Cambodian Tribunal Rules on Appeal

By Ker Munthit

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia's genocide tribunal rejected an appeal Thursday by a former Khmer Rouge leader against his pre-trial detention on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The five-judge panel ruled that Nuon Chea, the Khmer Rouge's former ideologist, must remain in custody ahead of trials scheduled to begin later this year.

Nuon Chea faces charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. He has been detained since Sept. 19 by Cambodia's U.N.-backed court. Nuon Chea is one of five former Khmer Rouge leaders detained for their involvement in the group's brutal 1975-79 rule.

The Khmer Rouge's radical policies caused the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million people from starvation, diseases, overwork and execution.

Nuon Chea, 81, has denied any guilt, saying he is not a "cruel" man.

In their detention order last year, the tribunal's investigating judges charged him with involvement in crimes including "murder, torture, imprisonment, persecution, extermination, deportation, forcible transfer, enslavement and other inhumane acts."

They said Nuon Chea faces life imprisonment if convicted and that the detention was necessary to prevent him from pressuring witnesses, destroying evidence and escaping.

Nuon Chea's own safety could also be at risk, if he were released, they said.

Nuon Chea has argued that the judges did not have sufficient grounds to detain him and called himself "a patriot and not a coward" trying to run away.

In December, the judges ruled against a similar appeal by Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Duch, who headed the Khmer Rouge's notorious S-21 prison and torture center.

The other three defendants are Ieng Sary, the former Khmer Rouge foreign minister, his wife Ieng Thirith, who was the minister for social affairs, and Khieu Samphan, the former Khmer Rouge head of state.
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Cambodia unveils new hospital for major-shot clients

PHNOM PENH, March 20 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia here on Thursday unveiled the Royal Ratanak Hospital to provide health services at international standard to rich Cambodians as well as foreigners.

Prasert Prasarttong Osoth, owner of the Bangkok Airways and the Bangkok Dusit Medical Service, altogether invested about 8.5 million U.S. dollars in building the hospital, said Prime Minister Hun Sen at the opening ceremony.

It will help VIP clients reduce payment, as they don't have to go to Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand and other countries to see doctors any more, said Hun Sen. "They will turn to use local health services as they trust this hospital," he said.

Thai investor Prasert said at the ceremony that the economic growth and development of Cambodia urge business people to invest more in the health service sector.

The Royal Ratanak Hospital will cooperate with the Bangkok Dusit Medical Services and it is also a sister hospital to the Royal International Hospital in Siem Reap, he said.

The six-floor hospital will become a main emergency referral center for local Cambodians, foreign tourists and other residents, he added.

Sat Soeurn, representative of the Royal Ratanak Hospital and wife of Tea Bahn, Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense, said that the staff members are trying to provide a trustworthy alternative choice for the local patients who used to spend expensively for their treatment and accommodation in foreign countries.

The hospital will become a leading health sanitation center in Cambodia, she added.

According to official statistics, there are over 1,100 medical units, including major hospitals, all over the country. An average of some 5,000 Cambodians can share one doctor.
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London may help with garbage

By JENNIFER O'BRIEN, SUN MEDIA

The city's chief planning officer urges a partnership that would aid Cambodia.

The country is beautiful and the people friendly, but she couldn't help but notice the garbage.

On the roads and in the sewage canals, it seemed to be everywhere Jennifer Kirkham looked when she visited Cambodia last month.

Today, Kirkham, the city's chief strategic planning officer, will recommend to board of control that London get involved with a federal-municipal partnership program in which local solid waste management experts would help municipalities in Cambodia.

The partnership would be part of a Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) initiative that matches Canadian experts with municipal counterparts in developing countries.

"This is a great opportunity for London staff to share some of the expertise and knowledge that we have," Kirkham said yesterday. "It is an opportunity to do some peer coaching and for us to have a global impact in the work we do."
Last month, Kirkham went to the Battambang district of Cambodia and visited 10 municipalities, called communes, with populations of up to 25,000 people.

Meeting with officials from all 10 communes as part of a delegation with FCM's Municipal Partnership Program, Kirkham said she felt a sense of optimism and hope.

But there are many new issues for local governments to tackle, particularly around solid waste.

"They only have one garbage truck for all 10 communes and you have to pay to have your garbage picked up, so if you can't afford it, they don't come," Kirkham said. "There is garbage in the roads and in the sewage canals."

Solid waste management is a common issue for newly formed municipalities in Cambodia, said Noelle Grosse, outreach officer for the FCM.

"First is solid waste management, and also working at a national level with associations of local governance and the environment is a key theme," she said.

Controller Gord Hume said he would be shocked if there was any opposition to the recommendation at today's board of control meeting.

"I think part of our responsibility as a leading municipality is to help others in the world," said Hume, adding the partnership is funded by FCM, through the Canadian International Development Agency.

The FCM has operated its Municipal Partnership Program for about 20 years. The projects vary depending on the needs of the overseas municipality.

Many Ontario cities have participated in partnerships that often end up involving community organizations -- to their benefit, Grosse said. Read more!

Cullen brings Locke close to tears in parliament

Finance minister Michael Cullen almost reduced Green MP Keith Locke to tears in parliament today when he taunted him about his personal beliefs.

The exchange came when Locke was quizzing Cullen over human rights in China and the proposed free trade deal between New Zealand and that country.

Cullen answering questions on behalf of foreign minister Winston Peters said the New Zealand Government always raised human rights issue with Beijing over the years.

"However, it is fair to say that the Chinese Government's record in these matters is somewhat better than in the depths of the days of the Cultural Revolution, when that member supported the Chinese Government's approach," Cullen said.

A clearly furious and upset Locke vehemently denied this.

"I assure the House that I have never supported the Chinese regime - the one-party state in its activities during the Cultural Revolution or at any other time," Locke said.

Cullen was unmoved by Locke's plea of innocence and threw another accusation at him.

"Clearly my memory as a fellow student of the member at Canterbury University is now somewhat faulty on these matters. I must remember him referring to the Pol Pot regime."

Locke has often been taunted for being a supporter of the Pol Pot regime which committed genocide in Cambodia and he has numerous times explained to the House this was not true.

"I think it is a disgrace for a Labour Deputy Prime Minister to sink to that level," Locke said.

This time Cullen withdrew and apologised, but later in the session tabled an article he said showed Locke did support the murderous regime.

Locke returned to the House and once again explained that he had never backed Pol Pot, but had once written an article in April 1975 when the "quite corrupt regimes in Saigon and Phnom Penh fell", hoping it would be good for the country when the new governments came into power. This was before Pol Pot and the genocide.

Locke hoped the House would stop baiting him on the issue.

Cullen was a friend of his family so should well know that what had driven Locke to be a campaigner for human rights. Locke said a formative time for him was learning his mother quit the Communist Party after hearing Russian tanks had entered Hungary in 1956 and shot people in the street.

National MPs said later in the debate that Cullen had almost reduced to tears a member of a party that Labour hoped it could do business with in the future.

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Tiny, innovative Cambodian hotel offers big service

It sometimes feels like there’s nothing new under the sun when it comes to the hotel industry. I get daily press releases in my inbox: “We’ve gone green!” “You can buy our bedding online!” “We won an award!” Blah, blah, blah. Frankly, hotels are a little boring these days. But I recently heard about a unique property in Cambodia, and it really piqued my interest. It’s a cool concept that I hope spreads.

The One Hotel, in Siem Reap’s Old Market area in Angkor, Cambodia, is all about a singular guest experience. The One has only one room. If you’re the guest at this hotel, you’re the big cheese. The staff members have one role — taking care of you. And this one-room hotel is luxurious. Guests sleep on a king-size bed dressed with Frette linens, stargaze on a rooftop terrace from their own personal Jacuzzi, watch a flat-screen LCD TV, and enjoy their own iPod, iBook and personal mobile phone.

So we’ve got personalized and attentive service, stunning accommodations and a great location. This place has got to be expensive, like those private villas that cost tens of thousands of dollars for a week, right? Not at all. At around $250 a night, The One has relatively low rates. As owner Martin Dishman explains, it’s “affordable exclusivity.”

Dishman moved to Cambodia with the intention of opening his own hotel. First, he managed an existing property and then opened a bar across the street from a friend’s photography gallery. When the building next to the gallery became available, Dishman knew it was the perfect place to house his dream hotel. He had planned on it having a few rooms, but the building was small. Even if Dishman offered only two rooms, they’d be cramped and plain, and they would command only about $50 a night.

“Then the idea hit me,” Dishman says. “One room! Make it amazing, five-star, every amenity and more and — best of all — price it at level that is in line with the deluxe rooms at competing five-star hotels. An exclusive place, with charm and cachet, offering an affordable rate.” And thus The One was born.

Ever the efficient hotel manager, I thought to myself, “How does he staff the place?”

I mean, if you go through a slow period and don’t have any bookings, do you have to lay everyone off? What does the chef do when the one guest wants to eat out? What does the masseuse do if the guest hates back rubs? At a large property, there’s always a guest who needs you or needs some sort of busywork to be done. So do the employees get paid to sit around and do nothing?

Not really. Remember, Dishman’s got that bar across the street. The employees at Linga Bar are responsible for providing food and beverage service at The One. He’s also recently opened a small sister hotel, the Hotel Be Angkor, in the same area, which gives him some more staff flexibility. And specialty staff, like drivers and spa service providers, is contracted on an as-needed basis.

Dishman is a pretty hands-on boss. He usually greets each guest at check-in, and he makes himself personally available to guests during the stay — he even gives guests his personal mobile phone number. How many hotel managers do you know that do that? But Dishman doesn’t have to do too much, as he’s trained his staff of 15 well and trusts them to meet his high standards. He’s lucky that there’s a local hospitality school, the Shinta Mani Institute of Hospitality, whose trainees he can hire, but he looks for anyone with English skills and a desire to work hard and learn.

Ever the skeptic, I still had lots of questions for Dishman. Like, what happens if you screw up and overbook? He agreed that it’s “impossible to overbook.” The property’s only been overbooked on one night, and Dishman graciously took care of the situation.

But here’s a sure sign that Dishman is crazy: The One doesn’t require a minimum stay, or a credit-card guarantee or even a deposit. You read that right. Because the hotel is not overwhelmed with bookings, staff has the time to give guests personal attention before their arrival. The One employees are constantly confirming and reconfirming their guests’ travel details, so there are seldom any unexpected no-shows or people trying to extend their stays. In fact, The One has had only one no-show since it opened in April 2006.

The One is also a bit of a hidden gem. Dishman doesn’t really advertise the property, though he does spread the word about his hotel through some public relations efforts. Most reservations come from Internet booking engines and travel agents. But word-of-mouth on the property must be great, because The One already has a 60 percent occupancy rate for this year.

Is one The One enough? Not if Dishman has his way. He’s eager to test his concept in other areas, but it’s an expensive proposition.

“Maybe some investors will come along to back us,” Dishman says. “But I am not interested in giving up any control, and I know exactly what I am doing, so I will look at silent investors, but not partnerships. Otherwise, I will grow the business at my own pace.”

I don’t blame him one bit. I think there’s a niche market for a hotel that makes each and every guest feel like, well, the only guest, and I don’t think he should tinker too much with his concept.

If you happen to be on your way to Angkor, check out The One. The room rate is $250 per night, plus tax, for single or double occupancy. The One offers some cool packages, including my favorite, the Good Karma package, which gives guests a chance to work with and donate to local charities. Taking care of the locals is very important to Dishman, and for that, I admire him very much. If you think The One is cool, but you’re traveling with more than two people, don’t despair. Remember, Dishman also runs the Hotel Be, which can easily handle the overflow for a larger party.

Amy Bradley-Hole has worked in the hotel industry for many years in many different positions and at all types of properties — from small luxury boutique hotels to large resorts, both in the United States and abroad. E-mail her or read more of her articles on Tripso.com.

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Bear fund opens discovery center in Cambodia

TAKEO, Cambodia, March 19 (Xinhua) -- The Australia-based Free the Bears Fund Inc (FTB) and the Cambodian Forestry Administration (FA) here on Wednesday opened a Bear Discovery Center at the Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center for education purpose.

This is the first center of its kind to be specifically designed to promote the issues related to bear conservation anywhere in Southeast Asia, said a press release from FTB.

"With the illegal trade in Sun Bears and Asiatic Black Bears still prevalent throughout Cambodia, Free the Bears hope to promote local awareness in bear conservation issues amongst the 300,000 visitors who come to the Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center each year," it said.

The Bear Discovery Center will operate as an environmental education facility primarily to illustrate to its visitors the efforts that Free the Bears and FA are doing to protect and preserve the bears of Cambodia, it said.

"As people walk through the center they will learn of the plight that bears have endured in recent times, experience the different achievements that have been made since FTB started operating in Cambodia, and gain knowledge about what they can do to help protect one of Cambodia's great faunal treasures," it added.

FTB was founded in Australia by Mary Hutton of Perth, and has been working in Cambodia since 1997. So far, FTB have rescued more than 100 bears from the illegal wildlife trade in Cambodia.

The aim of Free the Bears is to protect, preserve and enrich the lives of bears throughout the world. Over 500 bears have been confiscated from the illegal pet, wildlife and medicine trades throughout Asia.

Currently, there are 88 bears at the Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center, 65 of them adult and others cubs.

There are eight species of bear in the world, six of which are found in Asia. Two species of bear can be found in Cambodia, the Malayan sun bear (Helarctos malayanus) and the Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus).


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Cambodia wants more border gates

Opening two more border gates give more entance for Yuons seeking jops and immigrant to settle in Cambodia. Don't they think opening any cross border gate with Thailand too? opening too many border gates with Yuon Hanoi causing vulnerable to million Cambodians.

PHNOM PENH – Cambodia’s Ministry of the Interior wants to open two more border gates to Viet Nam, the ministry’s spokesman Khieu Sopheak recently announced.

Opening more border gates should help attract investment, generate jobs, reduce the migration of job seekers into the cities, help eradicate hunger and alleviate poverty for border residents, according to Sopheak.

Sopheak said the ministry would propose that the Government open the border gates of Labakhe and Nam Lieu, both in Mondukkiri Province, which shares a border with Viet Nam’s southern province of Binh Phuoc.

The ministry said the new border gates should help turn the border area into major industrial zones, helping to raise incomes for local residents via investment and commodities export between the two countries, he said.

Cambodian localities sharing the land border with Viet Nam made remarkable efforts in managing border gates, contributing to security and facilitating travel for local residents, according to the spokesman.

The ministry also asked the Cambodian Government to upgrade the Prechak national border gate in Kampot Province and the Ozadao national border gate in Ratanakiri Province into international border gates and to also construct the Ton Lon national border gate in Kampot Province and look at opening other border gates.

Cambodia now has 64 border gates, with 60 border gates managed by cities and provinces, and four international gates. — VNS
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Cambodia at the coalface

A woman balances her tray of terantulas, the tasty diet for Cambodians and tourists andMekong river at sunset is a live line of the poors

By DENISE MCNABB

Temperatures sizzle in the mid- 30s, baking the bitumen on Highway 7 and causing rivers of sweat on our way to Skuon.

What is a ‘‘highway'' in Cambodia is actually little more than a spatula of grey on a dusty, horizontal landscape. That the Mekong River cuts a swathe through the interior saves it from being just a drab colour palate.

The river's vital water nurtures a landscape of lime rice paddies where nimble workers toil under their wide-brimmed, cream conical hats. Buddhist temples and pagodas (wats) with their cheeky monkey residents and orange-robed monks are another country staple.

Tiered in gold and white, the temples glisten under ultramarine skies behind majestic gates. Rickety roadside villages are a sharp contrast. Large extended families live in one-room, wooden houses built on stilts to weather the monsoons.

We peer into front yards where towering coconut palms provide shade for tidy vegetable plots, tethered cows and near naked sun-baked children who run freely with scrawny hens (in contrast to wellpreened cocks kept in cages or on leashes ready for their next fight). We know who the pig owners are - their sties ooze a malodorous stench.

Poverty and tragedy riddle the lives of rural Cambodians but as we fleetingly pass by they never fail to look up, and smile and wave. The horrific legacy of despotic Pol Pot and his sadistic henchman who committed genocide on two million

Cambodians only 25 years ago still pervades this country. But the Khmers, with their Buddhist inner calm, show remarkable resilience - to we outsiders anyway. We are a group of 13 cyclists who have gathered from around the world to experience Cambodia at the coalface.

Memorials to the dead, blood-spattered torture scenes and mass graves are left as they were during that five-year reign of terror from 1975-79. Wrenching tales of how family members survived with extraordinary ingenuity and cunning or were tortured and murdered leave us in no doubt about the brutality of this period and the fragile existence of the country today.

Cambodia's friendly people are the country's jewels. The big advantage of cycling, as in neighbouring Vietnam and Laos, is that much of the daily activity takes place on and to the side of the roads. Caramel husks containing rice dry on raffia and plastic sheets on verges and soldier rows of tapped rubber trees are common.

Transporting goods takes on dizzying dimensions. Bikes, bullocks and carts, motor scooters and rattletrap buses shoot by, stacked to the gunnels with everything imaginable, from double beds and scooters to precarious loads of passengers on van rooftops.

Each day ramshackle stalls are set up on the roadside to slaughter animals. Bloodied carcasses hang for sale and slabs of meat sit in the heat. At one stall we stop to check a large, grey sow trussed and straddled over the back of a small scooter that has just pulled up. We call her Doris. She makes a racket, squealing and grunting as if her life depended on it.

There's no chance of a reprieve. A bloodied rib cage of a former pen mate is hanging nearby. Her owner grins with pride as he poses for the camera. Poor Doris. At lunchtime school children returning home for their midday break become our cycling companions.

The older ones have remarkable stamina, pedalling furiously on their basic bikes as they keep up with our geared mountain models.

They are on a mission, shouting their signature repertoire: ‘‘What's your name, where are you from, how old are you'', in a bid to hone their English skills.

It's four days since we crossed the Vietnamese border at Bavet and we've cycled from Kompong Cham, north of the capital Phnom Penh. Our guide, Punloau, an intelligent, highly-educated 25-year-old has an appetite for silly joke telling. He's one of eight children.

His mother had him late after she lost two sons to Pol Pot. One was a general. His family's story is sad. He tells it with compassion but Punloau, born after the fall of Pol Pot, also laughs a lot and plans optimistically for his future.

We wonder what the outcome of his arranged marriage will be, given his predilection for talking about how women boss men around. He calls them tigers which starts him laughing raucously. He laughs again when he tells us we're having spiders for lunch.

Skuon is little more than a layover for lorry and bus drivers. It's smattered with ablution blocks, stalls and a sprawling open-air restaurant with large round tables in concrete booths and plastic chairs. Cooking stations in the middle permeate the air with a deep-fried odour.

The spiders are neither a joke nor a laughing matter. Skuon's creepy fare has earned it the westernised nickname of Spiderville.

It's definitely a place to be avoided if you're anacrophobic. No sooner are we off our bikes than village women start hawking furry, black tarantulas, called ‘‘a-ping''.

Each is the size of a large hand. They've piled these cooked arachnids on flat, wicker trays balanced on their heads. From a short distance they look like a wriggly mass of seaweed or licorice.

Close up their bulbous backsides, big heads and eight long, furry legs are not a pretty sight. We're told they're best eaten deep fried with a dash of garlic and salt. Fat chance.

Our fill of adventurous eating stopped firmly at deep-fried frogs that we'd tried at a roadside stall two days earlier. We pay 300 riel (US8c) to the hawker for a spider when our bike mechanic says he'll devour one so we can take photographs.

This stop is one of his favourites as he's developed quite a taste for this local delicacy. He eats the spiders' legs first.

They have no meat so they're a crunchy appetiser. The head and body apparently tastes somewhere between chicken and crab depending on who you talk to, but the abdomen is another story.

The big, hard shell, full of brown sludgy goo, needs to be cracked first, and then peeled. We never did get a good taste description for this part of the spider's anatomy.

A smarty in our group diverts our attention by flinging a live spider into the middle of our table, assuring us the venom has been drained from its fangs.

I opt quickly for noodles after looking at other food options, roasted ducks and fish that were broiling under the sun at open stalls.

Over lunch we learn the spiders are coaxed out of holes in the surrounding countryside by farmers who gather more than 100 in a day, earning themselves the equivalent of a few US dollars. This is considered a good living when most rural dwellers earn less than $US1 a day.

That these giant spiders are an income earning enterprise is good for Skuon's people but their origin, like so many others in Cambodia, is born out of tragedy.

They were a food source to stave off starvation after Pol Pot forced intellectuals (including the entire population of Phnom Penh) out of the cities and into the countryside as he tried to create a Maoist agrarian society.

If it wasn't murder that took these people's lives it was starvation. They turned to spiders and other insects, such as crickets, as a dietary necessity. Eventually they acquired the taste for spiders.

We hear about residents of Phnom Penh who drive up to the road to Skuon especially to sate their need for a serving of spider.

The capital's restaurants also import them from the village for special billing on menus. After Skuon, Phnom Penh is a momentary assault on the senses.

Sitting at the confluence of the Bassac, Mekong and Tonle Sap Rivers the city is big and thriving and pretty westernised, which is no surprise given it was deserted for many years after Pol Pot forced the residents out into the countryside.

It's as if you've entered another world that is trying desperately to bury the ghosts of its recent violent past

Denise McNabb travelled to Cambodia with help from Singapore Airlines and World Expeditions.

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$10,000 is a lot of money but i'm desperate

Swedish mother hopes Thai or Cambodian police will help reunite her with missing daughter Alicia, now believed to be with her father

A Swedish mother who has come to Thailand to try to find her missing daughter is offering a US$10,000 (Bt314,000) reward for information that leads to the return of her six-year-old girl.

Maria Elfversson, 35, announced the reward at a press conference in Bangkok yesterday. The girl was allegedly abducted by her father nine months ago.

Ms Elfversson, from Gothenburg, Sweden, hopes the reward will motivate Thai or Cambodian people to help locate her daughter Alicia.

She claims her former partner, Norwegian Torgeir Nordbo, 47, abducted Alicia on June 4, 2007 and took her to Cambodia.

The missing girl and her father were reportedly living in the seaside resort of Sihanoukville until last month.

But her mother suspects they may be in Thailand because Nordbo has numerous properties and businesses in and around Jomtien.

Police come up empty-handed

Nordbo has been charged with abduction in Sweden, and is wanted by Interpol. But taking your own child is not regarded as a crime in Cambodia.

Elfversson told reporters yesterday: "Neither the police nor authorities have been able to find out which country he has taken her to. I therefore want to make this plea for help.

"The hope is that we can get Alicia back - that the international police will be able to find her."

She said the reward was a lot of money for her and her family, but admitted she was desperate to get her daughter back.

The abduction of Alicia has been front-page news in Sweden and Norway, particularly after it was reported that the missing girl appeared to have been living with her father in Sihanoukville.

A Swedish policewoman based in Bangkok has already been to Cambodia to try to find the missing girl, but wasn't able to locate her or Nordbo.

A TV crew from Sweden's Channel 4 was due to arrive last night to report on the search for Alicia. They are due to travel to Cambodia tomorrow.

By Jim Pollard

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Cambodia blacklists home-wrecking songs: media

TOKYO, March 17 (Reuters Life!) - Cambodian entertainment watchdogs have blacklisted three songs, arguing that they could encourage women to pursue other women's husbands, a Japanese news agency reported on Monday.

The Khmer Arts Association and the Cambodian Television Association said the songs -- "If I Can't be Your First Wife, Can I be Your Second?", "I Love Another's Husband" and "May I Have a Piece of Your Heart?" -- were demeaning to women, Kyodo news agency said in a dispatch.

"The songs are meant to put down women and their dignity," Kyodo quoted Ieng Sithol, president of the Khmer Arts Association, as saying. "As lovers of the arts, artists should act properly or we will be criticized by the public."

Artists are banned from singing the songs at concerts, on radio or television. Kyodo said the decision had upset some fans who felt that it unfairly targeted female singers.

Similar songs sung by men, such as "How beautiful! Whose Wife is She?" and "Even If She is Someone Else's Wife, That's OK" can still be performed freely.

(Reporting by Sophie Hardach; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)

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Child sex trade: The sad truth

The nation of Cambodia is located in Southeast Asia, just west of Vietnam. It is largely underdeveloped, poverty stricken, and lacks a strong central government.

To support themeselves, many Cambodians live and work on farms, or in factories. In a nation where the average annual salary is around $350 a year, some citizens turn to illegal activities such as narcotics or the sex trade to make money.

Brothels have been an easy way to generate revenue for Cambodian pimps since the early 1900's. When the United Nations (UN) entered Cambodia, sending troops to supervise the country's transition to the current democratic government, there was a large demand for prostitutes. Not long after the UN left, brothel owners discovered that they could market young girls to huge numbers of foreign clientele.

Today the sex trade in Cambodia is one of the largest money making businesses in the nation.

Out of an estimated 20,000 sex workers in Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capital, the average age is around 15.

According to the U.S. State Department, sex trafficking is becoming a bigger business worldwide than drug trafficking. This means that every day thousands of young girls and boys are bought and sold into slavery.

The big question is, how do these young people find themselves as sex slaves?

According to a recent MSNBC article, one of the most popular ways of recruiting is by promising young girls steady work and shelter, an appealing prospect for girls who hope to help their families with much needed income. When they agree, they are brought to the brothel and sold for money. Because many young women in Cambodia are homeless and uneducated, one can imagine how easy this type of recruiting is. It is also not uncommon for a struggling family to sell one of their own children into the sex trade. The article reported that one woman recalls being tricked and sold to a brothel by her newly wed husband for $200.

The majority of brothels are usually filthy, run down shacks, that offer subhuman living conditions. Upon arrival, the young women are usually beaten, cadged and drugged.

Dateline also reported that, it is also common for the pimps to show pornography to the youngest women, as "educational" background so they know how to service a paying customer. Because Cambodia is ravaged with HIV, AIDS, and numerous sexually transmitted diseases, it is considered good luck for a Cambodian man to have sex with a virgin. Because of this, it is not uncommon for the young girls to have their hymen re-stitched so that they can be sold as virgins more than once for a larger sum. Their ages range from 4 and up.

CNN recently reported that, a young girl only fifteen who was recently rescued from a brothel testified that she had been "locked in a cage," and forced to service at least fifteen customers a day. If she objected she was starved, and shocked with electric rods. She was also given a methamphetamine tablet several times a day to cloud her memory and keep her in an altered state.

What is being done?

There have been numerous efforts by both internal and external organizations to break up the sex trade in Cambodia, but the struggle is far from over. The Cambodian government has set up an anti-trafficking department, but it is poorly funded, and many of the enforcement officers partake in the illegal activity themselves, such as taking handouts and tipping off the brothel owners.

For the girls who do find a way out of the sex trade, many of them turn to specialized shelters, which are dedicated to the rehabilitation of the young women. Here they receive both medical and psychological attention. The sad truth is that most of these girls die at a young age because of AIDS or other physical problems. Also a large number of the girls end up leaving and returning to a life of prostitution because it is the only thing they know.

Most of these young women have been exploited and abused on a daily basis for the majority of their lives. They have been stripped of their basic human rights, and demoralized to the point where there is nothing left but an empty shell. The United States and other developed countries have a moral obligation to educate and hold Cambodia to ensuring basic human rights for all. Read more!

Cambodia bans UN human rights envoy

VIA KI: VOA has the latest on the simmering war between the Royal Government and U.N. human rights envoy Yash Ghai.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued an order banning Cambodian embassies the authority to issue visas for UN human rights envoy Yash Ghai without prior approval.

Ghai has had an increasingly cantankerous relationship with the government, especially with Prime Minister Hun Sun, following his strident criticism of Cambodia’s poor human rights record and the concentration of power in the hands of the premier.

Banning U.N. human rights officials puts Hun Sen and his government in decidedly unsavory territory. Only the most egregious abusers of human rights — countries such as Myanmar and the United States — have ever taken such action. Furthermore, barring Yash Ghai from entry does zero to address his accusations. In fact quite the opposite, such censure only gives them credence.


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CAMBODIA: INDITEX Driving Change In Global Garment Industry

More than 1100 workers dismissed for trade union membership or activity have been reinstated, conflicts resolved in countries in every continent, trade unions recognized in ten enterprises and industrial relations management systems negotiated and adopted in five major garment manufacturing companies as a result of the partnership between Inditex, the Spanish-based retailer, and the ITGLWF, the textiles global union federation, a partnership cemented late last year by the signing of their International Framework Agreement, the first covering the supply chain of a global retailer.

Outlining these achievements in a presentation in Phnom Penh before Her Majesty, Queen Sophie of Spain during her current visit to Cambodia, Neil Kearney, General Secretary of the Brussels-based International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers’ Federation said that though there was much still to be done, Inditex and the ITGLWF, through their partnership and International Framework Agreement, had made a positive beginning in promoting the sea change needed in management and trade union thinking to promote decent work in the global textile and clothing industry.

Significantly, the presentation was made immediately after the formal signing of two company-level agreements between Inditex suppliers River Rich Textile Limited and Gold Fame Enterprises and the Cambodian trade union, C.CAWDU and which provided for the recognition of the union accompanied by the introduction of industrial relations management systems including clear company rules and grievances and disciplinary procedures alongside a protocol for management/union relations.

In addition, as part of the agreements a comprehensive manager/worker training programme over a two to three year period was put in place aimed at building the capacity of management at all levels and the trade unions to grow sustainable decent work on the back of continuous improvements in productivity, quality, profitability and international competitivity.

Said Mr. Kearney, “In the trail-blazing International Framework Agreement, signed late last year, Inditex recognizes the ITGLWF as its global partner in the pursuit of decent work throughout its supply chain.

“The agreement provides for the right of all workers to unionize and bargain collectively as the cornerstone of decent work. It outlaws child labour, forced labour and discrimination, provides for the payment of a living wage, puts restrictions on working hours, insists on safe and healthy workplaces and promotes job security free of abusive treatment.

“In the agreement Inditex and the ITGLWF pledge to work together to ensure the full application of these standards by engaging with suppliers and representatives of the workforces to eliminate abuse, build mutual respect and avoid conflict.

“It is an approach based on the employment relationship where the supplier, as employer, takes responsibility for those employed and where the exercise of that responsibility is regulated by a mature system of industrial relations at workplace level involving management and trade union representatives.

“Irregular policing of workplaces through snapshot audits is replaced by constant internal factory monitoring by those who know the enterprise best – management and workers – aided by the commitment of Inditex to build a totally socially compliant supply chain through support and training rather than sanction.”

Mr. Kearney outlined how an unfortunate garment factory disaster in Bangladesh in mid-2005 brought the ITGLWF’s first direct contact with Inditex. “From a low key beginning when we combined our efforts to bring relief to the families of the dead and the injured at the Spectrum factory in Bangladesh we proceeded jointly to deal with conflicts elsewhere in the Inditex supply chain and to recognize the shortfalls in action and capacity at local and national levels around the world.

“It was obvious that the near absence of industrial relations management systems in factories and the inadequacy of supervisor and manager training on labour issues combined with limited trade union organization was creating growing supply chain problems.

“Inditex and the ITGLWF soon concluded that global problems required global solutions, implemented locally, and we began to pool our energies to build the partnerships we knew were needed to achieve decent work in the sector.

“So was born the first international framework agreement on labour issues in a supply chain between a global trade union and a global retailer.

“Such a framework for a joint retailer/trade union partnership was urgently needed to tackle worker abuse in the global textile and garment industry where production is today carried out in 160 countries for export to markets in only about 30 nations making the sector one of the most globalised and most competitive.

“With most production costs fixed, labour bears the brunt of this competition. Globally, the industry is characterized by low wages, excessive working hours, health and safety risks, child labour, discrimination, abusive treatment and job insecurity.

“Abuses are driven by the general inability or unwillingness of governments to protect rights at work and compounded by the fact that most of the workers are women.

“During the 1990s maltreatment of workers, including the use of child labour, disgusted consumers who turned their anger on the brands and retailers who had come to dominate the industry.

“For nearly 200 years, trade unions had defended and advanced workers interests at local and later at national levels. Globalization greatly weakened that defense and retarded advance.

“In the mid 1990s national trade unions began to recognize that the globalization of union efforts was needed to harness economic globalization.

“In the textile and clothing sector the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers’ Federation which traces its roots back to the 1860s had long been promoting cross-frontier trade union co-operation. With 220 affiliated unions and more than 10 million members in 120 countries it was one of the first global unions to recognize the need for a global drive to promote corporate accountability, in sectors such as textiles and garments, based on social dialogue between employers and workforce representatives.

“Largely unregulated globalization needed to be molded to serve wider interests and the ITGLWF realized that change could best be driven by building partnerships between the industry’s key players, including the brands and retailers as buyers, manufacturers as suppliers and workers and their trade unions as producers.

“The Inditex/ITGLWF partnership is beginning to drive that change for the benefit of workers, their families and communities, the manufacturers and the exporting country involved. As the managing director of Gold Fame Enterprises earlier told Queen Sophie, ‘This approach has enhanced the image of our factory, brought about significant benefits through improved labour relations and a better understanding with our buyers enabling us to greatly increase our turnover forecasts for 2008’”, concluded Mr. Kearney.

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Adoptions lead to helping hand

by Danielle Portteus

Deb Lagger not only adopted two girls from Cambodia, but she also adopted the country.

Ms. Lagger adopted Hannah, now 8, and Kalliyan, now 7, from orphanages in Cambodia when they were infants.

Her love for her girls inspired Ms. Lagger, the director of workforce development for Goodwill Industries of Northwest Ohio, to donate money to build an English language and career center in Cambodia.

The center, which will be named after the girls, is scheduled to open this month.

"Cambodia trusted me to raise two of their most precious gifts, and I want to thank them by providing education and vocational opportunities that will allow Cambodians to rise above the unimaginable poverty that still exists," Ms. Lagger said.

The center will open a new world to those in Cambodia through education and provide a way to obtain jobs and careers that provide economic stability for them and their families, Ms. Lagger said.

Ms. Lagger has worked with three agencies to get the center build. Goodwill Industries of Northwest Ohio, Goodwill Industries International and Digital Divide Data have partnered to build the center as well as existing facilities in Battambang, Cambodia, and Vientiane, Laos, to provide career and life skills to those who need it most.

One center, located near the orphanage where one of the Lagger girls lived, teaches sewing skills. The new facility will offer more than one marketable skill, English language training and additional career development options.

"We hope to provide them not only with career and life skills, but also feeling empowered when they have completed their training," Ms. Lagger said.

For two years, some classrooms at Monroe Road Elementary, where the girls attend school, have donated money to purchase gifts for children living in the orphanages. Last year, a couple classes decorated water bottles and sold them in the cafeteria during lunch to purchase a well in the rural Pursat village, where villagers have to walk nearly two miles to get fresh water.

"Our Bedford community should be very proud to have young citizens who have humanitarian hearts at such a young age," Ms. Lagger said.

Meg Mall, manager of international development at Goodwill Industries International said in a 2007 e-mail that more than 500 people with disabilities, orphans and rural migrants benefited from the current centers in Cambodia and Laos.

"The center aims to serve more than 1,000 people in 2008," she said. "At Goodwill, we know that people are best able to focus on job training and career goals when they have a stable home life. The Family Resource Center complements existing employment and training programs by identifying the needs of the family and linking employees to community resources."

Ms. Lagger said the cost to sponsor a student at one of the family resource centers is $28.37 for the entire year.

For information about donating to the Hannah and Kalliyan Lagger Career and English Language Center, call Goodwill Industries of Northwest Ohio at (419) 255-0070.
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Cambodia rejects U.S. human rights assessment

PHNOM PENH, March 14 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia has dismissed a U.S. report on the country's human rights record, saying that the annual report to the U.S. congress entirely contradicts the true reality in the country, the Cambodia Daily newspaper reported Friday.

The Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued a statement in response of the U.S. report, saying "we have found that many of the accusations contained in this report do not even exist or are simply over exaggerated."

"We certainly recognize that human rights in Cambodia are not perfect. But is there any perfect human rights situation anywhere in the world?" the statement said, adding that the report relied too heavily on the views of anti-government NGOs (Non-Government Organizations) and appeared timed to coincide with the national election.

Cambodia fully does not believe that the country will ever receive a good mark unless the Cambodian government has "affectionate" relations with the United States, the statement said.

The annual report, release by the U.S. State Department on Wednesday, said an array of human rights guarantees were lacking in Cambodia and that the country's human rights record "remained poor."
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Cambodia's genocide trials threatened by funding crisis

The lucky notorious chef of Tuol Sleng prison is still living a long life sitting in the room with air conditioning, listening to hip hop judge rap about his crime

PHNOM PENH (AFP) — Cambodia's top administrator to the country's Khmer Rouge tribunal this week gathered together his more than 200 staff to break the news that after April they would not be paid.

The stunning announcement by Sean Visoth is the most tangible sign yet that the UN-backed genocide court, established to prosecute leaders of the regime that was toppled nearly 30 years ago, is going bankrupt months before the first trials are expected to open.

The court's top officials hold out hope that the international community or the Cambodian government will come up with the millions needed to keep the tribunal running.

But the funding crisis has become the most serious threat yet to the proceedings, already beleaguered by allegations of corruption and mismanagement amid fears of political interference.
"It is hard to imagine that the court can continue to function without funds," said tribunal spokeswoman Helen Jarvis, explaining that the Cambodian side of the joint court would go broke in April.

The UN-supported half of the tribunal is funded for several months more, but would also need a significant influx of cash after that.

"As the time for expiration of existing funds draws nearer, the situation obviously becomes more acute," Jarvis told AFP.

Originally budgeted at 56.3 million dollars over three years, the tribunal's operating costs have ballooned as the enormity of the job of prosecuting those behind Cambodia's darkest chapter becomes more apparent.

Up to two million people died of starvation and overwork, or were executed as the communist Khmer Rouge dismantled modern Cambodian society in a bid to forge an agrarian utopia during their 1975-79 rule.

After nearly a decade of wrangling, the UN and Cambodia opened the tribunal in 2006. The regime's top five surviving leaders were arrested last year in what many saw as a sign of the sluggish court's gathering momentum.

But those close to the proceedings say staff are overwhelmed, in part by paperwork, particularly the task of translating tens of thousands of documents into either Cambodian, French or English, the three languages used by the court.

"The original assumptions about the resources needed and the tasks to be accomplished were inaccurate as is often the case in these tribunals," said co-prosecutor Robert Petit, who like other court officials has been critical of the tribunal's funding structure and projected timeframe.

"The original budget was inadequate and contained many gaps in essential areas," said the UN's tribunal spokesman Peter Foster.

The UN and Cambodian government have requested an additional 114 million dollars that would allow the court to add hundreds of new staff and remain in operation until 2011.

But so far none of the tribunal's principle donors -- Japan, France, Britain, Germany and Australia -- has stepped forward to commit more money.

"A lack of funds could certainly delay the proceedings," Foster said.

Another obstacle in the oft-stalled proceedings would be a further blow to the tribunal's credibility at a time when support is crucial.

Observers say that despite the arrests, donors do not want the tribunal to be a show-trial that risks being commandeered by Cambodia's government, which includes many former Khmer Rouge.

Two critical audits detailing hiring irregularities, with lucrative jobs allegedly going to under-qualified candidates, have also made donors hesitant to throw their full support behind the tribunal, the funding for which remains a fraction of that received by other international courts.

"The donors received the revised budget estimate at the end of January.... They have asked for further clarification in a number of areas and that is now being provided by the court," the UN's Foster said.

He added that donors are expected to meet before the end of the month to discuss the tribunal's money crunch, and that a sliver of optimism remains.

"Neither the international community nor the United Nations want to see the court fail, especially since we have successfully come so far along in the process," he said.
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UN expert slams India, Cambodia, Thailand over sex tourism

GENEVA (AFP) — India, Cambodia and Thailand are not doing enough to protect children against the risks associated with sex tourism for fear of damaging their economies, a UN human rights expert charged on Friday.

Juan Miguel Petit, the UN special rapporteur on the rights of children, said authorities in these countries are often not willing to tackle the issue of children's sexual exploitation for tourists' benefit.

"Sometimes there are big pressures on governments, explicitly or implicitly, when there are enormous touristic activities going on, making millions of dollars," he told journalists.

"Some interests see the limitation on the sexual market as a limitation for their earning of money," he added.

He denounced this "insane tourism that puts at risk the lives of hundreds and hundreds of children," saying it was against the public interest in such countries.

In general, Asia "continues to be a very difficult, alarming place" as far as human trafficking is concerned, Petit said.

Police often appear unconcerned about the scale and gravity of the problem, he charged.

"They accept this kind of crime in a passive way, as if their job was only to chase bank robbers," he said.

Many convicted Western sex offenders are drawn to Southeast Asia for its perceived laxness in terms of child sex.

British former pop star Gary Glitter, whose real name is Paul Gadd, was jailed for three years in Vietnam in 2005 for molesting girls aged 11 and 12.

He fled Britain for Southeast Asia, initially Cambodia, in 1999 after serving half of a four-month prison term for possession of child pornography.

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Russian investor receives 13 years in jail in Cambodia for abusing teenager

PHNOM PENH, March 14 (Xinhua) -- Russian investor Alexander Trofimov, 41 years old, received 13 years in jail from the Phnom Penh Municipal Court here on Friday, for his sexual abuse of a 14-year-old Cambodian girl.

Chief Judge Ke Sakhan said that the court had enough evidence to convict Trofimov.

Cambodian man Phal Vannara, 34 years old, was also sentenced to11 years of imprisonment for providing the girl to the Russian man.

According to the sentence, the two men had to pay 100,000 U.S. dollars in compensation for the victim.

The girl earlier testified to the court that she had sex with Trofimov for four times in September last year for some 100 U.S. dollars out of the 1,000 U.S. dollars that Trofimov paid to the middle man.

Lawyer for the investor told reporters that his client will appeal.

Trofimov was arrested in October 2007 for allegedly sexually abusing at least 19 girls since 2005.

He has remained a prominent figure in the kingdom, after signing a deal of 300 million U.S. dollars in 2006 to develop an island near port city Sihanoukville into a tourist resort.

The Cambodian government in recent years exerted a heavy hand over paedophiles, as child rights groups campaigned hard for it to take the problem in a serious way.
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Cambodia, a 'haven' for sex offenders

Phnom Penh - A German man has been jailed in Cambodia for 15 years after being convicted of sexually abusing a girl while visiting the capital Phnom Penh, court officials said on Thursday.

Walter Munz, of Stuttgart, was arrested last year when police raided the guesthouse he was staying at and found him in his room with the 13-year-old victim, judge Sao Meach said.

Munz, 61, repeatedly assaulted the girl and was charged with debauchery, a criminal charge covering a wide range of sex offences, Sao Meach said.

"I sentenced him to 15 years in jail for committing debauchery against the girl," Sao Meach said, adding that Munz was also ordered to pay a $7 000 fine to the victim.

Munz denied the charges during his trial, but the judge said doctors had confirmed that the girl was sexually abused.

Samleang Seila, director of the French child welfare group Action Pour Les Enfants, welcomed the court's decision.

"The punishment is a good message for those foreigners who wish to abuse children in Cambodia," he said.

Dozens of foreigners have been jailed for child sex crimes or deported to face trial in their home countries since Cambodia launched an anti-paedophilia push in 2003 in a bid to shake off its reputation as a haven for sex predators.

A Russian businessman accused of sexually abusing at least 19 Cambodian girls went on trial earlier this week in the country's largest-ever paedophilia prosecution.

While lauding the government's efforts to fight child sex crimes, officials, including foreign diplomats, have urged authorities to also target Cambodian paedophiles, who are thought to make up more than half of all sex offenders. Read more!

MTV in Cambodia 3G, Japan ads

NEW YORK -- Viacom's MTV Networks Asia is partnering with Shockwave in Japan to develop new advertising models and has licensed its first mobile content in Cambodia to telecom Cadcomms.

MTV said Thursday that Phnom Penh-based Cambodia Advance Communications will begin offering MTV and Nickelodeon content to its 3G platform subscribers on March 15 under the brand qb.

Video content will be provided to mobile subscribers via mobile television and video-on-demand formats.

"The MTV brand and its position in the local market is very strong and it fits very well with our brand and strategy in targeting the young and music inspired segment of the market," CADCOMMS CEO Morten Eriksen said in a statement released jointly with Robert Kim, MTV Networks Asia's senior director for digital media and video broadcast services.

Subscribers will be able to choose from such content as MTV's "Pimp My Ride" and Nickelodeon's "SpongeBob SquarePants" and "Dora the Explorer."

The service will kick off with a qb goes LIVE concert featuring Stacie Orrico and local artists from the Olympic Stadium in the capital.

In Japan, MTV Networks Japan K.K., entered into a strategic partnership with Shockwave Entertainment to create a new advertising business model that will add value to Japanese advertisers and consumers, the Viacom unit said in a statement issued from Tokyo.

Shockwave, one of the largest Japanese entertainment Web sites for casual gamers and animation fans, and MTVJapan.com will collaborate to widen their reach in a partnership that will try to encourage the transfer of existing members of one Web site to the other, increasing the audience pool for advertisers, the companies said.

The partnership also will develop "advergames," free online games used for advertising. By integrating brand logos and services into games, advertisers hope to increase brand exposure.

"This alliance will blend our brand power with Shockwave's compelling entertainment destinations, further strengthening our ability to offer advertisers innovative and unique solutions," MTV Networks Japan K.K. Peter Bulllard said.

MTV and Shockwave also plan to provide multiplatform advertising solutions that encompass cable TV and satellite broadcasts in addition to online properties. Read more!

Cambodia to host meeting on ASEAN integration in 2015

PHNOM PENH, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Sixty officials from Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, the Philippines and Vietnam will meet on March 17-20 in Siem Reap province to boost their progress on commercial law and trade reform, said a press release from the U.S. Embassy on Thursday.

They will also discuss approaches to working together on reforms that will support the ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asia Nations) integration in 2015, it added.

"They will review the findings and best practices identified in the SEA CLIR report named A Regional Agenda for Shared Growth," it said, adding that SEA CLIR stands for the South East Asia Commercial Legal and Institutional Reform and Trade Diagnostics Report.

The meeting will bring together public and private-sector officials to meet in small groups to discuss the best regional legal and institutional models to meet the challenges in Southeast Asian trade and business, it said.

Topics will include building a stronger environment for doing business, enhancing cross-border trade, and deepening regional and global integration, it added.
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Cambodia's top court upholds life sentences for Islamic militants

Thai nationals Muhammad Yalaludin Mading (2nd R) and Abdul Azi Haji Chiming (R)

Thai national Abdul Azi Haji Chiming (R) is handcuffed with Cambodian Sman Ismael

PHNOM PENH (AFP) — Cambodia's Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld life sentences for three Muslims convicted of plotting terror attacks against the British embassy and a UN agency in the capital Phnom Penh.

Cambodian Sman Ismael and Thais Abdul Azi Haji Chiming and Muhammad Yalaludin Mading were sentenced in 2004 to life in prison by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court for plotting attacks here between 2002 and 2003.

Despite persistent criticism of the prosecutions from rights groups, a five-judge panel ruled that evidence proved the three had helped Islamic militant Hambali, an alleged key member of the Al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) network, to plan the strikes.

Hambali, whose real name is Riduan Isamuddin, reportedly spent several months in Cambodia before being captured in Thailand in 2003. He was later handed over to US authorities and is now being held at the US military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

"There is enough evidence to prove that the three men facilitated Hambali's group in preparing terror attacks," said judge Khim Ponn, adding that the group had intended to strike the British embassy and the UN children's agency UNICEF.

Hambali, an Egyptian and a Malaysian were tried in absentia in Cambodia and sentenced to life in prison in 2004 for their roles in the planned attacks, which Khim Ponn said were intended "to cause the loss of many lives."

All three imprisoned men have repeatedly denied the charges against them, with Sman Ismael saying after Wednesday's hearing that the court only used "evidence written on a piece of paper by the United States" to find him guilty.

"I am not a terrorist. I had no plan to kill people," he added.

The trio's lawyer, Kao Soupha, told AFP that there were no witnesses to prove that his clients were conspiring with international extremists, adding that the court's decision was "unacceptable."

Speaking in Thailand, the wives of the two Thai men protested the decision, accusing the court of trying to curry favour with the Americans.

"Our husbands went to Cambodia to work as religious teachers, hoping that they could earn more money than in Thailand," said Asisa Haji Chiming, 33, who has three children with husband Abdul.

"But they were accused of being terrorists and planning to stage attacks," Asisa told AFP in Yala province in the Muslim-majority south of Thailand.

"We have closely monitored the case for five years with high hopes that they would receive justice and be freed, but we think the Supreme Court has delivered a verdict just to please the US."

Asisa and Muhammad's wife, Parida, 42, said they plan to petition to have their husbands moved to Thailand to serve their sentences, so they can ask for a royal pardon for the two men.

JI has been blamed for the October 2002 bombings in the Indonesian resort of Bali that killed 202 people.

Washington has lauded Cambodia for its role in the US "war on terror," with the country's leaders earning praise from top American police and military officials seeking better co-operation with Cambodia's government on anti-terror efforts.

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Cambodia vigilant for chemical, nuclear weapon imports

PHNOM PENH, March 12 (Xinhua) -- The Cambodian government has remained committed to preventing any chemical or nuclear weapons smuggled into the country, said English-Khmer language newspaper the Mekong Times on Wednesday.

"The government still continues to prevent the import of chemical and nuclear weapons to keep peace and stability, while countries around the world are facing threats of terrorism," said Em Sam An, secretary of state at the Interior Ministry while addressing a National Awareness Workshop of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) here on Tuesday.

Cambodia cooperates with several other countries on weapons control and has held a strong stance on the issue since 1993, he said, adding that the country has destroyed over 190,000 weapons since then.

"The Interior Ministry has prohibited the circulation of chemical weapons and cut down on the level of weapons in the country with positive results from the crackdowns conducted by the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces," he said.

Cambodia ratified CWC in July 2005, becoming the 170th member of the convention.


Editor: Jiang Yuxia
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Top Spots For Southeast Asian Ecotourism

Inspired by Southeast Asia's natural beauty and rich culture, many travelers are showing an interest in the area's alternative "eco" vacations, like the one offered in the Thai National Forests.

Participants on this $2,300, 10-day tour (airfare and two nights' stay in Bangkok not included) receive an intensive education in regional ecology and conservation efforts, which range from using biogas to discourage logging and creating communal farms to decrease poaching. Highlights include trips to the Erawan, Budo Sungai-Padi and Khao Yai national parks, where tropical birds, elephants and Asiatic tigers live.

It's one of many luring travelers to the region. As travel to Southeast Asia continues to rise--an estimated 60.4 million tourists visited the region in 2007--many visitors are foregoing traditional packages and chain hotels and instead discovering the nascent ecotourism market.

In Depth: Top Spots For Southeast Asian Ecotourism

Ecotourism is broadly defined as "responsible" or "ethical" travel during which tourists try their best to minimize environmental impact and ensure their spending and presence benefits the local community. This niche market has grown steadily in recent years.

While it's difficult to estimate the region's share of this growth, experts say that examples like a solar-powered lodge in Sumatra, Indonesia, and a conservation-focused tour of the Sukau rainforest in Malaysia are indicative of a growing trend to provide tourists in Southeast Asia with culturally sensitive and environmentally friendly vacations.

"Some of [these countries]," says Ayako Ezaki, director of communications for the International Ecotourism Society, "have taken advantage of the natural and cultural heritage they have to develop tourism. They've highlighted those beauties and attracted tourists."

Enlightening Excursions
Though the market in Southeast Asia is still growing, there are several countries in the region that offer ecotourism options, including Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Visitors to northern Laos, for example, can stay at the Boat Landing Guest House, an eco-lodge certified by Green Globe, a company that rigorously evaluates a hotel's environmental practices. Guests at the riverside bungalows can rest assured the lodge is working to reduce its solid waste through recycling and composting. Tourists can spend their time trekking, rafting and biking in the nearby protected forests.

On a trip through the Sukau Rainforest in Malaysia, where the landscape features jungles, paddy fields and rivers, tourists will learn about local turtle conservation efforts and stay at the 20-room Sukau Rainforest eco-lodge where the water is heated with solar power and "passes" have been built into the land to accommodate elephant migration in the area. The lodge charges one dollar extra per international adult guest and uses it to fund projects like wildlife rehabilitation and tree planting.

Travelers worried about their carbon footprints can try a two-week trip to Cambodia, for which the tour operator can purchase carbon offsets. Highlights include visits to Angkor Wat, a 12th-century temple, and the Royal Palace, as well as the knowledge that the economic and environmental impact on communities is closely monitored.

A range of policies and practices like these are important, according to Dr. Eric Crystal, a lecturer at University of California, Berkeley, who has researched the positive and negative consequences of tourism in Southeast Asia.

"Tourism has brought a lot of good and bad things," Crystal says. But people can also be very conscious, he says, of what they can put back.

What To Know Before You Go
Though "ecotourism" is a vague term to most consumers, Andy Drumm, a senior ecotourism specialist at the Nature Conservancy, says there are specific components to look for in a vacation marketed with the word.

Where the environment is concerned, Drumm says tourists should ask whether or not a tour operator or hotel is certified and incorporates sustainable energy practices like solar power or water conservation.

Companies should also make clear exactly how they contribute to local communities. Volunteer time, financial contributions or donations of needed materials can be effective depending on the location. If a company doesn't comment on these issues or doesn't respond to questions, chances are they may be "greenwashing"--just using the "eco-" term as a marketing tool.

"You don't want to turn your vacation time into labor," he says of researching ecotourism travel options, "but you have to be pretty determined."

Awareness of one's impact often helps convince travelers to explore so-called ethical measures. At the Komodo National Park in Indonesia, for instance, independent travelers contribute about $100 to the local economy, whereas those on a package tour spend half that and those who arrive via a cruise ship have a local impact of only three cents. With this knowledge, a tourist might decide against a cruise and instead book local alternatives and buy keepsakes from native artisans.

"The important thing to note," says Ezaki, "is that when you say 'ecotourism,' it's not just about one particular group of companies you can travel with. It's about doing everything possible to make your experience more sustainable and more responsible." Read more!

Russian man denies child sex abuse charge during trial in Cambodia

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: A Russian businessman accused of sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl in Cambodia denied the charge Tuesday, despite the child's testimony that he paid her for sex last year.

Alexander Trofimov, 41, is accused of debauchery. If convicted of the child sex offense, Trofimov could face from 10 to 20 years in prison.

Police arrested Trofimov in the coastal city of Sihanoukville in October on suspicion he had sexually abused up to 19 Cambodian girls since 2005. Tuesday's trial, held in the capital, Phnom Penh, considered only one of those allegations.

Judge Ke Sakhan said he would announce a verdict Friday.

The teenage girl testified that she and Trofimov had sex in September last year. She said she received $100 out of $1,000 that Trofimov paid to a broker to bring the girl to him.

Trofimov, who has lived in Cambodia for more than three years, denied the charge.

"I have never seen her or committed any sex acts with her," Trofimov told the court. He urged the court to release him.

Phal Vannara, a 34-year-old Cambodian man, is charged with conspiracy in the sexual abuse for his alleged role as the broker. He is being tried alongside Trofimov.

Trofimov runs a company that in late 2006 received permission from the Cambodian government to develop Koh Puos, or Snake Island, into a tourist resort. Read more!

Jackson's Sadie Thompson has school in Cambodia named in her honor

Jim Thompson and his sister, Hazel Joyce of Sutter Creek, hold up a picture of their mother, Jackson resident Sadie Thompson at a school in the village of Proa Chum, Cambodia. The school is dedicated to her by her son.

The new school in Cambodia is a tribute to Jim Thompson's mother, Sadie Thompson.

By Scott Thomas Anderson

On Dec. 8, 2007, a group of Cambodian children gathered in the early morning light at the center of their village and happily waved flags. The new school that was being opened for them was more than just a necessity, it was a symbol - a glimpse at a future not dominated by staggering poverty and hardship, but rather hope through education.

The opening was made possible by the generosity of an American man named Jim Thompson, and it was done as a tribute to the woman who'd taught him everything he knew about caring and compassion.

Before moving to Amador County in 2000, Sadie Thompson had traveled the world. Her husband, the late Jim Thompson Sr., was in the U.S. Navy and then worked in international business. The taste for foreign living was never lost on her son Jim, who's spent most of his adult life living in Asia. Today, Jim's international transportation and storage business, Crown Worldwide, is headquartered in Hong Kong and has offices in more than 50 countries.

Sadie's life, on the other hand, has been quieter lately. She lives in Rollingwood Estates in Jackson and spends a great deal of her time with her daughter, Hazel Joyce of Sutter Creek. Joyce said that, despite some health problems, the feisty 90-year-old still makes a strong impression on those who meet her. "My mom's a unique person," Joyce explained. "She's made a lot of friends since moving up here. She's very upbeat and positive. It's hard to explain, but people just tend to remember her."

Jim has always agreed, and that message was about to be shared with a village full of children who had never met anyone in the Thompson family. When he recently opened a new office for his company in the Cambodian city of Phnom Penh, his wife, Sally, toured the dire situation in the out-lying countryside. It was eventually brought to the Thompsons' attention that the village of Proa Chum needed a real school for its children, and that the area where what few classes were taught lacked an actual bathroom - which kept many young girls from showing up. The Thompsons wanted to help create a safe and secure place where the kids from Proa Chum could better their chances for the future through education. Jim contacted the Cambodian government and agreed to provide the funds for the school. His only condition was that it be named in his mother's honor.

With the aid of a professor from the Royal University of Phnom Penh, Hun Sen Proa Chum Primary School was built in four months. On the day it opened, Joyce, along with a representative from Cambodia's prime minister and 1,500 other people were on hand. "The experience was so emotional, so overwhelming, that it's hard to put into words," recalled Joyce. "The idea that my brother would do this to honor my mother was amazing. And for me to share that day just provided a memory that I'll hold forever."

After a large picture of Sadie was shown to those gathered, Jim addressed the children. According to Johnson, they hung on his every word. "The only way for the children to escape the devastating poverty is to get an education; and that's what he stressed to them," she said. "For the girls who don't, they're often forced into prostitution. In Cambodia, the problem with AIDS and children being sold into prostitution has been well-documented by the media. It's horrific, and that's why Jim emphasized to the kids of Proa Chum to stay in school and use education as their way out."

The goal of helping children is something Joyce is very familiar with herself. She's currently on the board of Amador's Operation Care, which helps women and children who are the victims of abuse. She said both she and her brother's commitment to making a positive difference can be directly attributed to the role Sadie played in their lives. "There's certainly a connection between what Jim did in Cambodia and her," she said. "Anything about being good and trying to care for people, we learned from our mother."
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Volunteers going overseas for Operation Smile

Dr. Alice Smith of Coralville will be among more than 50 volunteers traveling to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Thursday to March 21 with Operation Smile to provide free treatment to children born with facial deformities.

The volunteer team consists of more than 50 medical and non-medical volunteers from Australia, Cambodia, Canada, Italy, the Netherlands, Peru, the Philippines, Singapore and the United States.

Founded in 1982, Operation Smile is a worldwide children's medical charity dedicated to helping improve the health and lives of children and young adults.

For more informaton visit www.operationsmile.org Read more!

Cambodia to form committee to check on quality of medicines

PHNOM PENH, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Around 30 leaders from Cambodia's various pharmaceutical organizations have agreed that a Pharmacy Accreditation Committee must be formed this year to keep check on the quality and validity of medicines sold through the kingdom's growing number of pharmacies, local media reported Monday.

"Among our many challenges are keeping check on the quality of medical products sold and an overall improvement in the quality of health services, so a Pharmacy Accreditation Committee is needed," Yim Yann, president of the Pharmacist's Association of Cambodia, was quoted by the Mekong Times as saying.

The Pharmacy Accreditation Committee, to be supervised by the Health Ministry's Department of Drugs and Food, will assess whether pharmacies reach a standard called "Good Pharmacy Practice," said Yim Yann, with those up to scratch receiving of facial accreditation .

The rapidly increasing circulation of medicines is hampering efforts to control the sector, Sok Pheng, Under Secretary of State for the Health Ministry, said, adding that drug traders with no medical knowledge often conspire with dishonest traders to circulate fake medicines.

Although relevant laws are enforced, most pharmacies are substandard so contraband, counterfeit, inferior, unregistered and expired drugs still sit on pharmacy shelves, he said.

Mao Dareth, deputy president of the Pharmacist Association of Cambodia, said that there are about 1,300 pharmacies throughout the country, nearly 500 of which are in Phnom Penh.
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Uzbekistan, South Korea eye natural gas

While Russia's Gazprom dominates Central Asian natural gas exports through its pipeline monopoly, the leaders of the "stans" are unhappy about the arrangement, as Gazprom buys cheap and sells dear to European consumers, United Press International (UPI) wrote.

Seeking to break the deadlock, Uzbekistan has been investigating alternatives, and on 25 February state-owned Uzbekneftegaz signed an agreement with a South Korean energy consortium led by state-run Korea Gas Corp. to develop a gas field in western Uzbekistan and construct a gas-chemical industrial complex.

Western Uzbekistan's Surgil gas field is estimated to have reserves of nearly 96 million tons of liquefied natural gas, an amount equivalent to nearly four years of South Korea's LNG consumption. The deal is generous to the Korean consortium. Joint venture partners Korean Gas Corp. and Lotte Daesan Petrochemical Corp. will each hold a 17.5% stake while LG Corp., STX Energy and SK Gas will each hold 5%, with Uzbekneftegaz holding the remaining 50%.

The deal, signed during a visit to Seoul by Uzbek President Islam Karimov, represents a useful marriage of convenience, as Uzbekistan is as eager to export energy as South Korea is to diversify its hydrocarbon imports. Rising energy prices have contributed to keeping South Korea's trade balance in deficit for the third consecutive month in February, which saw the country's exports total US$17.9 billion; imports totaled US$21.8 billion.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, sworn in last month after having scored a record victory margin in December's presidential election with his "Economy, First!" pledge, has moved swiftly to implement his "energy diplomacy."

On 26 February Lee met not only with Karimov, but Mongolian President Nambaryn Enkhbayar and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, all of who came to Seoul to attend Lee's inauguration ceremony. During his discussions with Enkhbayar, Lee stressed the need for closer bilateral cooperation in the resource and energy sectors, while Enkhbayar requested closer South Korean-Mongolian cooperation in the high-technology fields of bioengineering, IT and climate change. In his meeting with Sen, Lee emphasized deepening bilateral ties and asked for greater support of South Korean firms wishing to enter Cambodia's resource and construction markets.

It is Uzbekistan, however, that represents the potential crown jewel of Lee's "energy diplomacy." In 2006 Uzbek natural gas production was estimated at 62.5 billion cubic meters, of which 48.4 billion cubic meters was consumed domestically and 12.5 billion cubic meters exported, more than half going to Russia and the remainder to neighboring Central Asian states.

It is Uzbekistan's largely untapped natural gas reserves that are the real prize, however, as in 2006 the country's proven reserves stood at 1.798 trillion cubic meters. Uzbekistan is currently producing natural gas from 52 fields; with 12 major deposits it is the third-largest natural gas producer in the former Soviet Union, exceeded only by Russia and Turkmenistan, and is now one of the world's Top 15 natural gas producers. Since becoming independent in 1991, Uzbekistan has increased its natural gas production by nearly 40%, from 42 billion cubic meters annually to 62.5 billion cubic meters in 2006.

The recent South Korean-Uzbek Surgil gas field joint venture follows on earlier arrangements with foreign producers, including a 2006 35-year production-sharing agreement with an Asian consortium including Malaysia's Petronas, China's CNPC, South Korea's KNOC and Lukoil to explore Uzbekistan's sector of the Aral Sea and central Ustyurt plateau.

Of foreign investors, South Korea is establishing a dominant position, as earlier this year Daewoo International signed a contract to operate fields in northwestern Uzbekistan for five years. Even more worrying to Russia's hopes of complete dominance of Central Asian energy exports, in May 2007 arch-rival China signed a joint-venture accord with Uzbekneftegaz to participate in a natural gas exploration project in Namangan province.

While Karimov has been assiduously courting non-Russian energy investors, he adroitly has not shut Russia completely out of the picture. Following protracted negotiations a year ago, Russia's Soyuzneftegaz signed a new 36-year PSA with Uzbekneftegaz to invest US$462 million to develop gas fields in the Ustyurt plateau region and the Southwest Gissar concessions. Last month Lukoil acquired a controlling interest in the PSA and is hoping for eventual production of 3 billion cubic meters annually.

Nor has Uzbekistan completely shut out Gazprom. In 2004 Gazprom and Uzbekneftegaz signed a US$15 million, 15-year PSA to develop Uzbekistan's northwestern Shakhpati field. Two years later, in December 2006, Gazprom received exploration licenses to develop seven Uzbek concessions with combined reserves of 1 trillion cubic meters, and intends to invest US$400 million by 2011 and US$1.5 billion over the contract life to develop their concessions, from which they eventually hope to produce 13.6 billion to 16.4 billion cubic meters annually. Read more!

Cambodia travel – some like it hot

If you’re thinking about visiting Cambodia soon, go this month (March) if you can handle some heat (by April, it’ll be even hotter). Or plan a trip for summer, when monsoon rains cool things down and really only inconvenience you for part of the afternoon.

A few years ago I traveled around Cambodia in late April, when the heat was really beginning to escalate (which it does starting around March, before hitting a peak in May or June to initiate monsoon season). The temperature was in the 90s and the humidity oppressive.

I remember stumbling around after a trip to the Toul Sleng Genocide Museum. The gravity of what I’d observed there was enough to make me delirious, but in addition I’d come down with heat stroke. I spent the next couple days cooped up in my room with fever, a migraine and nausea. If you go to Cambodia in April, bring a big hat, and drink bucketfuls of water.

Why go: Thailand’s neighbor to the southeast, Cambodia is fascinating in many ways, but it has a sobering yet educational impact on many tourists; its recent history is so heartbreaking that you can’t leave the country the same person that you were upon entry. Angkor Wat and its surrounding temples and ruins are truly sights to behold. And adventurous foodies can try all manner of unusual edibles: locusts and spiders, for instance.

What’ll it cost me?: In his article “Countries where dollars go the distance,” L. A. Times Staff Writer Jason La breaks down general food and lodging costs. Right now you’ll spend around $1200 for a flight from LAX to Phnom Penh (PNH) after taxes. Maybe that sounds exorbitant, but if you’re shelling out $10/night for a room, you may decide it evens out. If you’ve got miles, though, all the better.

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Cambodia's thriving real estate market enriches the elite and sidelines the poor

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: An old hospital was razed to make way for Phnom Penh's tallest building — a 42-story twin condominium tower. A garbage-strewn slum became prime real estate after police evicted its dwellers to a parched rice field outside the capital.

Cambodia is experiencing a construction boom fueled by foreign investment, particularly by South Koreans, and buying and selling among the country's few nouveaux riche — while leaving the poor majority behind.

Shopping malls and tall apartment buildings are sprouting up, transforming the capital's landscape that once bore the charm of colonial French-styled villas but resembled a ghost town at the fall of the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime nearly 30 years ago.

Political stability and robust economic growth of nearly 10 percent have lured investors to the real estate market that has seen prices surge over the last few years — though they are still lower than in neighboring Vietnam or Thailand.

"Cambodia was sleeping for many years and now it's waking up," said Claire Brown, managing director of Britain-based Claire Brown Realty who began buying and selling property in Phnom Penh two years ago.

"Everybody wants to get a piece of the action," she said by phone. "The time to get in is now because soon it's going to be too late."

Prime city land prices have tripled over the last two years to US$3,000 (€2,000) per square meter. Those kinds of returns have drawn rich and middle-class Cambodians, as well as those living abroad.

"In buying and selling land, they could get profit 100 or 200 percent a year, if they make the right bet on the right location," said Dith Channa, the sale manager of CPL Cambodia Properties Ltd., a Phnom Penh-based real estate agency.

But the soaring real estate market is also widening the gap between the rich and the poor.

"Phnom Penh city is getting modern every day — of course for the wealthy," said Chhorn Et, a former slum dweller now living with hundreds of others in a village in the middle of rice field about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the capital.

"The government swept us away because they regarded us as very unpleasant for their eyes," said the 34-year-old woman who scavenges for discarded cans and bottles to sell for a living.

The flourishing property market is also happening in the shadow of problems of land rights disputes that, in recent years, have often pitted the poor against wealthy developers with links to the Cambodian political establishment.

"We're moving toward possibly about 10 percent of the population owning 90 percent of the land in Cambodia," said Naly Pilorge, director of the nonprofit human rights group Licadho.

That could fan social and political unrest, she and others have warned.

The biggest projects are being funded by South Korean investors and companies, which have been the leading investors in Cambodia following the resumption of diplomatic ties between the two countries in 1997. Investment and tourists from South Korea have surged following a 2006 visit to Cambodia by former President Roh Moo-hyun.

World City Co. Ltd., a South Korean company, is investing US$2 billion (€1.3 billion) to build a "satellite" urban complex called Camko City on a 120-hectare (300-acre) area on the northwest side of Phnom Penh. The project, the single biggest foreign direct investment in Cambodia to date, will include residential, commercial and public facilities — villas, condos, trade and financial centers, office buildings, shopping centers, hotels, schools and hospitals.

Meanwhile, at a busy corner leading up to the city's landmark Independence Monument, an old government hospital has been torn down to make way for a 42-story condominium and shopping complex worth about US$250 million (€162 million). That's going to dramatically change Phnom Penh's skyline, where the tallest building now is a 15-story hotel.

It is going to be the first luxury residential building and tallest structure in Cambodia, said Kim Tae-Yeon, chairman of Yon Woo Inc., a South Korean developer.

Kim said the towers will have about 500 units of apartments, office space and retail shops with price tags ranging from US$112,000 (€72,647) to US$1.8 million (€1.17 million) a unit. Construction will start next month and take 3 1/2 years to complete, but Kim said nearly half of the units have already been bought.

In recent years, Siem Reap, a northwestern town near the famed Angkor Wat ruins, also has seen a frenzy of hotel and guesthouse construction for the growing numbers of tourists.

Thrilled with the boom, Prime Minister Hun Sen has said it has been made possible by the political stability he has brought. In a recent speech he warned that if he is not re-elected in July elections, property prices could nosedive.

"It was a threat, a dirty trick to gain votes," said Son Chhay, an opposition party lawmaker.

Son Chhay and some human rights workers, including Pilorge of the human rights group Licadho, believe that the boom is partly fueled by people laundering money from illegal logging, drug trafficking and tax evasion by plowing the cash into the real estate market.

"This is not going to be healthy for the Cambodian economy," Son Chhay says.

There are also concerns that the rapid price gains are creating a bubble that will eventually pop.

Eric Sidgwick, senior economist at the Asian Development Bank office in Phnom Penh, said the real estate market has been "driven by a combination of genuine demand for business-related and residential construction," as well as a growing population, increased urbanization and speculation.

Still, there were "reasons to be concerned about the recent increase in real estate prices and the dangers of further inflating a speculation-led bubble," he said in an e-mail. He declined to comment about any possible link between money laundering and the property market boom.

Meanwhile, poor residents like Chhorn Et, the former slum dweller who was moved outside the capital, are left to cope with a stark reality in their new village, which has no running water or sewage system.

Although each family has been given a small piece of land, they complain of the lack of means to support their livelihoods. They have to travel daily to the capital to do odd jobs as motorbike taxi drivers, construction workers or scavenge for bottles and cans to sell to buy food.

Many of them are too poor to afford a latrine and have to use a nearby rice field as a toilet, said 37-year-old Mom Somaly, a mother of five children.

Pointing to a distant land-for-sale sign, she said "soon they may not even have a field to use as toilet any longer." Read more!