Cambodia: Blog article leads to murder investigation

MP Mu Sochua vows to investigate the death of the teenager domestic worker

30 July 2011
Written by Sopheap Chak
Global Voices Online

An investigation on the reported death of a Cambodian domestic worker in Malaysia has been initiated by the Cambodian Embassy in Malaysia in cooperation with the police, according to an article by the Phnom Penh Post.

The aunt of the domestic worker was informed by the labor recruitment firm APTSE & C Cambodia Resource Co Ltd that her 19-year-old niece died from pneumonia. However, the pre-departure medical test in Cambodia in September last year showed her health to be perfectly fine.

It’s now alleged that she could have been murdered following an expose by a news aggregation website, Khmerization, which published and circulated an email from an anonymous person who reported that a maid in Malaysia is being abused by her employer.

The case was picked up by rights groups and politicians who appealed for a proper investigation. The anonymous sender of the letter wrote to Khmerization:

We came across a blog on your website (khmerization.blogspot.com) regarding “Malaysia Embassy saved Cambodian maid alerted by Khmerization’s article”, posted on 23 March 2011. We would like to bring your attention to a recent death of a Cambodia maid which we suspected the actual cause of death is due to the constant physical and mental tortures by her employer.

According to the local neighbourhood, they do constantly witness the deceased being beaten up and abused and had many times sought help from other maids in the neighbourhood. A day before her death, she passed down a message saying that if she really pass away without any valid reason, please inform her uncle back in Cambodia.

It should be noted that Khmerization has once successfully convinced authorities to investigate and assist another Cambodian maid who was allegedly abused by her employer in Malaysia. Aside from publishing an article about the abuse, Khmerization circulated an email encouraging its readers to submit a letter to embassy officials in Malaysia.

According to the 2011 report prepared jointly by CARAM Asia, CARAM Cambodia and Tenaganita, titled “Reality Check: Rights and Legislation for Migrant Domestic Workers Across Asia,” the number of Cambodian migrant domestic workers in Malaysia are over 40,000 of which the women account for 51.7%. The report outlined some common violations experienced by domestic workers:

• Working conditions differ from the contract signed between migrant domestic workers and their agents in Cambodia including lower wages and debt bondage not known to worker prior to departure.
• Detention at recruitment agencies’ training center
• Underage girls sent to work with falsified documentations
• No payment of wages
• Irregular payment (migrant domestic workers are only paid at the end of their contract)
• Long working hours
• On call 24 hours a day
• Excessive duties and tasks
• No days off
• No privacy
• Verbal abuse
• Sexual abuse
• Physical abuse
• Confiscation of personal documents

New border gates to Cambodia opened

July, 30 2011
VNS (Hanoi)

BINH PHUOC — Viet Nam and Cambodia yesterday opened another pair of border posts, Hoa Lu in Viet Nam’s Binh Phuoc Province and Trapeang Sre in Cambodia’s Kratie Province.

This is the fifth of seven pairs of border posts the two countries agreed to open under a road transport agreement signed in 1998 and a protocol signed in 2005.

Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Ngoc Dong said the gates would not only facilitate trade and economic development between the two border provinces, but also improve co-operation between the two countries.

The four border points currently open for road transport between the two countries are Moc Bai – Bavet (Tay Ninh and Svay Rieng provinces), Tinh Bien-Phnom Den (An Giang and Takeo provinces), Xa Xia – Prek Chak (Kien Giang, Lork, Kam Pot provinces), and Xa Mat -Trapeing (Tay Ninh and Kampong Cham provinces).

Two other pairs of border crossings are expected to open later this year, including Le Thanh – Oyadav (Gia Lai and Andong Pich – Ratanakiri provinces) and Bu Prang – O Raaing (Dak Nong and Mundulkiri provinces).

Last year, two-way trade between Viet Nam and Cambodia was US$1.83 billion. At present, Viet Nam is the fourth biggest importer of Cambodian goods and Cambodia is the 16th largest importer of goods from Viet Nam.

Cambodia To Host China-Asean Car Race In October

PHNOM PENH, July 30 (Bernama) — Cambodia will host China-Asean car race in October this year, the first car race ever involved by Cambodia, a senior official of National Olympic Committee said Saturday, Xinhua news agency reported.

Vath Chamroeun, secretary general of National Olympic Committee of Cambodia (COCC) said the car race is initiated by China in order to mark the 20th anniversary of China-Asean bilateral cooperation.

He said, as planned, the “2011 China-Asean International Touring Assembly and China-Asean Journalists Rally” will begin on Sept 9 through Oct 9 this year.

The rally will begin in China and go across five countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations: Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia and to end up in Cambodia.

According to the schedule, Cambodia will host the end-up rally racing on Oct 7-8, beginning from Siem Reap province, hometown of Angkor Wat Temple to Phnom Penh, the capital city of Cambodia.

Chamroeun said Cambodia is prepared to send two drivers for the race, the first ever that Cambodians are directly involved in the race and as well as the host of the event.

He added the procedure for the rally-racing is free with any kinds of cars, but speed is the subject for scoring.

Cambodia edges away from U.S. dollar

Cambodian Securities Exchange Director General Hong Sok Hour demonstrates how a stock market works to visitors and journalists during the inauguration ceremony of the Cambodia Securities Exchange at the Canadia Tower in Phnom Penh July 11, 2011. (Reuters)

July 29, 2011
By Lisa Twaronite, MarketWatch

TOKYO (MarketWatch) — Cambodia, one of Asia’s fastest-developing frontier economies, is gradually letting go of the U.S. dollar’s hand in favor of its own currency, the riel — and some investors welcome the shift.

The Asian Development Bank predicted Cambodia will grow 6.5% in 2011, as textile and garment industries boom in a country that spent decades of the past century ravaged by civil war. According to the ADB, 90% of currency in circulation is the greenback — which is not the most popular world currency at the moment. Read more on dollar, currencies.

“The U.S. dollar is losing its credibility from the reckless ‘quantitative easing’ programs of the U.S. Federal Reserve. It is becoming unsafe for Cambodia to delegate its monetary policy to the bankrupt U.S., which hopes to inflate its way out of its recession and huge debts,” said Douglas Clayton, managing partner of frontier markets investor Leopard Capital.

Leopard Capital already has $34 million equity fund investing in the country, and is launching a $75 million find aimed at Cambodia and neighboring Laos.

Please click here to read more...

Bird Flu Worries Rise With Seventh Fatality This Year

Worldwide, bird flu has been confirmed in 563 people since 2003, with 330 of them dying. (Photo: AP)

Friday, 29 July 2011
Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer | Phnom Penh

“She touched a dead chicken and got sick.”

Bird flu has claimed the life of a 4-year-old girl from Banteay Meanchey province, the sixth child this year, health officials confirmed Friday.

The girl had been ill for 10 days and had sought treatment from a traditional healer before she was transferred to a pediatric hospital in Siem Reap, where she succumbed.

“She touched a dead chicken and got sick,” said Sok Touch, director of the Ministry of Health’s communicable disease department.

Hers was the 15th death from avian influenza since 2003, and the seventh death this year, the ministry and the World Health Organization said in a statement.

“Avian influenza is still a threat to the health of the Cambodian people,” Health Minister Mam Bunheng said in the statement, adding that children were especially susceptible.

“I urge parents and guardians to keep children away from sick or dead poultry,” he said.

Sok Touch said the girl’s village was now under supervision, while results from blood tests of 13 other villagers were pending.

Worldwide, bird flu has been confirmed in 563 people since 2003, with 330 of them dying.

Malaysia Defense Minister Urges Border Peace

Malaysia’s Defense Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (L) shakes hands with Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen during meeting at the Office of the Council of Ministers in Phnom Penh July 28, 2011. (Photo: Reuters)

Friday, 29 July 2011
Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer | Phnom Penh

“We would like to congratulate both countries, Cambodia and Thailand, for being given the opportunity to maintain peace and stability.”

Malaysia’s defense minister met with his Cambodian counterpart this week, emerging from talks to express his hopes that the conflict on the Thai border will be resolved.

The International Court of Justice ruled earlier this month that Thailand and Cambodia should establish an Asean-observed demilitarized zone near Preah Vihear temple, around which deadly clashes have sporadically occurred since July 2008.

A July 18, 2011 sketch-map by the International Court of Justice shows an area around Cambodia’s Preah Vihear temple and surrounding territories claimed by Thailand, which the Court identifies as a ‘Provisional Demilitarized Zone.’ The July 18 ruling is the first ruling pending the Court’s final decision on its interpretation of its 1962 ruling.

Malaysian Defense Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi told reporters Thursday that the court’s judgment served as an opportunity for Asean to help bring peace to the border conflict.

“We would like to congratulate both countries, Cambodia and Thailand, for being given the opportunity to maintain peace and stability,” he said.

Implementation of the court’s decision has stalled, however, with Thailand yet to establish a government following July elections.

Indonesia, as head of Asean, is waiting to send an observer mission to the border, as called for by the international court. Hamidi said Indonesia is now working on a plan for the mission.

Thailand, meanwhile, is seeking a bilateral meeting with Cambodia through a border committee to move a troop withdrawal forward, the Bangkok Post reported Thursday.

However, Chhum Socheath, a spokesman for the Cambodian Ministry of Defense, said a bilateral meeting at this stage “cannot work,” and such talks must now include Asean.

“Thailand must respect the decision of the International Court of Justice,” he said.

The border remains a contentious issue for both sides. Thailand’s governmental human rights body said Friday it would begin investigation into allegations of more than 20 extrajudicial killings of Cambodian civilians along the border over the last four years.

China pledges active support to GMS countries in environment, biodiversity conservation

July 29, 2011
Source: Xinhua

The government of China will still continue its active support to the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) countries in order to strengthen and expand the sub-regional environmental cooperation, Xu Qinghua, special representative of Chinese environment minister, said here Thursday.

“As a long-time supporter for GMS cooperation, China will continue to be an active player in promoting environmental cooperation in the area to promote sustainable development,” he told the 3rd GMS Environment Ministers’ meeting.

“The Chinese government attaches great importance to cooperating with other GMS countries and we deem good domestic environmental performance as the basis for better sub-regional cooperation,” he said.

Xu also said China plans to provide potable water and air monitoring equipment to Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam to help strengthen the local efforts for environmental protection.

“Besides these, we will also organize policy and technical training programs on urban solid waste management for GMS countries,” he said. “We hope to do what we can to help improve regional environmental management capacity.”

Meanwhile, Xu said China’s Yunnan province and Guangxi region have witnessed improved environmental management capacity.

By 2010, in Yunnan province alone, there are 162 nature reserves, including 16 national reserves, covering a total area of 2.96 million hectares, he said.

In Guangxi autonomous region, there are 78 nature reserves of different kinds with a total area of 1.45 million hectares.

The forest coverage in the two areas reached 47.5 percent and 58 percent respectively.

The GMS countries have engaged in regional environmental cooperation since 2006 through the Core Environment Program and Biodiversity Conservation Corridors Initiative (CEP-BCI). This program, at cost of 30 million U.S. dollar, is expected to end in December 2011.

Cambodian Minister of Environment Mok Mareth said Thursday that the 3rd GMS Environment Ministers’ meeting would endorse the action plan 2012-2016 of CEP-BCI for environment cooperation to ensure balanced and sustainable economic growth in the GMS countries which include China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Cambodian girl dies from bird flu: WHO

Jul 29, 2011
AFP

PHNOM PENH – A FOUR-YEAR-OLD Cambodian girl has become the seventh person to die from bird flu in the country this year, officials said on Friday.

The child, from north-western Banteay Meanchey province, died on July 20, the health ministry and the World Health Organization said in a joint statement. Tests confirmed she had contracted H5N1 avian influenza.

‘I urge parents and guardians to keep children away from sick or dead poultry,’ Cambodian Health Minister Mam Bun Heng said.

All seven of Cambodia’s bird flu cases since January have been fatal. Six of the victims were children.

The girl is the 17th person in Cambodia known to have become infected with the virus and the 15th to die from complications of the disease since 2005, they said.

The H5N1 strain of avian influenza has killed 330 people worldwide since 2003, the statement said.

Cambodia trade grows by 56.7%

VNS (Hanoi)

HCM CITY — Trade between Cambodia and Viet Nam was worth US$1.35 billion in the first half of the year, a year-on-year increase of 56.7 per cent, trade officials said.

Addressing the Vietnamese Business Forum organised by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Vietnamese embassy in Phnom Penh on Tuesday, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of Viet Nam Le Danh Vinh said trade and transit agreements signed between the two countries have helped promote their commercial links.

Trade between the two countries topped $1.82 billion last year, while Cambodia licensed 89 Vietnamese FDI projects worth nearly $2 billion.

Vinh praised the significant contributions of the Vietnamese community in the neighbouring country, saying they were a major factor in the close ties between Cambodia and Viet Nam.

The chairman of the Vietnamese Business Association in Cambodia, Nguyen Van Dinh, said most Vietnamese businesses operating in Cambodia were medium and small enterprises who wanted easier access to bank loans.

Vinh wanted Vietnamese authorities to simplify import-export formalities, enabling temporary import and re-export of vehicles.

Ministers from Mekong nations look to extend environment program

PHNOM PENH, Jul 28, 2011 (dpa) — Environment ministers from the six nations that comprise the Greater Mekong Subregion group agreed Thursday to extend to 2016 a plan linking development with concerns for the environment.

The six are: Cambodia, China, Thailand, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. The original five-year program agreed in 2005 was designed to bring under one roof efforts that balanced development with protection for the environment.

Final approval rests with heads of government, who are scheduled to meet at a GMS summit in December.

The original 30-million-dollar cooperation program, known as the Core Environmental Program and Biodiversity Conservation Corridors Initiative, is scheduled to expire on December 31.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen told delegates that environmental issues had become “a hot topic” on the global agenda particularly in relation to energy.

“Energy is vital for economic growth, vital for development, but also poses a great environmental risk,” Hun Sen said, before alluding to a recent regional spat with Cambodia’s northern neighbour Laos about the proposed Xayaburi dam on the mainstream of the Mekong.

Laos recently announced it would postpone construction of the dam for further assessment of its potential impact following a storm of criticism over its earlier unilateral decision to go ahead with building it.

Experts fear the 3.8-billion-dollar dam would cause significant damage to fish stocks, which are a vital source of protein for some of the poorest people in the region, and which would also damage water and sediment flow.

“All member countries have to strengthen cooperation over water resource management on the Mekong River, which is a matter of life and death for people living (along its length),” Hun Sen said.

Sanath Ranawana, the senior natural resources specialist at the Asian Development Bank, which manages the program, said the GMS area was growing rapidly.

“So this program is quite important and crucial for balancing what this region might do in the future — (for) development in the future — with how it can manage its resources in a sustainable way,” he said.

Ranawana said the new program would link a number of key development areas to the environment, such as energy, agriculture, tourism and transport.

“The countries recognize very well that environment is an integral aspect that they need to take care of,” he said. “The ecosystem services that are generated from the conservation landscapes are what underpin the whole economic program.”

IRI Releases Tunisia Poll

July 12, 2011

Washington, DC – IRI today released its second public opinion survey (PDF) in Tunisia and its analysis (PDF). Independent public opinion surveys were not permitted under President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, and the lack of current survey data has deprived Tunisian civil society and government officials of an important tool to understand and respond to citizen priorities. Fieldwork for this poll was conducted from May 14-27, 2011.

The survey was undertaken in cooperation with Elka Consulting, a Tunisia-based market survey research firm that was selected by IRI for its capability to conduct surveys throughout the country. A total of 1,281 interviews were completed yielding an overall margin of error of ± 2.78 percent at the midrange of the 95 percent confidence level.

Source: http://www.iri.org/news-events-press-center/news/iri-releases-tunisia-poll-0

100,000 Copies Of Quran For Cambodian Muslims In Next 5 Years

PHNOM PENH, July 28 (Bernama) — The World Quran Endowment Programme organised by the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) with the cooperation of Restu Foundation will print 100,000 copies of the Quran with translation in the Khmer language for distribution to Muslims in Cambodia in the next five years.

Defence Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the effort was to fulfil the need of the Muslim community in Cambodia and to ensure that each Muslim family would have at least one copy of the Quran.

“There are about 500,000 Muslims in Cambodia and there is only one Quran for every six families. So, we hope generous Malaysians can assist Cambodian Muslims through this programme so that each family will have at least one Quran,” he told Malaysian journalists here Thursday.

Ahmad Zahid had earlier handed over 10,200 copies of donated Quran to the president of the Cambodian Islamic Community Development Foundation Othsman Hassan and Cambodia mufti Kamaruddion Yusof at Chrouk Romeat Mosque in Kampung Chhnang and Amar bin Yazid Mosque at KM9, to be distributed to Muslims here.

The minister said the programme aimed to print and distribute 20,000 copies of the Quran annually over a period of five years and this was expected to commence from the month of Ramadan next year.

“Translation of the Quran into the Khmer language has been completed and we are only waiting for sufficient funds to print the copies of Quran,” he said.

Earlier, speaking before 1,500 Cambodian Muslims at Chrouk Romeat Mosque, Ahmad Zahid said the 10,200 copies of Quran given away today showed the concern of the Malaysian government and people towards Muslims in Cambodia.

Kamaruddin said he was touched and thankful for the gift of the Quran, adding that the Cambodian Muslim community depended on outside help for copies of the Holy Book.

“We hope there will be enough Quran for us in future,” he added.

At the two presentation ceremonies, Ahmad Zahid also handed over 500 Muqaddam booklets and 1,000 prayer rugs for use by the Cambodian Muslims.

Cambodia Sends 32 Soldiers To Join Military Exercise In Mongolia

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia, July 29 (Bernama) — Cambodia on Friday morning dispatched a group of 32 soldiers to take part in the multi-national military exercise 2011 in Mongolia from July 29 to August 13.

Speaking at the Phnom Penh International Airport before departure, Choeun Chamnith, a battalion commander at the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, who leads the mission team, said that the participation would give chance to Cambodian troops to exchange knowledge and skills with other countries’ soldiers.

“It will help upgrade our troops’ capacity in military skills, rescue and humanitarian activities,” Xinhua news agency quoted Chamnith as saying.

He said the participation is a part of international peacekeeping operations under the framework of the United Nations and it reflects cooperation among countries in the region in peacekeeping efforts.

The participating countries in the Mongolia’s exercise are Cambodia, United States of America, Canada, India, China, Japan, Singapore, Russia and Vietnam.

This was the third time Cambodia has sent troops to join exercises in Mongolia.

Malaysia, Cambodia Looking At Cooperating In Producing Military Assets- Zahid

Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (R) with Tea Banh (Photo: DAP-news)

From Rhoma Ahmad Razali

PHNOM PENH, July 28 (Bernama) — Malaysia and Cambodia plan to forge cooperation in producing military assets, said Defence Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

He said the details would be worked out by the top brass of the militaries of the two countries.

“As Cambodia has a peacekeeping force, several military equipment can be produced together initially. For example, when Malaysia makes the change to replace the M16 assault rifle to the M4 version, Malaysia is also given permission to share the intellectual rights for the assembly of the M4 with several other countries.

“Cambodia welcomes Malaysia’s proposal to cooperate in joint production of military assets and maybe also with some other countries towards realising regional collaboration in the defence industry,” he told Malaysian journalists after calling on Cambodia’s deputy prime minister and defence minister Tea Banh at the latter’s office here Thursday.

He said stressed that the cooperation was merely to advance the defence industry regionally and was not aimed at forming any military blocs.

Ahmad Zahid, who arrived here Wednesday for a three-day visit, paid a courtesy call on Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen following the meeting with Tea Banh.

Tycoon lands surprise [-Is Mong Reththy sincere or it's just another CPP trick?]

Mong Reththy in Preah Sihanouk province on Sunday. (Photo by: Heng Chivoan)

Thursday, 28 July 2011
Khouth Sophak Chakrya and Daniel Sherrell
The Phnom Penh Post

One of the country’s best known tycoons yesterday delivered an impromptu speech to senators and parliamentarians that was as surprising in its content as it was in context.

Speaking at the end of a four-hour workshop on climate change adaptation at the National Assembly building, Mong Reththy spoke out at investors who evict people from areas covered by economic land concessions.

“Some investors claim that they need to evict people to develop their concessions, but I disagree with this tactic,” he said. “These people have been living on their land for generations. Where will they go when they’re kicked out?”

The businessman, senator and advisor to Prime Minister Hun Sen also urged investors to employ local residents on their concessions rather than hiring outsiders.

Economic land concessions, especially those granted to people and companies closely tied to the ruling party, have drawn intense criticism from opposition MPs, environmentalists and rights groups.

Mong Reththy’s portfolio spans transport, agro-industry and construction. He was dubbed “Hun Sen’s Money Man” in a cable from the US embassy in Phnom Penh published online by WikiLeaks earlier this month. The cable, written in 2007, claimed that his concession in Stung Treng province exceeded the legal size limit by 10 times.

After the cable was published, Mong Reththy told The Post that all of his business activities were legitimate. He said that his donations to infrastructure and education were intended “to help the people and the nation”, not to enable him to skirt the law.

Speaking at yesterday’s workshop he also called on the government to create a panel to verify that companies granted ELCs abided by their conditions. “We need to ensure that [the companies] are not using violence against women and children, that they are giving jobs to local people and complying with relevant labour laws,” he said.

The panel would function better if it was “supported by the private sector”, he said.

President of rights group Licadho, Pung Chhiv Kek, yesterday urged Mong Reththy to push for the reforms he outlined.

“Coming from him the statement has, if sincere, the potential for setting new standards in the way land concessions are attributed to big companies, and control the way the companies implement their contracts and comply with national labour law,” she wrote in an e-mail.

“If independent, the committee would not do miracles to solve the vast question of land resources and conflicts in Cambodia, but it certainly would be a way for better dialogue and fewer tensions in society.”

An official from the Ministry of Agriculture, who asked not to be named, said: “I do not agree with Mong Reththy’s proposal to form the committee. The government already has a national inspection process and each relevant ministry has an inspection department.”

Police warn beer protesters

Police stand guard while Angkor beer promoters protest for payment of overtime outside the Cambrew headquarters in Phnom Penh yesterday. (Photo by: Meng Kimlong)

Thursday, 28 July 2011
May Titthara
The Phnom Penh Post

After police ordered them to quiet down on the third day of their strike, the “beer girls” protesting in front of the head office of Cambrew Ltd took aim at the slogan of one of the Kingdom’s most popular brands, Angkor beer.

While about 25 police observed them from the other side of Norodom Boulevard yesterday morning, the women began singing “My country, my beer. My beer does not love Khmer”. The brand’s slogan is “My country, my beer”.

As they had on the previous two days, the women arrived at about 7am. The police arrived about three-and-a-half hours later. They ordered the more than 30 protesters to stop using drums and loudspeakers, telling them they were disturbing the neighbourhood. The women obliged, but soon after the police crossed to the other side of the street the women picked up their drums and started beating them again. They said they were becoming more determined each day of the strike.

“If the company does not resolve the dispute we will lay in the driveway and the trucks will have to run over us to get in,” said protester Kong Nuon. “We are always patient and calm with customers. We work so hard for the company, but it will not even talk to us. This is not fair,” she said.

The women say they are protesting against the company’s refusal to pay them overtime for working on Sunday, despite a ruling by the Arbitration Council earlier this month that sided with the beer-sellers.

An employee contract from the company obtained by The Post does not include overtime for working on Sundays, which is required by law. Sin Chan Thoeun, 32, said that although the police ordered them to stop drumming and shouting into loudspeakers they decided to continue doing so because their protest was non-violent. “We beat drums so that people can hear our sorrow. The actions of the police were a threat to the right to protest peacefully,” she said.

Company officials declined to comment yesterday.

Angkor beer promoters on strike to demand overtime pay

Armed police crack down on protest

Thursday, 28 July 2011
Tep Nimol
The Phnom Penh Post

Three women were slightly injured while participating in a strike of about 500 workers outside the Zongtex Garment Factory in Phnom Penh’s Dangkor district yesterday, a union representative said yesterday.

Suos Sokha, head of the Rights and Profit Workers Federation of Trade Unions, said yesterday the workers had been protesting against the dismissal of four of their representatives without any reason last Thursday, when about 20 armed police arrived.

“The girls’ hands were scratched and they had lumps on their heads and another police officer slapped one of their backs with his hand,” he said, adding police had pushed them into a mounted umbrella.

Workers were also demanding the company respect an Arbitration Council ruling handed down on June 19 asking the factory owner to pay each worker US$4.50 to cover the cost of a medical check, he said.

Zongtex’s administration chief, who only gave her name as Chheng, said the company would solve the dispute but declined to giver further comment. Va Yuvavadhana, chief of the Ministry of Labour’s bureau of labour, said police were legally entitled to break up the workers’ protest.

“The four workers ended a three-month contract already and the company informed the ministry of their dismissal correctly,” he said.

He would file an application today requesting the Arbitration Council order the protestors return to work, which would have to be respected if approved, he added.

Over fishing [by illegal Viet fishermen]: Fears over island fish stocks

Thursday, 28 July 2011
Sen David
The Phnom Penh Post
Over fishing

VILLAGERS on Koh Kyong island in Preah Sihanouk province are preparing a complaint over more than 300 allegedly unlicensed fishermen who they say are illegally operating in local waters.

Loung Bunny, chief of the Association for Natural Protection in Ochroy commune, said yesterday that fishermen from Vietnam’s Phú Quoc island and provinces around Cambodia were threatening local livelihoods. “Vietnamese fishermen use their modern, mechanised boats to fish [without permission] in this commune” he said. “We are collecting thumbprints for the villagers to file a complaint to the local authorities and the Fisheries Administration in early August.” Fisherwoman from Koh Kyong island, 47-year-old Eang Hern, said yesterday her daily earnings had dropped from 50,000 riels (US$12) three months ago to 20,000 riels due to overfishing.

But Duong Sam Ath, chief of the provincial Fisheries Administration , yesterday denied any unlicensed Vietnamese fishermen were operating in the area.

Winners of Asia’s Version of Nobel Prize Revealed

Koul Panha (2nd from Left) during a Voice of Civil Society boradcast (Photo: Koul Panha)

Thursday, July 28th, 2011
Voice of America

Two Indian philanthropists and a Philippine non-profit development organization are among the winners of the Philippines prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Awards.

The annual awards, named after a popular Philippine president who was killed in a plane crash in 1957, are widely seen as Asia’s equivalent of the Nobel Prizes.

Harish Hande, a U.S. trained engineer and entrepreneur, was cited by the foundation that administers the awards for his passionate and pragmatic efforts” to provide affordable solar power to over one million poor and rural Indians.

Nileema Mishra has established a center that provides small loans to farmers, plus self-help projects for small villages.

The Alternative Indigenous Development Foundation, based in the central Philippine province of Negros Occidental, was also cited for its work in combating rural poverty. The organization has introduced an environmentally-friendly pumping system that provides villages easy access to clean water.

Other winners of the 2011 Ramon Magsaysay Awards include Cambodian Koul Panha, the founder of a group that advocates for free and fair elections in his country’s nascent democracy; Indonesian entrepreneur Tri Mumpuni, who has built community-run hydropower plants in rural communities; and her compatriot Hasanain Juaini, who has established an Islamic boarding school for girls.

The winners will receive a medallion and cash prize at an awards ceremony in the Philippines on August 31.

Cambodia Struggling to Meet Asean Integration

Foreign ministers and government officials attend the US – Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum in Nusa Dua on Indonesia’s resort island of Bali, July 23, 2011 (Photo: AP)

Thursday, 28 July 2011
Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer | Phnom Penh

“All kinds of consumer goods are imported. All these things slow down economic growth and the progress of our economy.”

Cambodia’s economy is lagging behind other Asean countries, making it hard to meet the level of other Asean countries, finance officials said Wednesday.

Cambodian and Asean economic officials were meeting in Phnom Penh to push for economic integration for 2015.

Hang Chhuon Narong, secretary of state for the Ministry of Finance, said Cambodia was facing inflation of 6.5 percent, which was curbing economic growth.

Cambodia’s per capita GDP of $830 is less than all other Asean countries except Burma’s $400, he said. By comparison, Singapore’s is $35,000; Thailand’s is $4,000; and Vietnam’s is $1,200.

Yem Ponharith, secretary-general of the Human Rights Party, said during the meeting that Cambodia lacked local markets for production and consumption.

“All kinds of consumer goods are imported,” he said. “All these things slow down economic growth and the progress of our economy.”

Chan Sophal, president of the Cambodian Economic Association, said Asean countries had done well to narrow development gaps, but years of war and strife put Cambodia well behind its neighbors.

“We have to work hard to push our economy toward a higher rate, not just growth of 5 percent, 6 percent or 7 percent, but growth up to 9 percent or 10 percent,” he said. “Then Cambodia can move close to some countries around us.”

The World Bank is projecting a 6.7 percent economic growth rate for Cambodia this year. That figure is lower than the Cambodian Economic Institute’s estimate of an 8.7 percent rate.

Champion Rower Seeks Justice in Brother’s Khmer Rouge Killing

Kerry Hamill, sailing with his then-girlfriend, Gail Colley, in the 1970s. (Photo: Rob Hammil)

Rob Hamill, testifying in 2009 at the trial of the Khmer Rouge’s “Duch.” (Annie Goldson)

July 28, 2011
Sarah Williams | Washington, D.C.
Voice of America

Olympic rower Rob Hamill is on a quest. Not for gold, but for justice. Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge captured and killed his brother, Kerry, in 1978. And now, Hamill is fighting to bring the murderers to justice. That quest is the subject of a new documentary, “Brother Number One,” which premiered this week at the New Zealand International Film Festival.

The cameras followed Hamill as he retraced his brother’s path through Cambodia and testified at the first U.N.-backed war crimes tribunal of former Khmer Rouge leaders. The New Zealander said he realized he needed to pursue the case while competing in the first trans-Atlantic rowing race 1997.

Feeling the pain

“Whether it was the ocean, being on the sea, or whether it was just the exhaustion and on the edge sort of, I ended up grieving for Kerry at sea.” Hamill told VOA in an interview. “I realized at that time I was going to have to do something, at some point. I didn’t know when that would be or how that would look, but it was certainly going to be at least a trip to Cambodia, along the path that Kerry took.”

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Prison Officials Questioned After Inspection

Thursday, 28 July 2011
Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer | Phnom Penh

“The Interior Ministry must make a thorough investigation. If any prison official commits a penal offense in prison, that official must be sent to court in conformity with the law. This is a model to strengthen prison management.”

The Ministry of Interior on Thursday called in five officials at Prey Sar prison for questioning over the management of the Phnom Penh facility.

A ministry spokesman said only that the five had been called in for questioning about “irregularities,” but human rights groups say bribery is a common practice, allowing rich prisoners better treatment.

The head of the prison was removed from his position last month, after a ministry inspection of Prey Sar, which is the main facility for prisoners from the Phnom Penh courts. The head of Banteay Meanchey provincial prison was removed from his post Wednesday.

Khieu Sopheak, a spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, said the Prey Sar officials were called in for questioning but no decision to their fate had yet been made. He declined to name them.

Chan Soveth, lead monitor for the rights group Adhoc, said wealthy prisoners were able to pay bribes for larger cells and more visitor privileges in prisons across the country.

Thursday’s summons was a “very good point for warning other prison officials” and improving the nation’s overcrowded prisons, he said.

Am Sam Ath, chief investigator for the rights group Licadho, said the summons signaled a positive step toward overall prison reform.

“The Interior Ministry must make a thorough investigation,” he said. “If any prison official commits a penal offense in prison, that official must be sent to court in conformity with the law. This is a model to strengthen prison management.”

Cambodia, North Korea Update Package of Agreements

Thursday, 28 July 2011
Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer | Phnom Penh

“And both sides are committed to encourage trade exchange.”

Cambodia and North Korea agreed on a seven-point agreement on economics, agriculture, information technology, health and other initiatives, in an effort to strengthen bilateral cooperation.

The North Korean delegation was led by Ri Myung-san, deputy minister of trade for North Korea. The agreements included resource sharing for improved production of rice, corn and beef, as well as a reforestation project, in Cambodia. Cambodia agreed to share expertise in aquaculture.

Wednesday’s agreements were a revamping of deals the countries have had since 1993.

“And both sides are committed to encourage trade exchange,” Ouch Borith, secretary of state for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told reporters following the half-day meeting Wednesday.

Cambodia and North Korea enjoy friendly relations, in part due to former king Norodom Sihanouk’s close ties to the government there. North Korea has little investment in Cambodia, however, save for a few restaurants.

Ouch Borith said North Korea showed some interest in importing Cambodian rice and other agricultural products.

Cambodia-North Korea: Phnom Penh and Pyongyang seek "a solid trade relationship"

Kim Il Sung (L) and Sihanouk (R)

The objective is to strengthen cooperation in agriculture. For years, the North has suffered from chronic food crises, caused by the disastrous economic policies of the regime of Kim Jong-il. Ties between Pyongyang and Phnom Penh since the days of King Sihanouk and Kim Il-sung. Conflicting opinions …

Thursday, July 28, 2011
By Asia News

Phnom Penh (AsiaNews / Agencies) – The establishment of a “solid business relationship” with particular attention in the “agricultural sector” is the objective of the delegation of senior North Korean officials visiting Phnom Penh this week. The group, led by Deputy Trade Minister Ri Myong San, met Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong, to discuss “new possibilities of cooperation” for the development of both countries. The attention to the agricultural sector – Cambodia is one of the major rice producers – seems to be related to chronic food shortages that affect citizens of North Korea, because of the disastrous socio-economic policies promoted by the regime of Kim Jong-il.

Re-proposing an initial agreement between the two countries signed in 1993, the parties aim to develop long-dormant trade ties, reports The Phnom Penh Post. Cambodian officials point out that “there are zero economic and trade exchanges between Cambodia and North Korea at the moment”. However, the two nations have a long history of friendship and cooperation, so that the former Cambodian King Norodom Sihanouk – a beloved and controversial figure, who dominated second half of the 1900 – maintained close personal relationships with the “Eternal President “Kim Il-sung, father of the” Dear Leader “now in power.

Analysts and observers express mixed reactions to a possible strengthening of ties between Phnom Penh and Pyongyang. Chantrabot Ros, a professor at the Royal Academy of Cambodia, said that on the one hand it promoted the export of agricultural products, but also remembers that visits by senior officials of ASEAN countries (Association that brings together 10 nations of South-East Asia) to North Korea are “very rare”.

Other observers note, however, that the North Korean regime is in urgent need of food and agricultural products and this represents “an opportunity” for Cambodia. Phnom Penh offers rice, wheat and potatoes. For years the government has initiated policies to boost exports of food, so much so that Prime Minister Hun Sen has set as a target to market one million tons of rice by 2015 aboard.

Cambodia’s Genocide and Catholic Slaughter

Some of Cambodia’s lost generation.

Wednesday, 27 July 2011
By George J. Marlin
The Catholic Thing

After five years of legal bickering and $100 million of expenditures, a United Nations-supported tribunal is finally bringing to trial four surviving henchmen of the Cambodian Khmer Rouge on charges of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. The defendants – all of whom have pleaded not guilty – include Nuon Chea (84), former Chief Communist ideologue and 79-year-old ex-head of the state of Khieu Samphan. Amid the slow-moving process of finally seeking justice over Cambodia’s “killing fields,” it has emerged as well that Catholics bore a disproportionate amount of the violence in Cambodia.

This sorry episode has been so neglected – and by now almost forgotten – that a little history is in order. The darkest period in Cambodia’s history was 1975-1979, when the communist Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot, terrorized the nation. Pol Pot and his cohorts, many of whom were educated in France and received militant training from the French Communist Party, boasted that they were influenced by Jean Paul Sartre’s doctrine of “necessary violence” and Jean Jacques Rousseau’s charge that the perfect state must “possess men and all their powers.”

On the way towards establishing the Marxist paradise, therefore, Pol Pot – whose brother-in-law said: “Pol Pot thought that he was above everyone else on the whole planet … a god on earth” – eliminated Cambodia’s property and business owners and its intellectual class. And faithful to Rousseau’s dictum that “cosmopolitanism” was the root of all evil, Pol Pot ordered the depopulation of the nation’s urban centers.

Over half of Cambodia’s city dwellers, about 4 million people, were ordered to leave their homes, abandon their possessions, and march for days without food, water, or medical help until they reached rural “reeducation” (and detention) camps.

“New People,” as survivors of camp cruelties were called, were trained to hate patriotic proletarians who were “lackeys of the capitalist imperialists.” To ensure that New People did not develop any lasting relationships with other inmates, many were transferred to different camps numerous times.

Declaring that there “are enemies everywhere within our ranks, in the center, at headquarters, in the zones and out in the villages,” the Khmer Rouge regime went on a killing spree to eliminate “useless mouths” and various elements of their society.

In one district alone, over 40,000 innocent inhabitants were condemned to death after being denounced as CIA collaborators. The entire population of the nation’s eastern zone were condemned as traitors. Between May and December 1978, 250,000 of the zone’s 1.7 million people were slaughtered. Tens of thousands of the surviving population died while marching to concentration camps in other zones.

Not one zone in the country escaped the cruelties of this reign of terror. Various studies have reported that deaths from forced labor, starvation, malnutrition, famine, and genocide totaled approximately 2 million or 26 percent of Cambodia’s population. This death count included 34 percent of men under the age of thirty, 40 percent between thirty and forty, and 54 percent of men and women over the age of sixty. The nation’s birth rate declined to zero; 38 percent of surviving adult women were widows. The post-Pol Pot population was 64 percent women with 35 percent of them heads of households.

But there’s more. In his authoritative 1995 report, Le Genocide Khmer Rouge: Une Analyse Demographique, Marek Sliwinski notes that during the Pol Pot killing sprees Cambodian Roman Catholics “were the group that met the worst fate; at least 48.6 percent of them disappeared.” Only 4 percent of Cambodians were Catholic (85 percent were Buddhists), but they suffered disproportionately because most lived in cities, were of Vietnamese origin, and were regarded as colonial imperialists. In the capital city of Phnom Penh, the Catholic Cathedral was one of the only buildings completely destroyed.

For decades, the global Left has either denied these atrocities or has remained silent. The French journalist, Jean-François Revel, has pointed out that future historians reading headlines concerning Cambodia (1975-1979) in American, British and French newspapers of the period “could in no way guess that methodical genocide had taken place there that exterminated between a fourth and a third of the population.”

Fr. Francois Ponchaud, a Catholic missionary who served in Cambodia for ten years until he was expelled in the mid-1970s, was shocked when his 1977 book about Pol Pot’s murderous regime, Cambodge année zero, was dismissed by French intellectuals who were unwilling to acknowledge communist genocide. “After the publication of my book, I went through a religious crisis,” said Fr. Ponchaud, who returned to Cambodia in the late 1990s. “I felt abandoned by God. Not only on account of the horrors I had witnessed in Cambodia, but because people were casting doubts on everything that I had actually seen or heard. And yet if anything, I had understated rather than overstated the truth.”

One can only hope that the U.N. tribunal distinguishes facts from ideological fantasies and finally renders a just verdict.

George J. Marlin is an editor of The Quotable Fulton Sheen and the author of The American Catholic Voter.

[Thai] Rice exporters feel threatened: Cheaper neighbours' supplies may be tapped

28/07/2011
Phusadee Arunmas
Bangkok Post

Thai rice exporters are already looking for alternative supplies from Vietnam and Cambodia in case the new government makes the price too dear for export, which could halve volume to only 5 million tonnes next year for a revenue loss of 60-70 billion baht.

The Thai Rice Exporters Association (TREA) has been crying foul for a while now regarding Pheu Thai’s announced policy to allow farmers to mortgage their entire harvest at 15,000 baht a tonne for white rice and 20,000 baht for fragrant or Hom Mali rice.

Even though the party has said purchases would not start until November, rice prices have been rising each week since before the July 3 general election (see table).

Thai rice prices, the benchmark for Asia, rose by 0.7% yesterday from a week earlier on optimism the new government will buy the grain at above-market rates, said the TREA after its weekly price-setting meeting.

It said the price of 100% grade-B white rice reached $567 a tonne, while 25% broken rice rose to $506 a tonne from $502 last week.

Vice-president Charoen Laothamatas said that if the mortgage programme returns, the free-on-board price of Hom Mali would reach US$1,400 a tonne, making it difficult to market.

“If Thai exporters cannot buy such expensive rice for export, they may opt for much cheaper rice from Vietnam, Cambodia or Burma, as they must maintain their market bases and customers. With the Asean free-trade agreement, such an alternative would be possible,” he said.

Some rice exporters and millers have already established trading firms or representative offices in Cambodia and Vietnam to purchase rice for export to foreign customers.

“We have to accept that Vietnam’s rice quality has improved a lot. Fragrant rice in Vietnam is $400 to $500 a tonne cheaper than Thai Hom Mali rice and $150 to $200 lower than Thai Pathum Thani rice,” said Mr Charoen.

He said competition from Vietnam had resulted in Thai Hom Mali’s share of traditional markets such as Hong Kong dropping to only 50% from 85% normally.

Thailand is also at disadvantage in terms of logistics, as the cost for shipping a 20-foot container to the US is $1,700 to $1,800 from Thailand but only $1,350 from Vietnam. Rice exports to China would be $220 more than the $100 cost of shipments from Vietnam.

Chookiat Ophaswongse, the TREA honorary president, predicts exports could be cut in half if the government has no measures to assist exporters.

That means export revenue losses of 60-70 billion baht based on this year’s expected 10 million tonnes.

“The government must have measures to support exporters such as offering the government’s stockpile at special price or open bidding for the stocks rather than asking only some exporters to offer prices,” he said.

TREA president Korbsook Iamsuri said that while exports should be able to meet this year’s target of 10 million tonnes, three areas of concern remain.

They are the government’s rice mortgage policy jacking up prices; the baht appreciating further, also making Thai rice more expensive; and India’s plan to export at least one million tonnes of rice from next month, as its price beats Thailand’s by $100 a tonne.

As well, India’s stockpile, normally about 20 million tonnes, is now unusually high at 60 million tonnes.

Thailand exported 6.3 million tonnes of rice in the first half of this year, up by 58.3% year-on-year.

Cambodia, DPRK sign deal to speed up implementation of economic, trade cooperation

July 27, 2011
Source: Xinhua

Cambodia and Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Wednesday signed an agreement to boost the implementation of economic and trade cooperation.

The deal was inked between Ouch Borith, secretary of state for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and Ri Myong San, visiting DPRK’s vice-minister of foreign trade, after the first Cambodia-DPRK Joint Commission meeting on economic, trade, scientific and technical cooperation. After the signing ceremony, Ouch Borith told reporters Cambodia and DPRK have signed seven cooperation agreements since 1993.

They include the agreement on economic, trade, cultural and technical cooperation, trade exchange deal, investment protection deal, Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation between Cambodia and DPRK foreign ministries, IT joint committee establishment agreement, cultural exchange cooperation, and water way transportation agreement.

“Even though all these agreements have been in place for nearly 20 years, the implementation of the agreements has not been materialized,” he said. “Therefore, the deal we signed today is to boost the implementation of these agreements for the interests of the two countries’ peoples.”

Ouch Borith said that Cambodia has also seen DPRK as a potential market for Cambodian rice, corn, cassava and bean; in exchange, Cambodia expects to import agricultural machinery from DPRK.

On the investment side, Cambodia wants to see DPRK investors in small hydroelectric dams, agriculture, industry and mineral resources, he added.

Remains of 112 volunteers returned from Cambodia

July, 28 2011
VNS (Hanoi)

TAY NINH — The remains of 112 volunteer soldiers who died in Cambodia were reburied yesterday in Tan Bien District’s Martyrs’ Cemetery in the southern border province of Tay Ninh.

The remains were located and collected by two teams from the Military Zone 7 High Command, the Tay Ninh provincial Military High Command, K70 and K71, from Cambodia’s Siem Reap, Battdombong, Kongpongcham and Pailin provinces. The teams worked during the dry season from November 2010 to July 2011.

With the support of the Cambodian Royal Army, the authorities and local people, the K70 and K71 teams have so far located, exhumed and repatriated 2,546 sets of remains of Vietnamese martyrs.

On the same day as the Tay Ninh reburial, the neighbouring province of Binh Phuoc also held a ceremony to rebury 65 sets of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers’ remains from Kratie, Mundulkiri and Kongphongthom provinces of Cambodia.

To date, Binh Phuoc has exhumed a total of 2,149 sets of remains of Vietnamese soldiers fallen in Cambodia and the Binh Phuoc battlefield. Yesterday, the southern province of Kien Giang and Military Zone 9 High Command co-organised a reburial for 112 sets of remains of Vietnamese experts and volunteer soldiers killed in Cambodia.

Dong Thap Province also reburied 48 sets of remains of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers who laid down their lives for international tasks in Cambodia. Over the past 10 years, the province has collected and repatriated 1,035 sets of remains of Vietnamese martyrs from Cambodia.

GMS deal ratification ‘crucial’ for this year

28/07/2011
Chatrudee Theparat
Bangkok Post

Thailand is being pressed to ratify cross-border transport agreements before the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) meets in December in order to benefit from greater regional cooperation.

The six GMS members have reached 20 agreements to facilitate the movement of goods and people, but Thailand has ratified only 14 of them.

Two draft agreements were scheduled to go before parliament earlier this year, but the House was dissolved in May before they could be approved.

Under the agreements, goods arriving in transit to a third country will be inspected once at a checkpoint, then sealed and sent on without the need for further inspection at the final destination.

The agreements also include implementation of World Health Organisation regulations for immigration procedures.

Thailand, Laos and Vietnam have ratified agreements for two checkpoints _ Mukdahan/Savannakhet and Aranyaprathet/Poipet.

Only Thailand and Burma have yet to ratify all the agreements, while Laos, Cambodia, southern China and Vietnam have fulfilled their commitments.

Poramathee Vimolsiri, a deputy secretary-general of the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB), said his agency expects parliament will approve the agreements soon, hopefully in time for Thailand, Laos and southern China to implement them early next year.

Thailand and other GMS members must also speed up improvements to their information technology systems to facilitate customs and immigration procedures, he said.

Mr Poramathee also said Thailand needs an economic restructuring in which cheap-labour industries are relocated to neighbouring countries, with the Thai government supporting them in term of loans and other facilities.

The NESDB recently hosted a seminar in various border towns aimed at educating the public and investors on both economic opportunities and effects of the agreements.

Mr Poramathee said regional road development is almost complete, with only a few missing stretches of road, rail and bridge left.

Since 2000, the Thai government has provided aid and loans for 19 projects worth a combined 12 billion baht for infrastructure linking neighbouring countries – 14 projects in Laos, two in Burma and three in Cambodia.

The agency estimates 189 billion baht will be needed for further infrastructure development over the next five years to strengthen links under various cooperation agreements and the Asean Economic Community.

These include a high-speed rail network, roads, border town development and border economic zones.

Demilitarised Zone versus de-politicised approach

July 28, 2011
By Suthichai Yoon
The Nation

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) may have ordered Thai and Cambodian troops to withdraw from the “Provisional Demilitarised Zone” but things on the border and domestic politics on both sides aren’t as simple as viewed in The Hague.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, the current Asean chair, has publicly expressed satisfaction that both Thailand and Cambodia have said they will respect ICJ’s July 18 order to set up the 17-square-kilometre DMZ next to the Phra Viharn/Preah Vihear Temple.But public intentions and actual implementation are two different things and both Bangkok and Phnom Penh have their own reasons for dilly-dallying until things fit their agenda before showing their respect for the World Court’s verdict.

Cambodian Premier Hun Sen has said his government won’t pull out its troops from the designated DMZ until Thailand agrees to a timetable. In addition, he also ruled out bilateral talks on a timetable with Thailand. Hun Sen wants Indonesia to be on the same negotiation table for the talks to reach any meaningful conclusion.

Thailand has publicly said it is ready to go along with the verdict. But there are a few – and not necessarily simple – things to be cleared up in the domestic scene before any concrete action can be taken.

First, acting Premier Abhisit Vejjajiva has said that how military withdrawal could be effected should be an issue to be hammered out by the General Border Committee (GBC). That practically means that Thailand only wants the troop pullout on both sides of the border to be a bilateral issue – not a trilateral topic. Thailand wants only two parties to be involved. Cambodia wants at least three.

Then, there is the question of Thailand’s own political transition after the July 3 election. Even if Hun Sen has welcomed the new government expected to be led by Yingluck Shinawatra, Thaksin’s sister, it doesn’t mean that everything will be plain sailing for the Cambodian side with the change of administrations. Thailand’s domestic politics are usually more complicated than most people assume anyway.

Even if things should look brighter for Phnom Penh and Bangkok with the installation of a new government, the parliamentary process and constitutional “interpretation” of the world court’s order under the new regime could see road blocks spring up along the way.

For one thing, the new House of Representatives can be convened no earlier than the first or second week of August, after which a new prime minister will be voted in around the middle of next month. If everything goes as planned, the new premier will form her Cabinet by the end of August.

But that doesn’t mean the new government could go about ordering the withdrawal of troops from the proposed DMZ immediately. The new Council of Ministers is required by law to deliver its policy to Parliament.

Though with its solid majority in the House, the new Pheu Thai-led coalition government should get its policy statement approved without much difficulty, things may not move along quite as smoothly as the new government would like to see when it comes to the sensitive issue of territorial integrity with neighbours.

Some lawmakers, especially those in the Democrat Party-led opposition, will likely cite the provisions of Article 190 in the Constitution that requires prior parliamentary approval before the government can enter into any agreement with a foreign country that is related to “territorial integrity and issues that could provide far-reaching consequences on national security and economic, as well as social, areas.”

Both the Democrats, who were running the country until they lost badly in the July 3 election, and Pheu Thai, the opposition-turned-ruling party, have exploited the Thai-Cambodian border issue for their political benefit all along. No doubt, substantial segments of the yellow and red shirts will be adopting opposing stands over this highly controversial “hot potato”. Political polarisation will rear its ugly head once again.

The fact that Hun Sen and Thaksin are close friends suggests, at least superficially, that the hostility that marked the two countries’ relations during Abhisit’s premiership should disappear in favour of a more cordial atmosphere. But that kind of personal closeness between the two could boomerang. If Yingluck can’t handle it, her brother’s close ties with the Cambodian leader could draw criticism of collusion and conflict of interests.

That could undermine any chances of restoring “professional, mutually beneficial” relations between the two countries.

The World Court could declare a “demilitarised zone” on the Thai-Cambodian border. But only the two governments, with or without a third party, can implement a “de-politicised zone” to mark a new beginning of good neighbourly relations.

June Textile agrees to pay severance compensation

Injured June textile workers during protest (Photo: The Phnom Penh Post)

July 28, 2011
Fibre2fashion (India)

June Textile Factory, located in Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh’s Sen Sok district, has agreed to make severance payment to around 4,000 employees in keeping with a ruling of the Arbitration Council. This has been announced by Administration Director of the company, Albert Teoh.

The decision of the company comes following months of agitation by workers demanding severance compensation after the factory got gutted due to fire during March this year.

The Arbitration Council, in a decision issued last month, directed June Textile to pay up to three months salary to its employees as a pre-notice period compensation prior to their termination.

The factory was also directed to pay outstanding amount of remaining annual leave and indemnity payments calculated as 15 days salary multiplied by the number of years worked, with a ceiling at six years, to the workers.

Mr. Teoh said that over 2,000 workers, who had already accepted the payments of US$ 20 per year worked initially offered by the company as compensation, would also be paid additional compensation in accordance with the ruling, in August.

Student Finds New Systems of Study Abroad

Mao Chansoknea is a student at St. Lawrence University, in New York. (Photo: Courtesy of Mao Chansoknea)

Wednesday, 27 July 2011
Huy Samphors, VOA Khmer | Washington, D.C

“If the student doesn’t study hard, in Cambodia he or she can bribe to pass. However, in Hong Kong and the US, if the student does not study, he or she will definitely fail…”

Mao Chansoknea is a 21-year-old graduate of Sonthor Mok high school in Phnom Penh. After graduation, she received a scholarship to the United World College in Hong Kong, which offers a pre-university program to help students prepare for further studies.

She went on to study at St. Lawrence University, in New York, majoring in economics and global studies.

She told VOA Khmer recently that the systems of study in Cambodia, Hong Kong and the US “are totally different.”

“If the student doesn’t study hard, in Cambodia he or she can bribe to pass,” she said. “However, in Hong Kong and the US, if the student does not study, he or she will definitely fail. There is no way to help them pass besides to study hard by themselves.”

In the US, she said, students must read and research. “This work makes them gain knowledge gradually,” she said, “while in Cambodia, students usually sit still, listening to teachers and lecturers, taking notes and not doing much research.”

Mao Chansoknea said she hopes to continue in economics, where she said Cambodia is lacking. More students of economics would be a great benefit to the country, she said.

She encouraged Cambodian students to study hard and commit to broad research.

“If we don’t develop ourselves,” she said, “how can we develop the country?”

Tribunal Judge Sees At Least Two Years of Trials Ahead

The newly appointed judge of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), Mr. Siegfried Blunk (R) from Germany, attends the official sworn-in ceremony at a hotel in Phnom Penh September 5, 2008. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea (CAMBODIA)

Wednesday, 27 July 2011
Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer | Phnom Penh

“Blunk, whose office has come under criticism for its handling of cases 003 and 004, said neither case has been dismissed. (sic!)”

As the UN-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal moves toward its most complicated trial to date, the international investigative judge for the court told VOA Khmer he anticipates at least two years of proceedings.

The judge, Siegfried Blunk, also said there are court mechanisms in place to ensure health leaders are tried even “in the unlikely event” other defendants fall too ill to stand trial.

“You are right to be concerned about this,” Blunk said in an exclusive interview. “Because some of the accused are within an advanced age.”

The defendants—Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan, Ieng Sary and Ieng Thirith—are nearly all above 80 years old, and there were widespread concerns at the outset of the tribunal that they would not live to see a day in court.

That day is drawing closer, however, with a preliminary hearing conducted earlier this month and a full trial slated to start later this year.

The suspects of most concern are Nuon Chea, 85, who has high blood pressure and eye problems; Ieng Sary, 86, who has heart and back problems; and Ieng Thirith, 79, who complains of insomnia and vision impairment.

Blunk said preparations for the trial have included interviews with 700 witnesses and the gathering of some 10,000 documents, for what he called “one of the largest, most complex” trials in international justice. The investigating judges admitted 2,000 civil party applicants, and a Pre-Trial Chamber decision added 1,700 more.

Blunk said victims would participate in the trial on a “grand scale,” in a process that could last up to two years, or more, depending on defense strategies, the health of the accused, cooperation from witnesses and other factors.

Blunk, whose office has come under criticism for its handling of cases 003 and 004, said neither case has been dismissed. (sic!)

Meanwhile, he said, joint groups of Cambodian and international investigators are working to “great success,” he said, while his work with Cambodian investigating judge You Bunleng has been done “in the spirit of cooperation.”

The investigating judges have to deal with many steps before finishing either case, he said.

“In Case 003, in which the names of the suspects are still confidential, the co-investigating judges also focused on the question of whether the suspects are among those most responsible for Khmer Rouge’s crimes,” he said.

The tribunal is mandated to try those most responsible, he said. His office has concluded the investigation “for the time being,” he said.

The international prosecutor for the tribunal has submitted an appeal requesting further investigation, including questioning of the two prime suspects. Meanwhile, civil party victims say they have had difficulty filing for that case, because the names of the suspects remain confidential.

However, that does not mean the case is dismissed, Blunk said. “Not at all.”

His office was now “vigorously investigating” Case 004, which contains three more confidential suspects, he said, including determining whether they too were among those “most responsible” for Khmer Rouge atrocities.

“I myself have traveled to Takeo and Pursat provinces, and as far away as Battambang and Kratie provinces, to interview key witnesses,” he said. “Among them, by the way, were members of the National Assembly, who expressed thanks for the great work the tribunal is doing.” (sic!)

A number of steps are still required before the investigating judges make their closing orders for both cases, he said. “This could end either in indictment or dismissal.”

Khmer Rouge Trial Judge Defends Tribunal

Herr Doktor Siegfried Blunk said his office is “vigorously investigating” Case 4

July 27, 2011
Lou Lorscheider | Washington
Voice of America

An international investigative judge overseeing the prosecution of war crimes suspects in Cambodia is defending the tribunal from critics who claim the court has failed to pursue a politically sensitive case against two former senior Khmer Rouge military officers. Judge Siegfried Blunk spoke to VOA’s Khmer Service in an exclusive interview Wednesday ahead of the expected start of the trial of the four most-senior survivors of the hard-line communist movement of the 1970s.

Blunk and fellow judge You Bunleng were criticized last month by international tribunal prosecutors and court monitors who allege that the two jurists closed a case against the military officers after a 20-month probe, without interviewing the suspects or visiting sites where atrocities were alleged to have taken place.

Blunk told VOA that the case, known as “Case 3,” has not been dismissed.

“The co-investigating judges also focused on the question of whether the suspects are among those most responsible for Khmer Rouge crimes. Because only for the most responsible, does the tribunal have jurisdiction,” Blunk said.

Blunk acknowledged that the investigating judges have preliminarily wrapped up their probe of Case 3, but said no final decision on whether to go forward has been reached. The chief prosecutor has submitted an appeal asking for further investigation, including the direct questioning of the suspects, but no ruling has been issued.

“According to the tribunal’s rules, there are many steps that must be taken before the investigating judges can make their final decision, which is called a closing order. Now, in Case 3, only the first of those many steps was taken,” he said.

Blunk spoke just weeks before the expected trial of 79-year-old Khieu Samphan, the nominal head of state for Cambodia during the 1975-1979 Khmer Rouge rule; 84-year-old Nuon Chea, who is described as the Khmer Rouge’s chief ideologue; and former foreign minister Ieng Sary and his wife, Ieng Thirith. Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot died in 1998.

Historians say that as many as 2 million Cambodians died from execution, starvation or other abuses under the Khmer Rouge.

Blunk said the trial of Khieu Samphan and his colleagues, known as Case 2, could take two years.

“This trial will be one of the largest and most complex in the history of international justice, if not the largest and the most complex. The investigating judges have admitted more than 2,000 civil parties to Case 2. A further 1,700 were recently added by the pre-trial chamber. So there is victim participation on a grand scale,” he said.

The judge also said his office is “vigorously investigating” Case 4, which centers on three more confidential suspects. He said the status of that case will also be determined in large part by whether the suspects are found to be among the most responsible for Khmer Rouge crimes.

Critics say their quest for justice is further complicated by the fact that the suspects in Cases 3 and 4 are unidentified, preventing civil plaintiffs from filing pleadings in the case.

The trial of the four principal defendants is the major event for the United Nations-backed tribunal, which was created to demonstrate impartial justice and foster national healing in the Southeast Asian nation.