom Penh Post

Hundreds of police wielding electric batons cracked down on a demonstration of close to 1,000 former employees of the now defunct Tack Fat garment factory yesterday, leaving about 50 people “slightly injured”, a union official said.

The demonstration was the latest flare up of a dispute between Tack Fat and more than 1,000 employees it laid off earlier this month when the company declared bankruptcy – offering only limited severance pay to those affected.

Man Sen Hak, a consultant for the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia, said yesterday workers had blocked National Road Number 2 to demand government intervention in the dispute.

“The workers blocked National Road Number 2 about five minutes before hundreds of authorities arrived at the place and pushed them to go to the sides of the road in order to avoid traffic congestion,” he said.

The company’s compensation offers, he said, fell short of their obligations under Cambodia’s labour law, and government inaction on the issue had prompted the latest demonstration.

“The workers want their compensation only but there has been no resolution, reaching [the point where we decided] to put up the road block.”

Kim You, a lawyer representing Tack Fat in the dispute, could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Chheang Thida, a representative for workers at Tack Fat, said the dispute had reached the point where industrial action was the only way forward.

“Workers come to a standoff. We know that demonstrating affects [public] order [but] if we are silent, no one will help us resolve this; this time, I know that Cambodia is corrupt,” she said.

Huy Pich Sovann, a human rights program officer at the Community Legal Education Centre, said the intervention of government authorities in the demonstration indicated a “joint conspiracy”.

“[It’s] a violation of people’s right of expression,” he said.

Meanchey district deputy governor Bi Nay, said authorities were forced to break up the demonstration because the road block had caused a serious traffic jam.

“Workers have the right to hold demonstrations but they have no right to block National Road Number 2,” he said.

“It is what the authorities have to do to quell [the demonstration] in order to stop the traffic jam.”

Monk flees pagoda over fears of arrest

The venerable monk Loun Souvath sits with residents of the Boeung Kak lake area during a demonstration outside City Hall earlier this month in Phnom Penh. Loun Souvath has been forced into hiding. (Photo by: Will Baxter)

Tuesday, 29 March 2011
May Titthara
The Phnom Penh Post

A monk at Wat Ounalom in Phnom Penh on Monday fled the pagoda out of fear of arrest by authorities for his participation in protests held by Boeung Kak lakeside residents and villagers embroiled in a land dispute in Chi Kraeng commune.

The venerable Luon Savath, ordained in 1990, went into hiding after returning from a protest in front of City Hall at the weekend, he said yesterday, adding that police have threatened him with arrest on four previous occasions over his involvement in protests.

“The authorities have not only warned me that they would arrest me, but have tried to get me defrocked by calling me a fake monk who violates Buddhist rules of conduct,” he said.

Luon Savath said that a police truck followed him back to the pagoda on Sunday and that he saw police stationed near the pagoda before fleeing in a car driven by staff at the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

“I am not involved with Boeung Kak villagers. I do not make problems. I was just observing the protest to find justice for the people,” he said.

Touch Naruth, chief of Phnom Penh Municipal Police, declined to comment yesterday. Chuon Narin, head of the municipal penal police department, said he did not know anything about the issue.

However, Phon Davy, director of the municipal cults and religions department, said that Luon Savath had not only joined with Boeung Kak lake protesters but others at Wat Botum and in Siem Reap.

“That monk has violated the rules to such an extent that the Great Supreme Patriarch of Cambodia Tep Vong issued a warning letter to ban all monks from joining protests,” he said yesterday.

Am Sam Ath, a technical supervisor for local rights group Licadho, said Luon Savath has only monitored villager protests to encourage them and blessed them for good luck.

“Targeting him is a serious violation of human rights,” Am Sam Ath said.

“Pkor Loan Doeum Chnam” a Poem in Khmer by Heng Thal Savuth

Seen in Phnom Penh

Click on each photo to zoom in (Photos Credit: Lim Pealy)

Young Khmers key to the future

March 30, 2011
A. Gaffar Peang-Meth
PACIFIC DAILY NEWS

At this time, more than any other time, a “no can do” attitude and unproductive activity, including gossip, back-biting, character assassination, etc., that distracts from a common effort to struggle against a repressive autocracy should be discarded. A positive “yes, we can” attitude and activities aimed at uniting Khmers to fight for change need to be promoted.

For the last two weeks, my columns focused on the necessity for Khmer youths to cultivate quality thinking, because change is inevitable and pro-activity does influence the change they want to see. Their nation’s future depends on this.

Although I am encouraged by ensuing discussions on the subject, some readers raise concerns, justifiably, that today’s Khmer youths are caught in a regime that has confiscated school books, in an economy in which four million live in excruciating poverty, and attend public schools that received a mere 1.6 percent of GDP, compared to 5 percent of GDP in one of the world’s poorest countries, Mozambique.

Last week, an e-mail from a young Khmer in Phnom Penh informed me that schools are open only a few hours a day, and that many young Khmers don’t even know what computers are.

A former American State Department official who served in Phnom Penh, Donald Jameson, wrote of the need for “an urbanized, better educated and informed citizenry,” in his article, “Cambodia’s Bumpy Road.” But the current regime’s inexcusable neglect of the education system will only accelerate the increasingly unbridgeable economic and social disparities.

Remember that of Cambodia’s 14.7 million people, more than 50 percent are younger than 21 years old — 4.7 million are 14 and younger; 9.4 million are between 15 and 64. The median age is 22.9 years. The impact of a poorly educated citizenry is incalculable, and that impact will persist for generations.

Yet despair is not an option.

At this time, more than any other time, a “no can do” attitude and unproductive activity, including gossip, back-biting, character assassination, etc., that distracts from a common effort to struggle against a repressive autocracy should be discarded. A positive “yes, we can” attitude and activities aimed at uniting Khmers to fight for change need to be promoted.

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