Shadowy Workrooms Hurting Garment Industry

By Taing Sarada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
04 February 2010

Early one recent morning, Tol Sokhim rode her bicycle from her home in Kandal province’s Prek Treng village to a small workroom 2 kilometers away. The 20-year-old had recently quit work at the Good Fame garment factory, a bit farther away, for the workroom, to save on transportation costs and to feel a bit more secure in her commute.

Tol Sokhim is like many workers who have begun working in a shadowy area of garment manufacturing in the country, that of subcontracted workrooms, unregistered businesses where conditions can be worse than factories and labor laws ignored.

“The main factory is far from my house, and I have to spend more, so I changed to work in the workroom near my house,” she said. That saved her $6.50 a month, a considerable percentage of her wages.

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Status of Deported Uighurs Still Unknown

By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
04 February 2010

The fates of 20 Muslim Uighurs forcibly returned to China from Cambodia in December remains unknown, but a government official said the case is now up to the Chinese.

“Cambodia does not take any responsibility while these Chinese Uighurs are in China, under Chinese sovereignty,” said Koy Kuong, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “Cambodia only implemented its own laws on illegal immigrants.”

Twenty-two Uighur asylum seekers traveled to Cambodia late last year, reportedly fleeing unrest in their home province of Xinjiang in July. After filing asylum bids with UNHCR, two fled, and 20, including two children, were forced back to China on Dec. 19, 2009.

Opponents of the deportation said it was made against international law and under pressure from the Chinese government, which handed Cambodia a $1 billion aid package a day after the Uighurs were flown back to China.

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If you ever see Monn near Phnom Penh, please help buy his kitchenwares

24 heures…. Autour du pot
par CambodgeSoir

03 Feb 2010
Source: Cambodge Soir Hebdo
Translated from French by Cation for KI-Media

The first episode of the series tells the story of Monn's life, a seller of earthen kitchenware from Kampong Chhnang.

On the first Thursday of each Month, Cambodge Soir Hebdo will show a new episode. The premier of the series tells the story of Monn's life, a seller of earthen kitchenwares from Kampong Chhnang. Each month, Monn travels to Phnom Penh to sell his wares. His daily grind, usually a hard one, is told in this emotional documentary.

The documentary was produced by photographer Nicolas Axelrod.

Political Sacravatoons: " Hanoi's Trade Center "

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

Yuon tries to wrestle Cambodian market away from Siem

Border fairs target Cambodian market

February, 04 2010
VNS

AN GIANG — The Business Studies and Assistance Centre and southern An Giang Province's Investment and Trade Promotion Centre held two trade fairs to promote Vietnamese goods at the Khanh Binh and Tinh Bien border gates.

Vu Kim Hanh, director of the BSA – a non-profit trade promotion organisation based in HCM City – said they were the first step in a programme of 10 trade fairs on the Cambodian border through which high-quality Vietnamese goods would be popularised.

The network of markets and retail outlets on the border was too meagre and supply could not meet demand, she said.

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Cambodia to draft new law against acid attacks

Phnom Penh, Feb 4 (AP) - Cambodia plans to draft a new law in a bid to stop the growing number of attacks in which jealous wives, vengeful businessmen and others have hurled acid at their rivals, a government official said today.

More than 10 people were assaulted with acid in 2009, and three last month alone, according to statistics from a non government group that helps victims of the attacks.

"For the attackers, using acid to attack their opponents is very easy, not hard to keep and hide like guns," said Deputy Minister of Interior Teng Savong.

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Cambodia: Reviewing the anti-corruption law

Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010
By Sopheap Chak
Global Voice Online

While there is a signal that anti-corruption law is likely to be passed this April, followed the long-awaited approval of the draft by the Council of Minister last December 2009, the anti-corruption theme gained momentum of discussion in the blogosphere by inquiring to walk the talk of anti-corruption.

Just recently Prime Minister Hun Sen, in his speech at a conference on military reform, warned of harsh sanctions for soldiers and military commanders involved in corruption. Reported in the Phnom Penh Post, the Prime Minister identified the names of several officials found to be guilty of illegal activities ranging from logging, land grabbing, smuggling and illegal fishing. With his acknowledgment, the Prime Minister firmly denounced:

“It is time to stop every activity involving illegal business or the support of illegal business. [I] don’t care how many stars or moons you have – I will fire you, and nobody will keep corrupt commanders in their seats[…] I declare my absolute order [to stop illegal businesses] — otherwise military reform will not move forward,” said Hun Sen.

This report was circulated among bloggers like Morn Vutha, the Cambodia Tonight, and the Son of Khmer Empire who regularly bring up corruption cases and updates on the anti-corruption campaign.

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Cambodia's got talent, so please use it, ministry says

Feb 4, 2010
DPA

Phnom Penh - The Cambodian government has called on the country's television and radio stations to use more local talent for advertisements and stop dubbing commercials made overseas, local media reported Thursday.

Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said the directive would help the country's creative types find more work and prevent their skills from being wasted.

'We should help create jobs for our actors, actresses, directors, writers and film producers so that they have their own livelihood rather than showing foreign spots and paying tax for using their products, which creates losses for us,' Khieu Kanharith told the Phnom Penh Post newspaper.

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Political parties failing: survey

Wednesday, 03 February 2010

By Cameron Wells

The Phnom Penh Post

CAMBODIANS want to hear of less bickering among political parties and more about proposals for solutions to the challenges they face, according to a survey released by the International Republican Institute (IRI) on Tuesday.

Some 51 percent of the survey’s 2,000 respondents said they wanted political parties to spend less time discussing the leaders of other parties, compared with 21 percent who said they wanted to hear more about them. Similarly, 42 percent said they wanted to hear less about “civil wars and prior regimes”, compared with 32 percent who said the opposite.

Meanwhile, an overwhelming majority of respondents – 93 percent – said they wanted political parties to spend more time discussing “how to improve government services such as education and health”, and 88 percent wanted them to spend more time addressing the issue of corruption.

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Thai soldiers shot logger, villagers say

Wednesday, 03 February 2010
By Meas Sokchea
The Phnom Penh Post

A25-YEAR-OLD man from Oddar Meanchey province on Tuesday became the latest Cambodian logger to be shot by Thai soldiers, villagers and rights workers said.

Ly Khleung, of O’Smach commune in Samroang district, was returning from a cross-border logging expedition with 11 other people when he was shot, sustaining wounds in a hand and his torso, but survived, his father, Ly Kim Eng, said.

“It is normal for people living in O’Smach commune ... to earn a living by logging. In the past, [Thai soldiers] just shot to warn, but now they shoot to kill,” Ly Kim Eng said.

“I am scared when I venture across the border into Thailand, but I must go to make a living,” he said, adding that he would abandon logging if he had even half a hectare of farmland.

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Trade with Vietnam fell by nearly 19pc in 2009

Shoppers pass in front of Vina Mart, a store selling Vietnamese-produced goods on Monivong Boulevard, Phnom Penh, Tuesday. Imports from Cambodia's neighbour fell more than 19 percent last year. (Photo by: Uy Nousereimony)

Wednesday, 03 February 2010
By May Kunmakara
The Phnom Penh Post

Despite a small recovery in volumes during the final quarter, bilateral trade suffered due to the global crisis, body reports

FALLOUT from the global economic crisis is to blame for an 18.7 percent slump in bilateral trade between the Kingdom and Vietnam, the Cambodian Chamber of Commerce (CCC) said Tuesday.

Official figures from the Vietnam Embassy in Phnom Penh, released to the Post on Tuesday, showed that trade between the neighbours dropped to US$1.332 billion in 2009, from $1.640 billion in 2008.

Cambodia’s main exports of unprocessed agricultural products plummeted 15.5 percent, to $186 million from $220 million.

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Govt panel to target racy images

The image of a woman from a Khmer folktale is seen on Tuesday on http://www.reahu.net/, a site the government has condemned. (Photo by: Rick Valenzuela)

Wednesday, 03 February 2010
By Sen David and Brooke Lewis
The Phnom Penh Post

THE government’s morality committee will soon begin holding bimonthly meetings to review Web sites featuring racy images of Khmer women, and will consider blocking access to those deemed in conflict with national values, officials said Tuesday.

Ros Sorakha, an undersecretary of state at the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, said Tuesday that representatives from local Internet service providers as well as mobile-phone companies would be present at the meetings, which she said would begin in about two months.

She added that the ramped-up monitoring of online content was necessary in light of the rapid growth of information and communications technology nationwide.

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Befriending the Khmer Rouge, To Report

By Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
03 February 2010

The producer of an award-winning documentary that outlines the inner workings of the Khmer Rouge says it took many patient years of work to gain the trust of a senior leader of the regime and his underlings.

Thet Sambath, who co-produced “Enemies of the People” with British filmmaker Rob Lemkin, became the first journalist to extensively interview Nuon Chea, also known as Brother No. 2, the chief ideologue of Pol Pot’s ill-fated revolution.

“Working with Nuon Chea was not easy,” Thet Sambath told VOA Khmer in an exclusive interview. “It was the most difficult of all. He is a secretive person, and once we ask him a question, it is not easy [to get an answer]. I knew from the beginning that working with him would require a lot of time, not just a few months, to get things out of him.”

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Bird Flu Confirmed in Takeo, Culling Begins

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
03 February 2010

Health authorities rushed to kill all the ducks in a Takeo province village on Wednesday, after samples of dead birds showed positive for avian influenza.

At least 10,000 ducks have so far died in Koh Andeth district, and officials expected to cull thousands more on Wednesday. Officials were focusing on Pralay Meas village, the suspected epicenter of the disease.

“We must kill all the remaining ducks in the village,” said Kao Phal, director of the Ministry of Agriculture’s veterinary department. “We must quickly complete our mission today.”

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Banks Forced to Reduce Interest Rates

By Ros Sothea, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
03 February 2010

A high number of deposits followed by a low number of loans have created a cash flood for banks, forcing them to lower their interest rates.

Since mid-2009, major banks have sought to increase the number of loans they give and decrease the amount of cash deposits they receive, or at least the interest they must pay out.

The increased liquidity produced by high numbers of depositors and low numbers of borrowers means the banks have not been able to earn revenue on loans and face higher risks from increased costs.

Acleda Bank, for example, saw a 40 percent increase in deposits in 2009 compared to the year before, for a total of $688 million. But as of January, the bank has lowered its interest rates on deposits to 5.75 percent, down from 7.5 percent in mid-2009. At the same, the bank has lowered its lending rate for medium-sized loans (between $20,000 and $1.5 million) from 15 percent to somewhere between 10 percent and 13 percent. Rates for small loans dropped from 28 percent to 26 percent.

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Couple vow they won't be parted by Home Office decision over wife's visa

DETERMINED: Left, housing manager Paul Cooper and his wife, Sokkha, who he met in Cambodia, have lived in the UK for around two years but the couple face quitting the country after the Home Office ruled she must return to Cambodia.

Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Derby Telegraph

PAUL Cooper's love for sweetheart Sokkha Mey saw past her frailties – but may not be strong enough to save her from being thrown out of the country.

Graduate Paul was travelling the world when he met Sokkha in her home country of Cambodia in 2005.

Paul said the moment was simply love at first sight.

A railway accident and a childhood disease had left Sokkha deprived of her right arm and barely able to walk, but Paul said her strength of character was incredible.

He said: "I noticed she didn't have her right arm but I also noticed the way she carried on, always smiling.

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Disabled Derby mother fears deportation to Cambodia

Sokkha and her family

Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Derby Telegraph

A DISABLED Derby mother-of- two has been told she faces being kicked out of the country – because she cannot study for a citizenship test.

Sokkha Cooper, from Cambodia, lost her right arm in a train accident as a child and suffered from polio while growing up, leaving her virtually unable to walk.

She has lived with her husband, Paul, in the UK for more than two years. The couple have two children and, three months ago, Sokkha applied for a visa to allow her to permanently settle.

However, the Home Office said she would be refused permission to stay in the UK because she has not taken the Life in the UK test.

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Political Sacravatoons: "Learning Khmer"

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

Cambodian PM names 3 likely listings on new bourse

PHNOM PENH, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Wednesday three state firms could be among the first to list on Cambodia's new stock market, although an official involved in the project said it may not be ready until the end of the year.

"Our Cambodia is creating a stock market, its headquarters are almost finished," Hun Sen told more than 1,000 accountancy graduates in Phnom Penh.

"So, in a short time, we will have a stock market, and some state firms and private enterprises will get listed there."

Hun Sen mentioned three candidates for a listing -- Sihanoukville Autonomous Port, the Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority and Electricite du Cambodge, the state power company.

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Thai PM: There won't be a coup d'etat

Abhisit Vejjajiva, Prime Minister of Thailand, pauses before speaking during a session 'Toward an East Asian Community' at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Saturday Jan. 30, 2010. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

January 30, 2010
By BRADLEY S. KLAPPER
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

DAVOS, Switzerland -- Thailand's prime minister said Saturday he saw no threat of his government being ousted in a coup despite speculation back home, insisting that the rule of law would triumph over intimidation.

Abhisit Vejjajiva said in an interview with The Associated Press that any talk of his government being overthrown was linked to the February court decision on whether to confiscate more than $2 billion in assets linked to former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, and his supporters' attempts to destabilize the country.

"I don't think there is any reason for a coup d'etat," Abhisit said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum.

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Cracks appearing in Thai military?

Wed. Feb 03, 2010
By Martin Petty
Reuters

A grenade attack on the office of Thailand’s army chief this month is stoking fears of a worst-case scenario in Thailand’s political crisis – a possible fissure in the military along fault lines that have divided the country.

Analysts, diplomats and military sources say it is premature to talk of a split in Thailand’s powerful and politicized army but that festering ideological differences show signs of broadening in one of the most charged climates in decades.

A divide in an institution central to Thailand’s power structure would deepen uncertainty over the outlook for Thailand’s export-dependent $260 billion economy, Southeast Asia’s second-largest, and raise the prospect of instability in a country seen as a gateway to the region for foreign companies.

Large numbers of soldiers of lower ranks and some senior officers, analysts say, are sympathizers of Thailand’s rural, grassroots anti-government, red-shirted protest movement.

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Corruption eclipses Cambodia progress

February 3, 2010
By A. Gaffar Peang-Meth
Pacific Daily News

I wrote last week that in support of his assertion that his regime is popular, Premier Hun Sen cited the findings of a U.S.-based International Republican Institute's survey: 79 percent of Cambodians polled said Cambodia under Sen's government was moving in "the right direction" and 53 percent said they will vote for the Cambodian People's Party in the next election.

The world's nations have concluded long ago that "the will of the people, freely and fairly expressed through periodic and genuine elections" is "the basis of the authority and the legitimacy" of all governments.

Cambodia may be experiencing a period of relative political calm compared to death and destruction under the Khmer Rouge. New roads and new buildings are signs of progress. Still, documents referenced in previous columns published by Cambodian and international nongovernmental organizations should put a brake on the claims of governmental legitimacy and national progress in the "right direction."

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Political Sacravatoons: "2009 Satire"

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

KI-Media: All's well that may not end well in the banana kingdoom?

For Immediate Release
February 2, 2010
Source: Eye-R-I (aka, IRI)

IRI Releases Latest Survey of Cambodian Public Opinion

Please click here to read the survey result (PDF)

Phnom Penh, Cambodia – The International Republican Institute (IRI) released a survey of Cambodian public opinion. The poll, conducted July 31-August 26 2009, covers general attitudes toward the direction of the country, the economy, communication from political parties, government services and the Khmer Rouge Tribunal. Opinions of Muslims, particularly regarding integration with Cambodian society, were also solicited separately.

The randomly selected general sample consists of 1,600 adult men and women, representative of the Cambodian population 18 or older by gender. The general sample was drawn from all 24 provinces and municipalities with a margin of error for the national sample of ± 2.5 percent and an 86 percent response rate.

The randomly selected Muslim sample consists of 400 adult men and women 18 or older. The Muslim sample had a margin of error of ± five percent and an 85 percent response rate.

The poll was funded by the United States Agency for International Development and conducted by The Center for Advanced Studies.

Political Sacravatoons: "The Silent Victory"

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

Cambodia confirms new outbreak of bird flu

PHNOM PENH, Feb. 3, 2010 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia said Wednesday the country was again hit by a new outbreak of bird flu.

In a statement released Wednesday by Cambodia's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, it said a new outbreak of H5N1 was found in Pralay Meas Village, Rominh Commune, Koh Andeth District in Takeo province.

In a response to the new outbreak, the department of animal production of Agriculture Ministry has culled poultry in the affected area and ordered a temporary suspension of buy, sales and trafficking of such poultries within five kilometers within the affected area.

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Cambodia culls bird flu-affected ducks

February 3, 2010
AAP

Cambodian authorities have begun a mass killing of ducks after confirming a fresh outbreak of the deadly bird flu virus.

The cull comes after more than 15,000 ducks died last week in the southern province of Takeo and samples tested positive on Tuesday for the H1N1 virus, commonly known as bird flu, said Kao Phal, an official of the Agriculture Ministry.

He said the sale of duck meat and its transport from the affected villages would be banned.

So far there have been no signs of human infection from the ducks, the official said on Wednesday.

At least seven Cambodians have died from the disease since the first reported outbreak in 2004.

American jailed for sex abuse

Feb 3, 2010
AP

PHNOM PENH - A CAMBODIAN court on Wednesday convicted and sentenced an American man to one year in prison for sexually abusing a teenage girl.

Phnom Penh Municipal Court Judge Chhay Kong found Harvey Alexander Johnson, 57, guilty of committing indecent acts with a 13-year girl.

The court also ordered him to pay US$3,000 (S$4,200) in compensation to the victim's parents and another four million riel (US$1,400) in fines.

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Another Cambodian seriously injured after being shot by the Thais

03 Feb 2010
By Pech Bandol
Source: Free Press Magazine online
Translated from Khmer by Socheata for KI-Media
Click here to read the article in Khmer

In addition to the various other dead and injured people, on Tuesday, another Cambodian citizen was seriously injured by a Thai bullet when he and a group of 11 other men attempted to cross the border to log trees inside Thailand, along the border with Oddar Meanchey province.

According to local villagers and human rights group officials, a 25-year-old man living in O’Smach commune, Samrong district, Oddar Meanchey province was shot once on his right hand, and once in the back by Thai soldiers at about 5:30AM when Thai soldiers discovered a group of about 12 men inside the Thai territory.

Ly Kim Eng, the father of Ly Khloeung, said that his son is still alive after being shot twice. Nevertheless, Ly Kim Eng said: “This is normal life for people living in O’Smach commune. They have to earn a living through logging trees along the border.”

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Child prisoners in Cambodia

Lodging for the family of the little girl shown on the top photo

Wednesday 3 February 2010
guardian.co.uk

In developing countries, children, including those who have only committed minor offences, often serve their sentences in appalling conditions alongside adult prisoners. Photographer Matt Writtle travelled to Cambodia with the charity EveryChild and gained unique access to some of the country's provincial prisons and children incarcerated there. Here he tells their story.

Please click here to watch the heartbreaking slideshow

Boy, 17, found dead after fire

A family member, right, is consoled by a fire department official at the scene on Tuesday.

Feb 2, 2010
By KOMO Staff

SEATTLE -- Seattle fire investigators were back Tuesday morning at a burned South Seattle home where a teenager was found dead.

The family identified the 17-year-old victim as Patrick Seourn.

When firefighters arrived at the house in the 500 block of South Trenton Street late Monday, flames had already engulfed the garage and were spreading up the side of the building.

Six people who were inside made it out safely, but firefighters found the body in the ashes of the garage.

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Cambodian-American teen perished in house fire in Seattle

Seattle firefighters battle a South Park neighborhood house fire late Monday. A teenager died, and six people escaped. (Photo: CLIFF DESPEAUX / THE SEATTLE TIMES)

(Photo: MIKE SIEGEL / THE SEATTLE TIMES)

Neighbor rescues all but one in fire
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
By Sara Jean Green
Seattle Times staff reporter

A 17-year-old boy was killed in a fire that gutted the garage of a South Park home Monday night.

Even though Jackie Schwendeman helped six people escape a burning house in South Park on Monday night, she grieved the life she couldn't save.

The 17-year-old boy who lived across the street was the same age as her daughter, after all.

"I was able to get everybody out but one," she said Tuesday afternoon, tears sliding down her face as she peered out her window at the charred wreckage of her neighbors' garage in the 8800 block of Fifth Avenue South.

She moved outside and watched from her front porch as the boy's parents, accompanied by a monk in orange robes and a Seattle Fire Department chaplain, prayed beside a gurney holding the teen's remains, moments before it was loaded into a van.

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Thailand's Ex-PM Thaksin Traveling Too Close for Comfort?

Feb 2, 2010
By Melissa Fabros
Roubini Global Economics

The only Thailand Prime Minister to serve out a full term, Thaksin Shinawatra was ousted by the Thai military in 2006, and since then has been traveling the world as a man without a country. Sentenced to two year prison term for corruption by Thai Supreme Court, Thaksin has eluded extradition deftly, but recently Thaksin’s increasing stopovers in Cambodia has brought a frown upon the “Land of Smiles.”

First voted into power in 2001 and reappointed in 2005, Thaksin, a billionaire tycoon and former policeman, is associated with successful Thai democratic processes, a first for a country accustomed to military-backed governance. His leadership includes highlights such as establishment of universal healthcare, rural poverty alleviation, and crackdowns on the drug trade, as well as pock marks such as corruption, human rights violations, and suppression of the press.

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No Policy of Violence on Border: General

By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Washington
02 February 2010

The gunfire that erupted between Thai and Cambodian forces along the border Friday was an accident, and not by order of the government, a senior military official said Monday.

The clash, in Pursat province, reportedly left one Thai soldier dead, according to Cambodian soldiers, a claim Thai authorities dispute.

Thailand and Cambodiahave steadily built up troops along the border since July 2008, when a border dispute began over Preah Vihear temple. Sporadic fighting since then has left as many as eight soldiers dead on each side.

“What’s happening occasionally is not by order of high level government,” said Chhum Socheat, a lieutenant general and spokesman for the Cambodian Ministry of Defense, as a guest on “Hello VOA.” “It’s just a misunderstanding where the Thai army entered Cambodian territory.”

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10,000 Ducks Dead Near Vietnam Border

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
02 February 2010

Cambodian agricultural authorities on Tuesday were testing samples of dead ducks, after 10,000 fowl were found dead in Takeo province near the Vietnam border.

The ducks, which were raised in open spaces in Koh Andeth district, are suspected to have died from avian influenza, officials from the Ministry of Agriculture said.

“We forbid villages from cooking dead or sick ducks for food, from touching directly dead or sick ducks, and from selling dead or sick ducks, in order to avoid a contagious disease,” said Kao Phal, director of the ministry’s veterinary department.

Authorities have not identified the cause of death, he said, but the thousands of dead ducks were put in a hole, sprayed with a chemical to kill viruses and then burned.

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Tribunal Budget Sees End in 2015

By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
02 February 2010

Khmer Rouge tribunal officials expect to finish trials at the UN-backed court by 2015, trying only 10 defendants at a cost to donors of around $100 million, according to budget documents obtained by VOA Khmer.

According to a budget proposal for 2010 and 2011, the tribunal is seeking $93.3 million to try five Khmer Rouge cadre already in detention. In an additional proposal, from 2012 to 2015, the tribunal is seeking $320,000 to potentially try an additional five Khmer Rouge cadre, who have yet to be arrested or charged.

“All offices, including the Office of Administration, are anticipated to be closed by the end of 2015,” according to the “Preliminary Budget Estimates 2012-2015.”

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Behind Sundance Award, a Decade of Reporting

By Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer
Original report from Park City, Utah
02 February 2010

It was curiosity over the killing of his family members under the Khmer Rouge that led journalist Thet Sambath on a personal quest to find the truth. He wanted to know who gave the orders.

His search led him through the hierarchy of the Khmer Rouge, a process that took years of research and interviews with cadre who received orders, undertook the killing, and, finally, to the regime’s top ideologue, Nuon Chea.

Thet Sambath began working with experienced British filmmaker Rob Lemkin in 2006, based on reporting that began in 2000, and eventually earned the trust of Nuon Chea.

The result of the decade-long project became “Enemies of the People,” a documentary that received the World Cinema Special Jury Prize at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival in the US last week.

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Tribunal Judges Consider Duch Verdict

By Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
02 February 2010

Trial judges for the Khmer Rouge tribunal are now considering their verdict for prison chief Kaing Kek Iev, whose trial wrapped up late last year, court officials said Tuesday.

Tribunal judges and other officials began a week of plenary sessions Tuesday, with renewed focus on the tribunal’s efficiency, including in the verdict of Kaing Kek Iev, or Duch, officials said.

“The trial chamber currently is preparing the verdict,” said Kong Srim, president of the tribunal’s Supreme Court Chamber and head of the plenary session. No date for the verdict has been set.

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Cambodian detention centres 'torturing kids'

Authorities are accused of taking children off the streets and delivering them to detention centres. (AFP : Rob Elliott)

Tuesday, February 02, 2010
By Conor Duffy in Bangkok for PM
ABC News Online

Audio: Cambodian authorities accused of torturing prisoners (PM)

New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) has released a scathing report accusing Cambodian authorities of locking up and torturing thousands of people a year in drug detention centres.

The human rights group says many of the detainees are children and that they suffer abuses such as rape and electric shocks.

HRW has also accused UNICEF of involvement in one of the detention centres, saying one of the organisation's vehicles has been used to transport children to the drug treatment centre.

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Cambodia uses Chinese loans to boost rice exports

PHNOM PENH, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Cambodia will spend $310 million of mostly Chinese money on improving irrigation systems to boost rice exports over the next two years, Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Tuesday.

Cambodia, which is forecast to export as much as 700,000 tonnes of unmilled rice this year, had the potential to produce bigger yields, but still needed more funding to upgrade its irrigation systems, Hun Sen said.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cambodia exported 500,000 tonnes of rice in 2008, a figure dwarfed by neighbouring Thailand and Vietnam, the world's top two exporters of the grain.

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Cambodian PM says irrigation network to cover 70 pct by 2013

February 02, 2010
TMC.net

BATTAMBANG, Cambodia, Feb 02, 2010 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Tuesday that by 2013, irrigation network in his country will cover up to 70 percent of the total cultivated land.

In his speech at ground breaking ceremony of Kanghot Irrigation Development Project, donated by China, in Battambang province, Hun Sen said that the irrigation network will be able to cover as many as 70 percent of all cultivated land in the country by 2013.

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Seven people found with cholera in Mekong Delta province

Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Thanh Nien News

Seven of 45 people with acute diarrhea who were admitted to local hospitals in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang between January 19 and 28, were found to have cholera, a health ministry agency reported on Sunday.

All seven cholera patients came from Cambodia’s Takeo and Kandal provinces to An Giang for treatment, according to the Department of Preventive Health and Environment.

The department did not clarify whether all the patients were Vietnamese or not.

The Ministry of Health has warned of an outbreak of cholera, an acute intestinal infection transmitted through water or food contaminated with the bacteria vibrio, causing diarrhea and dehydration that can lead to kidney failure and death if not treated promptly.

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OHCHR regrets outcome of case against members of Sam Rainsy Party

UNITED NATIONSOFFICE OF THE HIGH COMMISSIONERFOR HUMAN RIGHTS IN CAMBODIA

Statement of the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Cambodia

Phnom Penh, 29 January 2010

Please click here to read the article in Khmer (PDF)

OHCHR regrets once again that the courts have been used to respond to a public interest issue that could have been resolved in a more open, constructive manner, through public debate within Cambodia’s democratic institutions. Mr. Sam Rainsy was sentenced to two years imprisonment for damage to property and incitement to racial discrimination (Article 52 and 61 of the UNTAC penal law, respectively). Ms. Meas Srey and Mr. Prum Chea were sentenced to 1 year imprisonment for damage to property. All three were further sentenced to heavy fines and compensation ranging from 5 to 50 millions riels.

Mr. Sam Rainsy allegedly took it upon himself to remove several border demarcation poles on 25 October 2009 in a border village in Svay Rieng province, adjacent to Viet Nam. As a Member of Parliament and a leader of the opposition, he could have raised his concerns about the current process of border demarcation and sought clarification from the relevant authorities or the border demarcation committee, or discussed them at the National Assembly or otherwise publicly.

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Jail Sentence a ‘Cover Up’: Sam Rainsy

By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Washington
01 February 2010

A day after receiving a two-year prison sentence in absentia, opposition leader Sam Rainsy accused Cambodian leaders of conspiring with Vietnamto put political pressure on him.

Sam Rainsy was found guilty of racial incitement and destruction of property for leading a group of villagers to uproot markers along the Vietnamese border at Svay Rieng province in October. He is now in self-imposed exile in France.

“I can declare that the accusations against me are just a pretext,” Sam Rainsy said Thursday, as a guest on “Hello VOA.”

“Indeed, they want to cover up the activities of foreigners, meaning that the powerful rulers today seem to associate with foreigners and let foreigners be right and let the Khmer be wrong,” he said, in a reference to Vietnam.

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Rights Group Urges Review of Drug Detentions

By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
01 February 2010

A leading rights group has urged the United Nations to reconsider its support of government drug rehabilitation centers, following allegations of abuse.

“UN officials agree that these centers are illegal and abusive,” Joe Amon, health and human rights director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. “Now Unicef and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime need to make clear to the Cambodian government that the centers should be shut down.”

A new Human Rights Watch report alleges that government rehab centers forcibly detain suspected drug addicts, who are “often forced to work at hard manual labor or exercise as a means of ‘treatment.’”

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Tribunal Undecided on Use of New Film

By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
01 February 2010

Khmer Rouge tribunal officials have not decided whether they will use testimony given by a senior regime leader to a journalist and producer of an award-winning documentary film.

In “Enemies of the People,” which last week won the Sundance Film Festival’s Special Jury Prize, Khmer Rouge ideologue Nuon Chea explains his involvement in the regime, elaborating on the alleged atrocities that have since put him under detention at the tribunal facing charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Nuon Chea, now 83, gave a series of interviews over a period of years to journalist Thet Sambath before he was arrested in September 2007 and held by the tribunal.

In the film, Nuon Chea admits he and Pol Pot decided they would kill anyone deemed an “enemy of the people,” that is the Khmer Rouge regime.

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Over 10,000 ducks die in Cambodia

2010-02-01
Source: Xinhua

The Cambodian government said on Monday that more than 10,000 ducks have died and some 30,000 others are being sick in the country's southern province of Takeo.

Kao Phal, director of animal production department of agriculture ministry said that samples of the dead ducks being examined and the results will be known Tuesday or the day after.

He said that those dead ducks were reported happening a few days ago and now some 30,000 others are being sick.

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Leader keeps opposition at more than arm's length

Monday, February 1st, 2010
Canwest News Service

It is now well known that democracy works in Cambodia just so long as its prime minister continues winning elections, whatever the inclinations of voters may be. Fresh from his latest victory in 2008, Hun Sen does not have to worry too much about the leader of the main opposition party, Sam Rainsy. Rainsy is in France, a good place to be because he's been sentenced to two years in prison for "racial incitement and destroying demarcation posts on the border with Vietnam." It seems that last October Rainsy joined local villagers in Svay Rieng's Chantrea district in pulling up six temporary markers placed in the villagers' rice fields by Vietnamese officials. Hun Sen, of course, was put in power in 1985 by Hanoi after Vietnamese forces invaded Cambodia to push out the Khmer Rouge. He is often called "Hanoi's stooge" by opponents, but not to his face.

Human Trafficking Survivors Train Cambodian Police and Government Officials

Cambodian human trafficking survivors will work with the United Nations Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking (UNIAP) and the Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative Against Trafficking (COMMIT) Task Force to eradicate human trafficking.

(PRWEB) February 1, 2010 -- Cambodian human trafficking survivors will work with the United Nations Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking (UNIAP) and the Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative Against Trafficking (COMMIT) Task Force to eradicate human trafficking.

The survivors, part of the Somaly Mam Foundation’s Voices for Change (VFC) program, will train police and government officials on laws and issues related to sex trafficking and forced labor in Cambodia.

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Vietnamese expats win trust in Cambodia

February, 01 2010
Viet Nam News

PHNOM PENH — The Association of Overseas Vietnamese in Cambodia has developed good relations with local authorities and won the trust of the Vietnamese community in the country.

The assessment was made at a conference on Saturday to review the association’s operation over the past two years and work out its plan for this year.

So far, the association has set up 19 chapters across Cambodia. It also set up the Association of Overseas Vietnamese Enterprises in Cambodia, which is operating effectively and has generated numerous jobs for overseas Vietnamese.

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Two markers set up along Viet Nam-Cambodia border

February, 01 2010
VNS

TAY NINH — Diplomats, border guards and local residents witnessed markers No 81 and 84 set up on the Viet Nam-Cambodia land border on Friday and Saturday.

The two markers demarcate the division between Viet Nam’s southern Tay Ninh Province and Cambodia’s Kampong Cham Province.

On this occasion, Vietnamese and Cambodian border guards met to share experiences in an effort to build a common sense of peace and friendship on the border.

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Political Sacravatoons: " My Chewing Gun Law "

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

INTERNATIONAL groups blast Rainsy trial

SRP lawmaker Mu Sochua last month holds up what her party says is evidence this crater was the site of a border marker. (Photo by: Heng Chivoan)

Monday, 01 February 2010
By Meas Sokchea
The Phnom Penh Post

INTERNATIONAL human rights organisations have joined the chorus of condemnation surrounding Svay Rieng provincial court’s conviction of opposition leader Sam Rainsy and two local villagers last week, describing the trial as a “farce”.

On Wednesday, the court sentenced the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) president to two years’ prison for uprooting demarcation markers on the border with Vietnam.

In a statement issued on Friday, the US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) slammed the closed-door hearing, describing it as part of a campaign of persecution against government critics.

“The Cambodian government’s relentless crackdown on critics continues apace in 2010,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at HRW. “Hun Sen seems intent on reversing the political pluralism that has been created over the past two decades.”

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AFP shake-up targets organised crime

Mon. Feb 01, 2010
ABC News Online

A joint operation between the Australian Federal Police and Cambodian authorities has seen the disposal of 15 tonnes of Safrole oil, which is used in the manufacture of the illegal drug MDMA.

The operation was revealed as AFP Commissioner Tony Negus unveiled a new structure for fighting organised crime.

He says the changes are in line with recommendations from the Beale review of the service, but says they will not take resources away from areas like counter-terrorism.

Commissioner Negus says it is hoped the new arrangements will see more joint operations like the one in Cambodia.

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Australian agro-deal in Cambodia carries risks, rewards

Mon, 01 Feb 2010
DPA

Phnom Penh - As a former finance minister of Australia, Peter Costello is comfortable with large numbers. The latest is his proposal on behalf of an Australian fund to invest 600 million US dollars into at least 100,000 hectares of land concessions in Cambodia. The concessions would see private equity investors pumping money into plantations of teak, palm oil, sugar, rice and bananas. In return, Cambodia would get 150,000 jobs, the government said after Costello met with Deputy Prime Minister Sok An.

Significant investment, plenty of jobs plus the promise of improved agricultural methods? Such a deal should be good for Cambodia on all three counts.

But human rights workers said they worry the country's ongoing problems with corruption and poor governance combined with often-violent land evictions mean it is less certain that ordinary people would benefit.

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Inquest into the Khmer Rouge death of David Wilson in Cambodia by Victorian Coroner may re-open

Victorian David Wilson was one of three foreigners taken hostage, tortured and killed by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. Source: Herald Sun

February 01, 2010
AAP (Australia)

A CORONER'S inquest into the death more than 15 years ago of Victorian man David Wilson could re-open this year after a 10-year delay.

Fairfax newspapers said the Victorian Coroners' Court had been handed a secret Department of Foreign Affairs file on the case that may contain hundreds of documents and cables including details of negotiations with the kidnappers via Cambodian officials for his release.

Members of the Wilson family told the newspaper they believe the full package of documents would show the coroner the Keating government knew the Cambodian government would bombard the mountain where Mr Wilson and two other hostages were held but did not try to delay an attack on the area until release negotiations were finished.

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Long An province plants 16 border markers

02/01/2010
VOV News

The Mekong delta province of Long An has planted 16 border markers on the common border line between Vietnam and Cambodia over the last year.

The province shares 137.727 km of border line with 53 mark positions and 62 border markers with Cambodia’s Svay Rieng and Prey Veng provinces.

The border marker planting between the two countries is expected for completing by late 2012.

'Enemies of the People' Wins Sundance's World Cinema Special Jury Prize for Documentary.

By Poch Reasey, VOA Khmer
Original report from Park City, Utah
30 January 2010

‘Enemies of the People’ is a new documentary film being shown for the first time in North America at the Sundance Film Festival 2010 in Salt Lake City, Utah (from January 21 to 31).

In the documentary ‘Enemies of the People’, former Khmer Rouge leader, Nuon Chea, known as Brother Number Two, for the first time gives details how he and Pol Pot decided to kill party members they considered to be ‘Enemies of the People’.

Thet Sambath, the journalist who produced the 93-minute film, says he met with Nuon Chea on the weekends for five years before Mr. Nuon agreed to give testimony.

“One day he told me the truth.” Said Sambath. “He said that he had observed me for many years and had realized that I am honest and not biased toward any side.So he said from now on he could tell me all the decisions he and Pol Pol had made.”

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Carol Rodley: Cambodian trials should be transparent

US Ambassador Carol Rodley (Photo: Kem Sos, RFA)

29 January 2010
By Den Ayuthyea
Source: Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy for KI-Media
Click here to read the article in Khmer

The US ambassador to Cambodia said that all trials by the court should be conducted with transparency and fairness.

Mrs. Carol Rodley, the US ambassador to Cambodia, said that she is following closely all court hearings and trials, whether they involve politicians or ordinary citizens.

Mrs. Rodley did not comment on the Svay Rieng court decision handed down to Mr. Sam Rainsy, but she simply said that all court hearings should be conducted with transparency and fairness.

Through a translator, she said: “We are closely following this trial, and it’s not just trials involving politicians and VIPs, but also on various other trials as well. All trials should be conducted with transparency and fairness.”

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The US will end tariff reduction on import of Cambodian garment

US Ambassador Carol Rodley gave an interview at the Meng Ieng garment factory on 28 January 2010 (Photo: Den Ayuthyea, RFA)

29 January 2010
By Den Ayuthyea
Source: Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy for KI-Media
Click here to read the article in Khmer

Carol Rodley, the US ambassador to Cambodia, indicated that, due to worldwide economic problems, the US will no longer reduce import tariff on garments manufactured in the Cambodia.

She made this statement during her visit to the Meng Ieng garment factory, a model factory with good work ethic located in Russei Keo district, Phnom Penh city, in the afternoon of 28 January.

Through a translator, Mrs. Rodley said: “The quota system does not exist anymore, therefore, US orders have dropped significantly. The US also faces severe economic problems, therefore, the US is also facing the same challenges and it is trying to tame these economic difficulties.”

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Khmer political poem: "Territory West & East"

Khmer poem by Sam Vichea with Sacravatoons (on the web at http://kamnapkumnou.blogspot.com/)

Political Sacravatoons: "Samdach LEE HEUV"

Cartoons by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com/)