Cambodian PM to join ASEAN+3 meeting in Thailand

PHNOM PENH, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen confirmed on Monday that he will go to Thailand in April to participate in the ASEAN plus Three (China, Japan and South Korea) Meeting.

"I will leave Cambodia for Thailand from April 10 to 12 for the ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) plus Three Meeting," national television TVK quoted him as telling a pagoda-opening ceremony in Kompong Speu province.

The meeting will be conducted separately from the 14th ASEAN Summit because Thailand has some internal affairs to settle, he said.

"I will come back as early as possible to celebrate the Khmer New Year which falls on April 13 to 16 this year," he added.

The 14th ASEAN Summit was held in Thailand's central resort town Hua Hin during Feb. 27 to March 1. Read more!

Cuban Cinema Exhibition to be presented in Cambodia

Cuban cinematography became here this week one of the main cultural attractions, within the program of activities for the 50th anniversary of the Revolution in the Caribbean island.

Since evening there was much public filling the screening room of the Metahouse Culture House, the venue of the event, conceived like an event that includes movies such as El Benny, Memories of underdevelopment, Viva Cuba (image) and the documentary Nadando contra la marea (Swimming against the tide).

In the opening of the movie exhibition, the cultural attaché of the Cuban Embassy in Cambodia, Orlando Torres, highlighted the development of the seventh art and the movie industry in his country, with achievements of great impact also in productions such as news reports.

The Cuban diplomat also highlighted the International Movie School from San Antonio de los Baños in the province of Havana, a center that receives hundreds of students from different nationalities.

She also referred to the success of the International Latin American Movie Festival, which is celebrated every year in the Cuban capital and which is assisted by important personalities from Latin American and from all over the world.

In the opening ceremony there was much public including many Latin Americans living in Phnom Penh and it included the presence of the director of the Metahouse, Niko Mesterharm.
Read more!

Trail of a Sex Tourist: Canada's limited success in pursuing pedophiles

Donald Bakker, a B.C. father, was the first Canadian convicted under the child sex-tourism law.

Canadians travelling abroad to have sex with children is an abhorrent and shocking offence, punishable under Canada's Criminal Code. But are some Canadians getting away with this crime? Canada's so-called child sex-tourism law is supposed to punish Canadians who travel overseas to have sex with children. It's a law that has been on the books since 1997, but in more than a decade only three Canadians have been convicted.

W-FIVE takes an in-depth look at the unprecedented international investigation and arrest of Donald Bakker - Canada's first conviction under the law, and asks why Canadian authorities aren't doing more to catch its pedophiles overseas.

It's Dec. 2, 2003 in Vancouver's CRAB Park, a little patch of green tucked between the harbour and nearby railway tracks. Screams are heard from the bushes. A city worker taking a lunch break nearby calls 911. Vancouver Police are quickly dispatched to the scene.

Brian McConaghy, a former RCMP firearms specialist, runs the Ratanak Foundation, a charity that helps child victims of sexual exploitation. Vancouver Police enlisted his expertise in finding key identifiers in the video that narrowed down the location of the Asian brothels.

Police find a hysterical woman running from the shrubs and a middle-aged man carrying a blue bag. That man is Donald Bakker, a 40-year-old husband and father.

Bakker is arrested and brought in for questioning. In the bag, police find a disturbing videotape of Bakker sexually assaulting the woman in the park and torturing prostituted women he had picked up on Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

With Donald Bakker in custody, police executed a search warrant of the home Bakker shared with his wife and infant son. The 11-hour search unearthed a cache of hardcore pornography. A search of his car revealed more videotapes showing Bakker torturing adult women.

Even more disturbing was video of Bakker sexually assaulting young Asian girls.

Sgt. Ron Bieg, a 20-year veteran with the Vancouver Police, couldn't believe his eyes when he reviewed the seized evidence.

"First of all you're just awestruck. You're just going, 'this can't be happening'," Bieg told W-FIVE's Victor Malarek.

Bieg led a team of more than 50 investigators to find the women in the videos. But the more daunting task was to locate seven Asian girls -- some as young as seven years of age -- which required dozens of officers and international help.

According to Bieg and Sgt. Benedikte Wilkinson, the biggest help came from Brian McConaghy. He's a former RCMP firearms specialist who now runs the Ratanak Foundation, a Cambodian-based charity that helps rehabilitate child victims of sexual exploitation.

Bieg sent the Bakker tapes to McConaghy, who knows Cambodia, its brothels, and has witnessed first-hand the trauma experienced by young girls sold to foreign pedophiles for sex.

It was McConaghy's deft eye that helped narrow down the location of the brothels where the tape was shot and where Bakker had paid the young girls for oral sex.

"There were the children who were speaking a combination of Vietnamese and Khmer," said McConaghy, recalling how he was able to find the brothel. "Khmer's the Cambodian language. So that's a big clue right there. Some of the kids had a thing called a Kroma which is a checkered scarf that's classically Cambodian."

On the tape, McConaghy also identified a Cambodian calendar from 2003 on the wall. It was another important clue for Vancouver Police, giving them a probable date for Bakker's sex-tourist visit to Cambodia.

The next step for Bieg and Wilkinson was to travel to Cambodia -- to the squalor and filth of the brothels -- in order to bring home the evidence that was needed to secure Bakker's conviction.

"It's squalor. The streets were dirty. There's garbage everywhere. There's sewage everywhere, you know, open sewage," Wilkinson told W-FIVE.

Inside one brothel they found clear evidence that this was where Bakker had sex with children. Smudges on the wall matched the video. So did photographs. Combined with the other evidence it was enough to secure Bakker's conviction under Canada's child sex-tourism law. Bakker eventually pleaded guilty to those crimes, and the brutal sexual assaults of some Vancouver prostitutes, Bakker is now serving a 10-year sentence.

Few successes

The world-wide investigation of Donald Bakker and his conviction was not case-closed. It unfurled a debate about why Canada isn't doing more to capture and arrest Canadians who have sex with minors overseas.

Bakker is one of only three Canadians to be convicted under the 12-year-old child sex tourism law, prompting some legal experts to suggest Canadian law enforcement isn't doing enough to investigate and bring pedophiles to justice.

Benjamin Perrin, who teaches law at the University of British Columbia, argues that the low number of convictions doesn't reflect the true number of Canadians seeking sex with children overseas.

"We know for a fact that Canadians are among this group of international sex offenders," said Perrin in an interview.

He obtained records through Access to Information requests that show between 1993 and 2008, despite few convictions at home, at least 156 Canadians faced local charges in foreign jurisdictions for offences related to child sex abuse and exploitation.

"Canada passed a child sex tourism law in 1997, saying basically you abuse children abroad, we're going after you," "What Canada did is pass the law and basically forgot about it," said Perrin.

Instead, as Perrin told W-FIVE, Canada seems to rely on other countries to investigate and arrest Canadian pedophiles offending overseas - in countries such as Cambodia, Thailand, the Philippines, Brazil and Mexico.

"We have a series of recent cases where the American authorities have actually been catching Canadian offenders in their own dragnets and having to charge them under U.S. law, trying to extradite them to U.S. courts for crimes these Canadians committed in developing countries for abusing children."

Leave it to Americans

On Dec. 15, 2008, American investigators arranged for the arrest of Canadian John Wrenshall, following an investigation in Thailand. United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) led the investigation into Wrenshall's activities. The Canadian had moved to Thailand after completing a prison sentence in Alberta for indecently assaulting eight young choir boys.

The 62-year-old English teacher was arrested, in London, England, on child sex tourism related charges, as he was trying to make his way his way back to Canada. He is currently awaiting extradition to the U.S.

To date, Canadian authorities have not initiated any charges against Wrenshall for his alleged offences in Thailand.

"I cannot think of any good reason why Canada should not have laid these charges and why we're foisting the investigative burden onto the U.S. taxpayers," said Perrin.

"Why are U.S. taxpayers paying to prosecute a Canadian sex offender for what he allegedly did abroad? He's our problem to deal with. If there's evidence against him, we should be prosecuting him."

Read more!

Climate change a threat to Metro

By Alcuin Papa
Philippine Daily Inquirer


Filed Under: Climate Change, Environmental Issues, Local authorities

MANILA, Philippines – Metro Manila ranks as the seventh most vulnerable area to climate change in Southeast Asia, a recent study said.

The study, titled “Climate Change Vulnerability in Southeast Asia” conducted by the Economy and Environment Program for Southeast Asia (EEPSEA) over a period of six months, listed Central Jakarta in Indonesia as the most vulnerable.

It is followed by North Jakarta, West Jakarta, Mondol Kiri in Cambodia, East Jakarta, and Rotanokiri area also in Cambodia.

The South Jakarta area came in eighth, the Kota Bandung area ninth and the Kota Surabaya area rounded up the top ten vulnerable areas.

Dr. Herminia Francisco, an environmental economist who authored the study, said these areas would be vulnerable to hazards like tropical cyclones, floods, landslides, drought, and sea level rise brought about by changes in the climate.

Francisco presented the findings of the study, funded by the International Development Research Center (IDRC) based in Canada, in a press conference Friday in Makati City.

She said the study was conducted to help affected communities as well as decision makers come up with ways to adapt to climate change.

Francisco said the areas were judged on their exposure to hazards, the large sensitivity of the communities there due to population density, and the low adaptive capacity of the community to climate change due to limitations on infrastructure, technology and poverty levels.

“We want to open the eyes of the public and decision makers on the effects of climate change so the allocation of funds could be specific to these areas. The resources could be directed to these areas to help the communities adapt to climate change,” Francisco said.

She explained that they used an index of overall climate change vulnerability for Southeast Asia and ranked the regions accordingly.

“Based on this mapping assessment, all regions of the Philippines, the Mekong River Delta in Vietnam, almost all regions of Cambodia, North and East Laos, the Bangkok region of Thailand and the West Sumatra, South Sumatra, Western Java, and Eastern Java areas of Indonesia are among the most vulnerable regions in Southeast Asia,” Francisco said.

The study also identified other areas in the country aside from Metro Manila as highly vulnerable to climate change.

These areas are Northern Samar, Benguet, Masbate, Batanes, Zamboanga del Norte, Ilocos Sur, Western Samar, Albay, and Lanao del Norte.
Read more!

A French Accent

By Lavanya Ramanathan


This month, Smithsonian Associates and the local Francophonie Committee celebrate the French-speaking world with a Francophonie Festival, a series of films, concerts, parties and a seminar with representation from Mali, Switzerland, Cambodia, France and other nations. Some of the scheduled events: Wednesday, the French Embassy screens "Seuls Two," Eric Judor and Ramzy Bedia's comedy about a relentless cop whose nemesis, a burglar, has been making a fool of him -- evading capture for years. With Kristin Scott Thomas.

Wednesday, March 11. $10; Smithsonian Resident Associates, students, Cinémathèque and Alliance Française members, $8. 7 p.m. La Maison Française, Embassy of France, 4101 Reservoir Rd. NW. For reservations, e-mail culturel.washington-amba@diplomatie.gouv.fr.
Next Friday, Malian musical prodigy Mamadou Diabaté plays the kora at the Museum of Natural History's Baird Auditorium. A kora is the 21-string West African equivalent of a harp, and Diabaté comes from a family of performers and storytellers. $22; members, $18. 7:30 p.m. Friday. National Museum of Natural History, 10th Street and Constitution Avenue NW.

The festival wraps next month with a party dedicated to the Discotheque Underground on the Mall. (If that sounds familiar, there was a similar bash that sold out in 2007.) Swiss DJ Jay Style is joined by Parisian spin-derella DJ Evâa Pearl for a Euro-themed bash in the literally underground Ripley Center.
$30; members, $25. April 3, 9 p.m.-1 a.m. S. Dillon Ripley Center, 1100 Jefferson Dr. SW.
For tickets and details about all Francophonie Festival events, call 202-633-3030 or visit http://www.residentassociates.org/ (search for Francophonie).

The New Orleans-by-way-of-Sweden pop singer is even better to see than she is to hear: She has grabbed tons of attention as a one-woman band, playing everything from drums to dulcimer, pressing all the pedals and turning all the knobs -- often with bare, nimble feet. The rising musician, touring on the release of her latest album, "Hummingbird, Go!," is at Jammin' Java tonight. $12 at the door; $10 advance. 7 p.m. Jammin' Java, 227 Maple Ave. E., Vienna. 703-255-1566, Ext. 8, or http://www.jamminjava.com/.

The District
For Families Exploring
The Free Side Of Arabesque

The thousand-plus folks who saw K'Naan play the Millennium Stage last week already know: There is plenty of fabulous stuff to do at the Kennedy Center's Arab arts festival that doesn't require you to crack your wallet. Today, catch the lecture "Literature and the 'Real' Arab World" at 11 a.m. or hear "The Map of Love" author Ahdaf Soueif and other writers discuss creating Arab-themed literature in various languages at 4 p.m. Go tonight to see "Def Poetry Jam" writer Suheir Hammad's "An Evening of Breaking Poems," showcasing her Brooklyn/Palestinian style. Whenever you go, be sure to check out the exhibitions and the fantastic souk (market), filled with stunning, pricey lamps and plenty of less-pricey knickknacks from abroad. Free. Tickets for the author talks at 11 and 4 are available by phone or at the box office; the Millennium Stage show is at 6 and tickets are not required. Kennedy Center, 2700 F St. NW. 202-467-4600 or for a full schedule, visit http://www.kennedy-center.org/.

The District
Concert Kimya Dawson: Love Her Or, Well, Don't

There can, admittedly, be a cloying childishness to Dawson's music (her old band, the Moldy Peaches, annoyed some crowds), but every now and then her songs about video games and insecurities about hipster boys can hit the spot (for some people, anyway). We know this to be true because of the comeback the Peaches' limited oeuvre experienced, thanks to the movie "Juno." But we can't help but wonder: Are listeners ready to put away childish things? It'll be up to the crowd at Dawson's show tonight at the Black Cat. Tickets are $13. 9 p.m. 1811 14th St. NW. www.blackcatdc.com or 202-397-7328. Read more!

Cambodian tycoon works on Asean reform

Written by STEVE FINCH

Royal Group CEO Kith Meng says Asean talks on integration are progressing, despite critics of the bloc's inaction

THE financial crisis and economic integration dominated talk at the Asean Summit in Cha-am, Thailand, which ended Sunday. While Prime Minister Hun Sen was the public face of the Cambodian delegation, behind the scenes it was the country's best-known tycoon that played chief economic adviser.

Kith Meng, as the Cambodian representative to the Asean Business Advisory Council (BAC) and president of the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce, is driving the Kingdom's economic discussions on Asean and therefore plays a key role in developing a single market, the bloc's goal.

"The talks in Cha-am were very productive," the Royal Group chairman and CEO said by email on Thursday. "The aim is much greater economic cooperation and integration using the strength of Asean to weather the current global economic downturn and emerge together as an economic powerhouse."

As Kith Meng and others present in Cha-am acknowledged, the recent summit was perhaps the most important in the past decade, amid the current economic crisis that has begun to hit the region.

Singapore's elder statesman Lee Kuan Yew said Thursday the city-state could experience a 10 percent drop in GDP growth this year, AFP reported, and Vietnam is forecasting its lowest economic growth in years.

Asean's export-driven economies are facing the biggest challenge since the 1998 financial crisis, analysts say, but at the same time Asean is beginning to see itself as a catalyst for a world recovery. Thai Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij told AFP before the summit that Asean is "increasingly the focus of the rest of the world".


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Cambodia will play a central role in the development of some of these initiatives.

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With Asean aimed at a European Union-style single market by 2015, the question remains how the bloc can reach its ambitious target.

An Asean fund "to allow companies ready to go regional and global to have access to affordable financing and investment" is one such initiative planned, stated an Asean BAC press release following the summit.

An Asean joint venture company was also proposed that would focus on using the strength of the region in agricultural and biofuel production "to meet demand for food security and alternative energy sources".

"Cambodia will play a central role in the development of some of these initiatives, particularly around the establishment of an Asean fund and public-private joint ventures," said Kith Meng.

An Asean Green Line designed to streamline the movement and transport of goods within the region is being piloted between Singapore and Malaysia, with Singapore and Indonesia also planning to roll out the project. And an Asean-wide brand was also discussed at the summit.

"The initiatives coming out of the meeting will establish an integrated economic bloc of almost 600 million people in one of the highest growth areas of the world," said Kith Meng.

But there remain question marks as to whether the talk in Cha-am will result in concrete practice that can fend off the worst of the global economic crisis and lead to economic integration in the vein of the EU.

"The gathered leaders made a lot of noise about deepening the integration of their economies to minimise the adverse impacts of the global financial crisis. But they failed to come up with any concrete measures," said an Economic Intelligence Unit report this week.

Kith Meng insists that the Asean BAC meeting at the weekend "was the most co-operative and focused" thus far. He will now largely be responsible - at least on the Cambodian side - for proving the Asean doubters wrong. Read more!

Low garment sales, poor tourism to hit Cambodia-IMF

PHNOM PENH, A slowdown in garment exports and a drop in the number of tourists could cause Cambodia's economy to shrink 0.5 percent this year, the International Monetary Fund said on Friday.

That is a big turnaround from the 4.8 percent growth the IMF had forecast in November.

"Garment exports are under pressure due to sharply lower retail demand in the United States and European Union," it said in a statement after an IMF team ended a mission to the Southeast Asian country. Garments are Cambodia's biggest export earner.

Construction activity and foreign investment were also slow as external investors cut back, the IMF said said.

The World Bank projected foreign direct investment of around $800 million in 2008 and has said it could fall "probably to below $600 million" in 2009. (Reporting by Ek Madra; Editing by Alan Raybould)

Read more!

From the Foreign Press: Cambodia's oil resources Blessing or curse?

Waiting for the oil (and money) to flow

MANY countries have been afflicted by a "resource curse". Discoveries of oil or other mineral deposits are hailed as offering a way out of poverty. But hopes are dashed as corrupt officials pocket the money or squander it on grandiose projects. Cambodia, giddy at the prospect of an oil boom, hopes not to go the same way.

A recent report, called "Country for Sale", by a London-based NGO, Global Witness, points out that amendments to a 1991 law had the effect of placing the Cambodian National Petroleum Authority (CNPA), the body administering oil contracts, under the direct control of Hun Sen, the prime minister, and Sok An, his deputy. It alleges that millions of dollars paid to the government to secure oil concessions do not show up in the official annual revenue reports. Meanwhile, unrestrained mining exploration has seen thousands forcibly evicted from their land in the north, and has damaged six of the country's 23 protected wildlife areas.

The discovery of oil and other minerals was a godsend to Cambodia. Despite foreign-aid donors' constant pleas for restraint, logging companies have largely exhausted the country's once abundant forests. Chevron, a California-based oil giant, at first estimated its 2005 oil discovery in the Gulf of Thailand at 400m barrels, enough to earn about $1.7 billion a year, against the government's budget last year of $1.2 billion. Chevron was awarded the largest exploration contract in the block thought to be most productive. But it has found that the oil is scattered in pockets and hard to extract. Despite the recent fall in the oil price, the government still hopes production will start in 2012.

It will be very welcome: aid still makes up half of the government's budget, despite a decade of stalling on anti-corruption legislation that donors want to see. The World Bank consistently ranks Cambodia in the bottom 10% of all countries for controlling corruption. Michael McWalter of the Asian Development Bank, who advises the Cambodian government on oil, argues that the CNPA is underfinanced and ill-equipped to deal with the complexities of the oil business.

In March last year the United Nations Development Programme and the Norwegian government jointly organised a conference to discuss what the government should do. The advice included the creation of an independent, transparent oil fund. This, however, was largely based on the experience of Norway, which has an effective system of checks and balances.

Cambodia does not, and Mr Hun Sen and Mr Sok An have still not come up with a coherent plan for managing the oil revenues. According to Global Witness, the government decided at a meeting with donors in October not to join the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), an international coalition that would require full disclosure of oil, gas and mining revenues. Rather, it agreed to endorse only the principles underpinning the EITI, making its rules non-binding.

Government officials have responded to the allegations by lashing out at NGOs. At a conference in February, Mr Hun Sen called NGOs' criticism of his oil policies "crazy". And he has already alluded to the prospect that oil revenues may diminish the influence of aid donors-though he denies they have much anyway, since Cambodia can always turn to China, a generous donor, which, he says, despite its might, treats its partners with respect. Read more!

Eubanks returning to Vietnam, Cambodia to help children

By Tom Marshall
Senior Advocate writer


A Mt. Sterling couple is moving to Vietnam later this month on a mission trip to help orphans overseas.

Enoch and Marissa Eubank are making the trip as part of Orphans Voice Ministries, an international adoption program that attempts to match parents in the U.S. with children from countries where adoption is difficult. They leave for Vietnam March 15, but will also spend time in neighboring Cambodia.

The Eubanks say God put in their heart to help children there.
“We felt, and God has confirmed for us, a call that we were meant to go there and help with those children,” Marissa said.

This is not the Eubanks first mission trip.
Last year they spent three months in Vietnam and Cambodia working at local orphanages and promoting Christianity in underground churches. Christians are sometimes jailed or suffer discrimination in communist nations.

The Eubanks served on previous foreign missions in Guatemala and Africa. Here in the U.S. they participated in the relief effort in Louisiana after Hurricane Rita.

That first mission to Louisiana inspired them to seek out more ways to help others and the trips abroad only worked to reinforce that, the Eubanks said “I felt I was doing God’s work and I liked that,” Enoch said. “That just kind of started everything. ... The hunger for that just grew. I saw people had a need all over the world.”

Marissa said her desire to be a missionary dates back to elementary school. That’s when a group of missionaries spoke to her class at Mapleton Elementary about their experiences in Africa.
Marissa said she liked the idea of making a difference in the world.

As an adult, Marissa became familiar with Tony Brewer, founder of Orphan’s Voice, while attending church at Mt. Sterling’s Fellowship Christian Assembly. Brewer soon hired her to help parents in the U.S. with the adoption process.

Marissa told Enoch about the calling she felt from God to take things a step further and become an overseas missionary.

Enoch didn’t object and accompanied her on their first mission trip together to Guatemala in 2004. Enoch, who has considered becoming a pastor, said he found the experience rewarding and it planted a seed for further spiritual growth.

“When God brought us together he grew that hunger for (mission work) between us. ...,” Enoch said. “We prayed about it and confirmed it in a number of ways.”

One confirmation of God’s intentions, Enoch said, came during a trip to Lexington before one overseas mission when Marissa was a bit discouraged. About that time a car passed with “Go Now Go” on the license plate, the same message Marissa had felt God telling her.

In Guatemala they worked at an orphanage and handed out food to those in need. They married the next year and participated in another mission, this time to Africa, in 2006.

Last year, in Vietnam and Cambodia, they helped coordinate adoptions with parents in the U.S. Enoch, trained to be a physical education teacher at Morehead State University, also played with children and taught them how to care for themselves.

The Eubanks said many of the children had nothing and lived in squalor until they were taken in at the orphanage.

The orphans often come from broken homes, where the father, the family breadwinner, is dead or unable to work. Some scavenged in local dumps for food and clothing, the Eubanks said.
If they were hurt, the Eubanks said, the children had access to no sort of medical care.

The missionaries bring food, medicine and other supplies to the orphanages. This is critical, the Eubanks stress, because both nations have no system of social services like we have here in the U.S. On their upcoming trip, Marissa says they will spend six months in language training so they can better communicate with people there before continuing with their efforts to spur foreign adoption and spread Christianity.

Enoch said living in Vietnam and Cambodia on a long-term basis will give them the time they need to make a lasting effect.

“We will be able to get settled in somewhere and not just get a foundation started on a building, pass out some clothes and it’s time to go home,” he said. “We started praying that God would show us a specific place (to serve God).”

They say they will receive financial support during their mission from the church they now attend, Jeffersonville Baptist. Donations can be sent to the church at 145 Ky. Hwy. 599, Jeffersonville, Ky. 40337. In the memo portion of the check you should note “Eubanks support.”
Read more!

Boom to bust in Cambodia

By Tim Sturrock

PHNOM PENH - Potential buyers at the entrance to the Grand Phnom Penh International City pass through a 29-meter-high, 42-meter-wide arched gateway topped with 18 life-size bronze stallions, only to arrive at a moonscape of bulldozed earth and ditches.

When the project was unveiled in 2006, it proposed 4,000 residential villas and apartments at a projected cost of US$500 million. The joint Cambodian and Indonesian developers' promotional material promised the convenience of a shopping center and an international school surrounded by the beauty of ponds and manicured lawns, as well as a golf course and driving range.

Of the 4,000 units in the original plans, only 21 villas will be ready by April, followed by around 100 more units by the end of the year, Grand Phnom Penh marketing director Nhem Sothea said. Only 138 units, including 44 shops, have so far been purchased.

The first phase was to include 500 units, and that goal is unlikely to be met, Nhem Sothea said. Most sales so far, with buyers paying $99,000 for 42-square-meter terraced houses or $138,000 for 92-square-meter townhouses, occurred before the global economic crisis hit late last year. No one has yet purchased any of the properties billed at over $750,000.

"The market is really bad," Nhem Sothea said at his on-site sales office. "The market is not really up to expectation. The future of the project depends on demand."

Grand Phnom Penh is just one of a half-dozen so-called "satellite cities" that property developers once promised would serve as suburban getaways for Phnom Penh's growing affluent and expatriate populations. But those plans, worth a combined $3.5 billion, were conjured when Cambodia's property market was booming; developers now say they may scale back or delay indefinitely their ambitions.

Banks have already restricted loans for real estate as economic growth has slowed and as property prices have dropped - in the city center by about 25% since last July, and in the outskirts by 30%. Cambodia's gross domestic product growth is projected to fall below 5% this year, a sharp decline from the heady double-digit expansion the economy averaged from 2004 to 2007.

The global crisis is taking a toll on Cambodia's main economic growth engines: garments, tourism and property. There were some indications of a property bubble even before the global economic and financial collapse. As local property prices soared, the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) in mid-2008 restricted access to loans by doubling banks' foreign currency reserve requirement to 16% from 8%. The NBC also capped the amount of real estate loans banks could make at 15% of their portfolios.

The central bank in February repealed those restrictions in response to a rapid decline in the property market. An International Monetary Fund report last month said Cambodian banks and the NBC needed to improve management of risks and banking supervision to avoid failing loans, which it said appeared to be rising.

Bulls to bears
While developers insist that their projects remain viable and have secure financing, the assertions come against plunging demand and a short supply of lending to potential buyers. Sung Bonna, president of Bonna Realty, said that speculators a year ago were buying up real estate with hopes to sell it later to developers for a profit. "Now even in general property in the city center there is not so much demand."

He predicted that at the most, only 30% of satellite city units could be purchased by Cambodians and urged the government to make Cambodian real estate more appealing to overseas buyers. Foreigners are at present barred from buying condominium units in Cambodia.

Indications of a slowdown are ubiquitous. Along the city's Tonle Bassac riverside, billboards for the satellite city Diamond Island City, planned for nearby Koh Pich island, show a so-far nonexistent metropolis that looks as if it were rendered by utopian cubists or futurists.

When the Overseas Cambodia Investment Corporation (OCIC) unveiled Diamond Island City in 2006, during the days of Cambodia's go-go property boom, the plan included a hospital, restaurants, a shopping center, park and series of homes, some with personal swimming pools, that ranged in price from $280,000 to $1 million.

Investment in the Koh Pich project could drop by one-third to $800 million from $1.2 billion, said Touch Samnang, the project's manager and architect. That would likely entail trimming the number of units from 15,000 to 12,000, depending on demand, which he said has been affected by the global financial crisis. OCIC is still building bridges to the island, yet no units are under construction. Touch Samnang admitted pre-sales have not gone as well as anticipated.

Of the 168 units planned in the project's $28 million phase one known as "Elite Town", buyers have purchased only 40% after more than a month of sales, he said. That's a huge drop over the past few years, when units at other OCIC projects sold out in weeks. Elite Town will be delayed at least six months or until mid-2010, and the entire project could be finished in mid-2017, about 18 months behind schedule, he said.

Asia is only too familiar with the damage that can be wrought by a property collapse, seen in Thailand, South Korea and Indonesia during the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis. Stephen Higgins, chief executive officer at ANZ Royal Bank, the country's largest, said he did not anticipate the same problems that Bangkok and other Asian cities faced in 1997 when hundreds of buildings were left half-completed when financing dried up.

"Where Cambodia is fortunate is that a lot of these project haven't been constructed," he said in an interview, nor did most property-owners in Cambodia have mortgages so the market has some residual strength.

The problem now is that so many projects attempted to take advantage of the property boom at once. Higgins says the financial crisis has acted as a correction in some ways, possibly stopping all the projects from happening at once and flooding the market. "It will take a bit longer but that is not necessarily a bad thing," he said.

In northern Phnom Penh, the cranes are still swinging at Camko City, a $2 billion, 120-hectare satellite project that originally boasted plans for 6,000 units. The new economic situation may force a rethink, according to Kheng Ser, a marketing counselor for South Korean project developer World City.

He claims sales at Camko have been better than at rival developments, with 80% of the city's first phase 1,009 units of apartments, small villas and houses sold at prices of up to $330,000. According to Kheng Ser, the villas and houses will be completed this month and the tower blocks by the end of the year. However, designs are not complete on Camko's much larger phases two and three, he said.

Even the country's best-known tycoons are scaling back their property development plans. Sok Kong, president of Cambodian conglomerate Sokimex, said that he would delay plans on a 218-hectare satellite city to be called Beong Chhouk Township, though he said a land dispute was the main reason for the delay.

"We drew the master [plan] a while ago," he said by telephone. "I have to delay three or four years." He said he wants to focus his financial resources on his $1 billion Bokor Mountain development in Kampot and another hotel project on Phnom Penh's Chroy Changva peninsula.

Hard-hit Koreans
Meanwhile, South Korean-financed projects have faced some of the heaviest cutbacks. The global economic crisis, which has hit South Korea particularly hard, has leveled original plans for a proposed $300 million, 953-unit Pharos Mekong satellite city on five hectares of the Chroy Changva peninsula, according to an e-mail from Kheang Piv, a marketing manager for the Korean-owned project developer BK Asia Pacific.

He wrote that after the global financial crisis began, Korean finance dried up and the company could not get the money it needed to move forward. The company planned to start construction in December, but pulled back in November, Kheang Piv said. "It is not the right time for us to sell such kind of luxurious, high-end apartments. Eventually, we decided to keep our project on hold till the desirable time," he wrote.

The International Finance Complex is perhaps the largest South Korean-backed real estate project in Cambodia to feel the financial pinch. Korean firm GS Construction & Engineering broke ground in June on the IFC's seven skyscraper mixed-use complex near the Tonle Bassac. But the entire development has now been postponed until at least 2010, and then only three of the original planned seven buildings will be built. The project, originally projected to cost $1 billion, has been winnowed down to around $500 million.

In September, Korean firm Booyoung Company shelved plans for a development on a more-than-100-hectare expanse of land near Russian Boulevard because of uncertainty in the market, according to Jong-seon Choi, general manager for Booyoung in Phnom Penh. "We stopped because of the financial crisis," he said. "It's very uncertain."

The economic situation has also stifled less ambitious projects. At the proposed 500-unit, five-hectare Dream Town near Phnom Penh International Airport, only 30 units have been sold and its 2012 completion date will likely not be met, said Kong Vannsophy, manager of the project's developer, Cambodia Priority Property Investment.

"If we rush and no people buy, we lose money," he said. "A lot of other projects are facing these conditions."

ANZ Royal Bank's Higgins said the risks have grown regarding demand for Phnom Penh's satellite cities because many are in remote areas. "You would have to expect that the downturn in the property market will have some impact in those projects," he said. "By definition you are setting up in a new area, whereas if you set up in Phnom Penh you know there is going to be demand for it."

He said ANZ will not likely loan money to borrowers seeking to purchase property in satellite city projects. "It's difficult to say. We should not have a big appetite for it. We want to see something built."

Tim Sturrock is a Phnom Penh-based journalist. He may be reached at timsturrock@gmail.com

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PM: Ex-chief of Cambodian military forces to become deputy PM

PHNOM PENH, Prime Minister Hun Sen has confirmed that former commander-in-chief of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) Ke Kim Yan will soon become deputy prime minister in charge of anti-drug trafficking, said English-language daily newspaper the Phnom Penh Post on Friday.

"In the near future, General Ke Kim Yan will be appointed deputy prime minister, and he will be chairman of the National Authority for Combating Drugs," the premier told the closing session of the annual conference of the Interior Ministry here on Thursday.

Once on Tuesday, Tea Banh, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense, told local media that "the government will send the request (of the appointment) to the National Assembly. When the National Assembly approves it, you will know."

If approved, Ke Kim Yan will become the government's 10th deputy prime minister.

The general has been without a position since being removed as RCAF chief by a Royal Decree on Jan. 22.
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Viet Nam, Cambodia lift economic, trade ties

HA NOI — Viet Nam will boost co-operation with Cambodia, especially in human resources training in planning work in order to catch up with the global market economy, said Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

Speaking at a meeting with Cambodian Minister of Planning Chhay Than in Ha Noi yesterday, Dung stressed the necessity to boost co-operation between the two countries’ planning ministries in service of their economic development and trade.

On the agreements reached by Minister Chhay Than and Vietnamese Minister of Planning and Investment Vo Hong Phuc, Dung said the two ministries should increase the exchange of delegations.

Chhay Than expressed his thanks to the Vietnamese Government and people for their support for his country in the past, especially during the post-war reconstruction.

MoU signed

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on co-operation in planning and investment was signed yesterday in Ha Noi between the Cambodian Ministry of Planning and the Viet Nam’s Ministry of Planning and Investment.

Under this agreement, the two sides will closely co-ordinate in building and developing plans, thus providing an advisory service to both governments. They agreed that regular meetings between high-ranking delegations would be vital to consolidating the relationship.

According to the MoU, the two countries will also share their experience in planning work by organising training courses. Workers in the Cambodian planning sector will be offered short-term courses thanks to non-refundable aid from Viet Nam.

The education and training sector will get priority in the countries’ co-operation, said Viet Nam’s Ministry of Planning and Investment. Last year, the Vietnamese Government provided VND90 billion (US$5.2 million) in non-refundable aid for Cambodia, including VND73 billion ($4.2million) for personnel training.

The 2008 two-way trade turnover reached $1.7 billion, an increase of 42 per cent against 2007. Cambodia provided favourable conditions for Vietnamese businesses. Thirty-nine Vietnamese-run projects with a total capital of $211.2 million have been granted licences by the Cambodian Government. — VNS Read more!

Crimes in Cambodia down 20% in 2008

PHNOM PENH, Crime occurrence dropped by 20 percent in 2008 over 2007, down to 8 an average day from 10, English-Khmer language newspaper the Cambodia Daily reported Thursday, quoting official figures.

There were altogether 2,881 crimes committed in Cambodia in 2008, compared with 3,732 in 2007, according to Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak.

Meanwhile, on average, less than one crime per day took place in the capital city in 2008, according to the national crime figures issued on Wednesday at the annual conference of the Interior Ministry.

There were only 351 criminal offenses recorded by police in 2008 in Phnom Penh, down from 357 in 2007, said the City Hall.

Considering the kingdom has a population of almost 14 million, it appears to be virtually crime-free, compared with countries with similar or smaller populations, according to the ministry.
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Norng Chanphal, a surviving child of S-21, pleads to become Civil Party at Duch trial

Ta Lorng, (Kompong Speu, Cambodia), 24/02/2009. Norng Chanphal, one of the four children who survived S-21.

By Duong Sokha

with Stéphanie Gée

Norng Chanphal is the last victim who submitted an application to become a civil party before the Khmer Rouge court as part of Case 1, the trial of Khmer Rouge torturer Duch. He did so on February 4th exactly, i.e. two days after the official deadline for applications and 13 days before the opening of the technical preparation hearing of the trial of S-21 director at the Trial Chamber. Introducing himself as a key-witness on the basis that he survived, as a child, the hell of the detention and torture centre, Chanphal caused a stir with his sudden show-up. Ka-set went to meet Norng Chanphal in the province of Kampong Speu.

Both his parents, Khmer Rouge cadres, were exterminated
A long and bumpy path in the Kong Pisey district, Kampong Speu province, leads to the small village of Taing Salath, where Norng Chanphal works. Kampot-born, Chanphal is a self-employed bulldozer driver. When we arrive on site, he decides to have a break, taking refuge under a tin roof to protect himself from the scorching midday sun. He is wearing a white shirt, stained with ochre dust, and frowns. He accepts to tell: he will, but only half-heartedly, and answers our questions with only brief sentences. He does not appear fully at ease with journalists and seems to want to avoid them.

His father, a Khmer Rouge cadre, was sent to S-21 as part of the purges organised by a regime governed by paranoia, and disappeared forever. His mother was in turn “invited” to go to Tuol Sleng to be educated there. She took Chanphal with her. He was then aged “7 or 8” years old – he does not know any more – and his little brother. He is unable to tell how long they stayed in S-21 for. Presumably, he eventually says, they were incarcerated shortly before the liberation of the capital by the Vietnamese troops on January 7th 1979.

“When we arrived [at Tuol Sleng], they ordered my mother to stand and hold in her hands a metal plate with a number on it, in order to have her picture taken, along with two other women. I was standing by her side. The guards then started insulting her, asked her for her name and drafted a statement, before sending her to the third building of the prison. My mother was gripped by fear and dreaded to be subjected to torture”, the 39 year-old qualified worker recounts, his eyes filled with sadness. The cries of pain of other prisoners and their desperate declarations of innocence stay forever etched in his memory. The day after, he and his brother were separated from their mother and placed in a room on the ground floor, amidst other children. They were never to see her again.

A child saved by the arrival of the Vietnamese troops
“Facing the imminent arrival of the Vietnamese troops, children were gathered together by the Khmer Rouge in a Jeep. As I feared my mother might not find me if we left, me, my brother and three other children went to hide under a heap of clothes which belonged to prisoners.” It is Vietnamese and Cambodian soldiers of the Kampuchean National United Front for National Salvation who discovered them several days after Phnom Penh was liberated.

In the year that followed the collapse of the Khmer Rouge regime, the Vietnamese army looked after him, and he was then entrusted to the care of Keo Chenda, then mayor of Phnom Penh. “He [Keo Chenda] introduced me to Samdech Hun Sen at a ceremony at the Royal Palace, as a child who survived S-21. Samdech then asked him to send me to the orphanage in Kolab [in the capital] where I stayed for about ten years.” Chanphal has since got married and become the father of two little girls. As for his younger brother, he is now earning a living as a lorry driver.

A late and sudden decision
Still today, Chanphal does not understand why his parents were executed by the machinery of a regime they were part of. He always kept silent over his story. He only shared it with his in-laws once the marriage was celebrated, in 1996. “Recollecting that tragedy during interviews with journalists makes me suffer too much. When, one after the other, they ask me to repeat what I have been through, I lose my temper and anger mounts... It irritates me. This is why I decided to remain silent all those years. But now, the time has come for me to talk”, he says, with a weak voice. And to do that, he has the full support of his close relatives.

Tirelessly, he reiterates his will to testify “for victims, and especially for my parents, to get justice”. He explains that given the age he was at the time of events, he did not understand who the director of S-21 was. But after having enquired and followed the news about the Khmer Rouge Tribunal, he heard that it was someone called Duch. And it is when he visited the Documentation Centre of Cambodia (DC-Cam), where he discovered a picture of himself, that he abruptly decided to constitute himself as a civil party – a decision he made of his own free will, he insists on saying – not long before the initial hearing of Duch. Chanphal assures he has evidence to produce. “I saw the tortures exerted at S-21with my own two eyes!”

Civil Party application causing quite a stir
To this day, the Trial Chamber at the Khmer Rouge court has not decided yet whether it will make an exception by taking the dossier in even though it arrived after the deadline, when Duch’s proper trial is due to open on March 30th. His lawyer, Mr Khan, insisted on the first day of the technical hearing, on February 17th, that his client be heard as a civil party. His request was supported by the co-Prosecutors, for whom such testimony could come as proof that there have indeed been children at S-21. When asked about what credibility should be given to the testimony of someone who was a child at the time of the events, which date back to more than thirty years ago, international co-Prosecutor Robert Petit answered, on the occasion of a meeting with the press on February 17th, that the Trial Chamber would be the one to decide on that, and added that “children testify every day before national courts all over the world”.

For their part, co-lawyers for the Defence questioned the authenticity of the video shot by the Vietnamese, in which children can be seen at S-21, “obviously without any emaciated faces after several days spent without eating”. The international co-lawyer for Duch, François Roux, made an ironic statement about that search for children incarcerated at S-21 and miraculously found a few days before the first trial before the Khmer Rouge court.


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S-21 survivors
To this day, only three S-21 survivors were known: Vann Nath, Chum Mey and Bou Meng – in a prison where more than 15,000 people lost their lives. In December 2008, the Vietnamese government handed out to the [tribunal www.eccc.gov.kh Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (EN/KH/FR)] a documentary film lasting about 10 minutes, with the first images shot in the bleak place after the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime. The authors of the film, who are Vietnamese, came to Cambodia mid-February to tell, at a press conference, what they saw in January 1979, and to talk about the children they discovered upon their arrival at S-21. Among these children, there was Chanphal.

Vann Nath, one of the survivors, has seen children of S-21 during his stay in the antechamber of death, he says. In the 1980s, he heard about the existence of Chanphal, a child who survived the same prison and was allegedly taken care of by an orphanage. He tried to locate him, in vain.


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Also on Ka-set
-Khmer Rouge Court: no money but smooth sailing at the 5th Plenary Session (02-03-2009)
-Trial of former Khmer Rouge torturer Duch due to open on March 30th (24-02-2009)
-Initial hearing prior to Duch's trial closes with debate on role of civil parties (19-02-2009)
-Initial hearing kicks off first trial at Khmer Rouge tribunal (17-02-2009)
-Vann Nath, survivor of the Khmer Rouge S-21 prison, determined to stand up for remembrance (27-08-2009)

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Cambodian rule weighs on Dreamgate’s RM200m debt notes

Writen by Joe Chin


KUALA LUMPUR: RAM Ratings has placed the A1/P1 ratings of Dreamgate Corporation Berhad’s RM200 million Commercial Papers/Medium-Term Notes Programmes (2007/2014) on Rating Watch, with a negative oulook.

The rating agency said on March 4 the Rating Watch reflects RAM Ratings’ concerns about the adverse impact of the recent changes in Cambodia’s gambling regulations, which are expected to have negative implications on Dreamgate’s credit profile.

Most of Dreamgate’s profit-generating technical support and management Services (TSM) concessions are located in Cambodia (as of end-2008, some 79% of its concessions were positioned in that country.)

RAM Ratings said it understood that the Cambodian government has issued directives banning its citizens from gambling.

At the same time, slot operators have been asked to remove gaming machines from entertainment clubs by June 2009. This means that all slot machines can only be located in licensed casinos and hotels.

About 1,500 of Dreamgate’s slot machines (or 30% of its devices installed in Cambodia) are affected by the ruling.

On top of that, another 1,900 of Dreamgate’s slot machines in Cambodia have been affected by a more recent directive issued in February 2009.

Now, even slot machines in Cambodian hotels are required to temporarily cease operations, pending a full review of their licences and compliance with the earlier directive.

“We understand that the management plans to relocate the initially affected 1,500 machines to Macau, the Philippines and other casinos under the Group’s stable in Cambodia; the exercise is expected to be completed by mid-2009. On the other hand, the fate of the other 1,900 machines remains uncertain at this juncture,” it said.

RAM Ratings said Dreamgate might consider relocating these machines to Macau and the Philippines as well, if the licence review stretches more than two months.

In 4Q FY Dec 2008, Dreamgate incurred a pre-tax loss of RM9.48 million, due to various factors that include slowing TSM sales, write-off of expenses in relation to club closures and higher operating costs arising from additional outlets; before the regulatory changes, Dreamgate had added 12 new outlets in fiscal 2008.

Given these disruptions to its Cambodian operations, the Group’s performance in FY Dec 2009 is likely to come under severe pressure.

“RAM Ratings is concerned about Dreamgate’s position going forward. Given these rulings, we opine that the Group’s businesses in Cambodia are unlikely to yield the same returns as before.

While we note that Dreamgate will be moving these machines to new TSM concessions in Macau and the Philippines, its TSM presence in these countries is still relatively small,” says Kevin Lim, RAM Ratings’ Head of Consumer and Industrial Ratings.

RAM Ratings said it was monitoring the developments vis-à-vis Dreamgate, and keeping in close contact with the management in the lead-up to our annual review of its ratings.

The ratings will remain on Rating Watch until the review is completed; this is expected within the next three months. Read more!

PM welcomes Cambodian planning minister

The planning and investment sectors of Vietnam and Cambodia should increase the exchange of visits and share experience to promote bilateral cooperation in trade and investment, said Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

While receiving Cambodian Minister of Planning Chhay Than in Hanoi on March 4, Mr Dung affirmed that Vietnam is willing to help Cambodia train its officials in planning.

Minister Chhay Than said that his ministry wants to learn from Vietnam’s development experience and expand cooperation with the Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment, particularly in personnel training.

He thanked the Vietnamese people for their heart-felt support and valuable assistance to Cambodia during the past struggle for national liberation and the current process of national construction.

He conveyed top Cambodian leaders’ regards to Mr Dung and other Vietnamese Party and State leaders.

Earlier in the morning, Minister Chhay Than held talks with his Vietnamese counterpart Vo Hong Phuc and they signed a memorandum of understanding to increase bilateral cooperation in planning. Read more!

Cambodia Arrests Suspected Pedophiles from US, France

By Daniel Schearf

Cambodian police have arrested an American and a French national on suspicion of molesting children. One organization that helped police catch the suspects worries that, despite increasing arrests, foreign pedophiles are still making Cambodia one of their prime destinations.

Cambodian authorities say the 64-year-old Frenchman was arrested after taking two Cambodian girls, aged 10 and 13, into his guesthouse room.

He was charged with "indecent acts" and could face up to three years in prison.

Separately, an American man charged with purchasing sex from two underage boys in northern Cambodia could be jailed for up to 15 years.

Samleang Seila is the Cambodia director for Action for Children, a French organization helping police to identify suspected pedophiles.

"That American man was under surveillance by our organization for more than one year," said Seila. "We heard that that American was coming to Cambodia for almost two years and he was moving from place to place in Cambodia to engage in sexual relations with separate boys."

Seila says, since 2003, his organization has helped rescue 185 sexually abused children in Cambodia, 80 percent of them young boys.

He credits international cooperation with agencies like the United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation for helping track down traveling sex offenders.

U.S. Embassy spokesman John Johnson confirmed to VOA the FBI did help with recent arrests.

"At the Cambodian government's request, the FBI is involved in a number of cases in the country, including the pedophile case, not just in the north but in several cities," said Johnson.

Cambodia is one of the poorest countries in Southeast Asia and has gained the unfortunate reputation of attracting child molesters looking to exploit children living in poverty.

Seila says he worries that, despite increasing cooperation and arrests, the number of pedophiles traveling to Cambodia may actually be on the rise.

"If you look at the number in 2008, there were about 15 arrests of foreign pedophiles in Cambodia. And, up to date this year, January to today, there are six pedophiles arrested in Cambodia already for abusing children," said Seila. "So, my anticipation is that there is still a concerning, increasing number of foreign sex offenders traveling to Cambodia to engage in sexual exploitation of children."

He says, in the past, Cambodian authorities lacked the resources, skills and political will to tackle the problem.

But he says, in the last few years, police have received better training, are taking child molesting seriously and hoping to improve Cambodia's image.
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Painting a smile on 'brand ASEAN'

By Charles McDermid and Jakkapun Kaewsangthong

HUA HIN, Thailand - At the same time that Southeast Asia's heads of state were atop a splashy stage entangled in their famous 10-member cross-body handshake, Cambodian activist Pen Somony was sitting on a curb outside the venue, surrounded by reporters, and fearing for his life.

At the same moment that Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi's nine-car motorcade had stopped traffic to glide into the ultra-posh Sheraton Hua Hin Resort and Spa, Nayom Pai-Sri was across the street selling snacks and cigarettes from a tumbledown shack to try and feed his family.

Welcome to the annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, where hard issues generally go unmentioned and poverty and human rights take a back seat to diplomatic platitudes, trappings of togetherness and lavish expressions of Asian statecraft.

This year was meant to be different. For months, officials had billed the meeting in the beach and golf resort of Hua Hin as a celebration of the dawn of a "new" ASEAN. This was the bloc's first gathering since ratifying the long-awaited ASEAN charter which came into force 10 weeks ago. The charter incorporated the group [1] as a legal entity and laid the foundation for a European Union-like community, without a common currency, by 2015.

More importantly, to fulfill the theme of this year's event - "ASEAN Charter for ASEAN People" - leaders had promised to prioritize and empower the bloc's some 570 million people - a stunningly diverse population larger than the European Union or the North American Free Trade Association.

"I will join hands with fellow ASEAN citizens across the region to make ASEAN a household name, not only for the people of Southeast Asia but for those beyond," said new Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, whose emergence as a dynamic regional leader may have been the ceremonial event's most significant storyline.

Led by Abhisit's youthful charisma, host Thailand pulled out all the stops. The summit's theme was "ASEAN Charter for ASEAN Peoples", and among the many accompaniments was a new flag, which depicts a bundle of ten rice stalks and the motto "One Vision, One Identity, One Community", and a comic book featuring a cute, blue alien who arrives from space to make friends from each Southeast Asia nation.

There was even the debut of an ASEAN theme song - The ASEAN Way - which includes the stirring lyrics, "Together for ASEAN, we dare to dream; We care to share, for it's the ASEAN way." The touchy-feely frenzy was enough to make Kavi Chongkittavorn laugh.

The veteran Thai journalist and former assistant to the secretary general of ASEAN from 1993-1994, has long been a strident critic of ASEAN's ineffective policies and at times questionable governance. (Kavi once reported Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen as saying the only good thing about ASEAN summits was "golf, karaoke and durian".)

"ASEAN used to be a joke," Kavi told Asia Times Online. "In the old days they would get together because they had known each for 10 years and play golf and talk business. Now it's a different generation, and different language is being used to engage people. ASEAN is no longer a joke - the charter is the yardstick," he added.

In the past, ASEAN did little to counter criticism that the group was only an elite fraternity. As John Funston, a former senior fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore, wrote, "To resolve differences between members - ASEAN relied less on formal institutions and treaties than on close personal ties at official, ministerial and head of government level – often cemented on the golf or post meeting entertainment sessions."

This reputation, along with ASEAN's non-intervention policy and strict adherence to consensus decision-making, has dogged the bloc for years. This year China, India, South Korea and Japan declined to attend after the event was postponed due to street violence in Bangkok. The United States has also become "frustrated" with the grouping's slow pace, according to Harry Harding, professor of international affairs at George Washington University in Washington.

"There is a backing away from the idea that everything regional must be ASEAN-led," Harding said during a presentation in January at Chulalongkorn University's Institute of Security and International Studies. He noted, for instance, that the Shanghai Cooperation Dialogue has a more effective dialogue mechanism for security issues than ASEAN because it brings together military people rather than foreign ministry folks - as ASEAN does.

‘Ogres' and activists
Even as Thailand scrambled to paint a smile on "brand ASEAN", old rivalries and nagging issues were thrust to the forefront. Some familiar faces were stirring up trouble.

Myanmar premier Thein Sein and Cambodia's Hun Sen broke ranks from their ASEAN counterparts on the summit's first day, threatening to storm out of a face-to-face forum with a multinational civil society coalition if activists from their own countries were allowed to take part. Once the delegates exited, the meeting proceeded.

Myanmar activist Khin Ohmar, last year's winner of Sweden's Anna Lindh human rights prize, and 29-year-old Pen Somony of the Cambodian Volunteers for Human Rights, had been selected by a regional human rights coalition to act as representatives from their native countries.

The move sent tremors through the ASEAN hierarchy, which had promised a new approach to human rights as a key issue on the summit's agenda. The stubborn line from two of the bloc's most authoritarian governments cast doubt on the willingness of old guard ASEAN leaders to commit to the people-oriented aspects of the new charter.

The aftermath of the threatened boycott, which resulted in a security scrum and an ad hoc curbside press conference, thrust ASEAN's controversial human-rights record back into the spotlight. In explanation for the move, Cambodia said it reserved the right to select its own civil society representative and Myanmar was apparently displeased with Ohmar's pro-democracy activities, according to rights activists and delegates.

"Hun Sen wanted to show that the civil society forum needed better preparation," said Kavi. "Hun Sen has a special place in ASEAN, as he is the longest reigning leader at the moment. The point he wanted to make was about non-governmental organizations, but it might have been better if he had kept quiet."

Earlier, delegates lauded the forthcoming establishment of a new ASEAN human-rights body, a landmark event in the group's 42-year history. But critics said the proposed body, expected to begin functioning later this year, would lack the teeth to punish violators such as Myanmar with expulsion or sanctions.

The event's organizer said the first-of-its-kind forum was still a success, and a blueprint for future government-civil society dialogue. "The event was tarnished. It would have been ideal to have all the civil society representatives," said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political scientist at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University.

"Still, this engagement between civil society and the leaders is unprecedented. Under the initiation of this chairmanship it has created a building block that can be built upon. To the extent that leaders listened, it was a positive outcome," he added.

The incident ensured that human rights would be the summit's hottest issue with the some 1,200 attending media. The only backlash may be that Myanmar, which has already been pressed hard on the issue of the ethnic Rohingya boat people, and Cambodia may have increased media scrutiny of their policies and human rights records.

During the summit Myanmar's foreign minister said his country might be willing to take back Rohingyas - but only if they were identified as Bengalis who reside in Myanmar and not as Myanmar citizens. This is in line with Myanmar's official policy which denies Rohingyas official status, including the right to move freely or marry without state permission. According to the BBC, a memo faxed to journalists by the Burmese consul in Hong Kong last week insisted Rohingyas could not be from Myanmar, as they were dark-skinned and "as ugly as ogres".

"[Myanmar] and Cambodia are trying to sabotage one of the most important ASEAN summits ever. We're disappointed, but not surprised," said Debbie Stothard with the rights group Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma, who has been following ASEAN's human rights practices since 1988. "It's unbelievable that powerful, oppressive ASEAN governments can't bear to face their own people. Hopefully, they'll feel a deep sense of embarrassment," she added.

Thais in the middle
While this may be unlikely in Cambodia's Phnom Penh and the Myanmar capital of Naypyidaw, Thai leaders were aghast at the activists' treatment. After the incident became public, both activists held a brief meeting with Thai Prime Minister Abhisit. "We will take gradual steps and encourage a wider participation," he told reporters after the closed-door meeting.

Even before the meeting - Kavi called the high level of distrust between officials and their civil groups "an ugly scar on the ASEAN psyche". He credited Abhisit's willingness to meet with the delegates as keeping the summit from total collapse.

Cambodian activist Sonomy was visibly shaken by the ejection. Speaking softly in halting English and Khmer, he said he would let his colleagues speak for him as he was worried about possible repercussions once he returned home. "We hope that the Thai prime minister and ministry of foreign affairs will honor their commitments and that no harm will come to him," said Stothard.

Others lauded Abhisit's handling of the diplomatic flare-up. "I think [Abhisit] did a great job on two fronts. He articulated a stance on unity and used the example of the meeting held during the financial crisis in 1997." said Kavi. "Now he's emerged as a bright, young leader to the global community and in Thailand. He just wrote his reputation. I think Abhisit was able to capture a new spirit and create a new ASEAN."

Others were less enthusiastic, citing ASEAN's history of divisiveness and inactivity and claiming that competing outside forces - namely the US and China - will eventually pull the group apart. One attending analyst who declined to be named, told Asia Times Online, "ASEAN has chance to do so many great things, but won't. Their missed chances for cooperation are too numerous to mention down there. China will have them all like an anaconda before they notice."

Even Kavi, who is unmistakably bullish on ASEAN's direction, admits progress will be slow even as rhetoric is increasingly rosy. As he put it, the change has been "evolutionary, rather than revolutionary", as some ASEAN members and citizens may have liked.

"There was much more openness at this meeting. The leaders are more comfortable and the secretary-general has more power, including control of all ASEAN humanitarian efforts. Just 15 years ago he was neither a secretary nor a general," he said. "There has been lots of groundwork and guidelines put in place that still need to be fleshed out. Right now if you took a bite out of ASEAN, you would get a mouthful of bones."

Note
1. The 10 members of ASEAN are Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.

Charles McDermid is an Asia Times Online correspondent based in Thailand. Jakkapun Kaewsangthong is a Thailand-based journalist. Read more!

UN Lawyer O'Brien Refuses Questions on Cambodia Tribunal, Ignores Logo Misuse

UNITED NATIONS, The UN's new top lawyer, asking Tuesday about the funding and corruption crisis at the UN-affiliated genocide tribunal in Cambodia, refused to answer any questions about it.

At a press conference at UN headquarters in New York, Patricia O'Brien purported to respond to twenty minutes of questions about the so-called Hariri Tribunal, concerning the deaths of some two dozen people in Lebanon. The Cambodia tribunal, already plagued by allegations that local Cambodian staff paid bribes to get their jobs, is threatened with closure according to its top judge due to a lack of funds.

As Inner City Press asked what the UN is going to do, Ms. O'Brien said she would not answer any questions on that or any other non-Hariri Tribunal topic. Inner City Press followed up, will there be another opportunity to ask these questions? I am not undertaking any further commitment of availability, Ms. O'Brien said.

Several comparisons came to mind. The Cambodia tribunal deals with more than a million deaths, while the Hariri Tribunal deals with two dozen. On the latter, however, the UN has good news, or thinks it does. Its corruption-plagued tribunal, the UN would apparently prefer just went away.

Of this UN-assisted tribunal, "a report surfaced last week on the German legislature's Web site alleging that a top U.N. tribunal official had acknowledged the kickbacks and accused a senior Cambodian administrator of corruption. The head of public affairs for the tribunal refused to comment on the report."

Ms. O'Brien's predecessor Nicolas Michel, while more focused on Lebanon than Cambodia, nevertheless answered questions about Cambodia. Ms. O'Brien, since being awarded the UN's top legal job, has rarely if ever been available to the media. She came to one press conference and left before taking any questions.

Two weeks ago, Inner City Press approached Ms. O'Brien in the hallway of the UN, after a ceremony in which she and two dozen other Under Secretaries-General signed "accountability" compacts with Ban Ki-moon. Inner City Press told Ms. O'Brien of recent instances of corporations publicly using and misusing the UN logo and name to promote their business. Previously, when Inner City Press had raised such cases to the UN Office of Legal Affairs, which Ms. O'Brien now heads, some actions had been taken. Ms. O'Brien instructed Inner City Press to proceed as it had in the past.

Inner City Press e-mailed to Ms. O'Brien, at her UN-listed address, a half-dozen examples of corporate use of the UN logo. Having no response, Inner City Press sent the examples again, on the eve of Tuesday's press conference. Still no response, until the terse statement that only Hariri Tribunal questions about be entertained, and no other Q&A opportunity was envisioned.

The UN is ostensibly a public organization; in any event, Ms. O'Brien's salary is paid by taxpayers all over the world. While Ban's UN talks about accountability and transparency, even its top lawyer appears to resist or oppose both. We will have more on this.

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Cambodia to host ASEAN-U.S. military exercise in 2010

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia will host a large-scale ASEAN-U.S. military exercise in 2010, Khmer-language newspaper the Deum Ampil said on Tuesday.

"It is an honor for Cambodia to be chosen by ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and superpower U.S. as the location for such a large-scale international military exercise," Pol Saroeurn, Commander-in-Chief of Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF), told the paper.

"We will take efforts to make it a success," he said, adding that he will also instruct all his subordinates to be careful with the work.

The Sihanoukville port will be used as the maritime location ofthis military haul, the paper also quoted a governmental official as saying on condition of anonymity.

Cambodia once joined international military exercises respectively in Bangladesh and Mongolia and also sent peacekeepers to Sudan for de-mining operation under the U.N. umbrella.

In April 2008, 40 Cambodian soldiers participated in a three-week multi-national peace-keeping exercise in Bangladesh.

The U.S.-led mission was named "Ambassador of Peace" and involved some 400 soldiers from 12 countries, including Bangladesh,India, Indonesia, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Nepal, Brunei,Mongolia, Tonga, Cambodia and U.S.

In July 2007, 43 Cambodian soldiers took part in a military exercise for UN peacekeeping mission in Mongolia.

In addition, Cambodia sent 135 deminers to Sudan in 2006 for UN peacekeeping mission, and then 139 in June 2007 to replace the oldones. The deminers were renewed again in 2008.
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Cambodia KRouge defence warned over website

PHNOM PENH (AFP) — The defence team of a Khmer Rouge leader has been ordered to remove confidential documents from Cambodia's UN-backed war crimes court from a website, the tribunal's investigating judges said Tuesday.

Lawyers for former foreign minister Ieng Sary "face sanctions" if they do not remove all documents relating to judicial investigations within 48 hours, the court's co-investigating judges said in a press statement.

Ieng Sary, 83, is one of five leaders from the late 1970s regime charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes, but details of the investigation ahead of his trial are kept confidential.

Investigating judges said they needed "to guarantee the protection of privacy of those persons mentioned in the case file and the presumption of innocence, as well as to promote efficiency in investigations."

But the website containing defence filings and letters has also posted a letter to court officials saying that no documents on the site relate to the current investigation of Ieng Sary.

The letter by defence lawyers Michael Karnavas and Ang Udom goes on to allege that judges suppress filings "which may be embarrassing or which call into question the legitimacy and judiciousness of acts and decisions."

Ieng Sary has been rushed to hospital nine times since he was detained by the court in November 2007, and last week had an appeal for release from the Khmer Rouge court delayed after he said he was too ill to appear in court.

As the top Khmer Rouge diplomat, Ieng Sary was frequently the only point of contact between Cambodia's secretive communist rulers and the outside world.

He has denied any involvement in atrocities but he was one of the biggest public supporters of the regime's mass purges, researchers say.

Up to two million people died of starvation and overwork, or were executed, as the 1975-1979 regime emptied Cambodia's cities in its drive to create a communist utopia.

The long-awaited first Khmer Rouge trial started last month when the regime's notorious prison chief, Kaing Guek Eav, better known by the alias Duch, went before the court.

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Cambodia to host ASEAN-U.S. military exercise in 2010

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia will host a large-scale ASEAN-U.S. military exercise in 2010, Khmer-language newspaper the Deum Ampil said on Tuesday.

"It is an honor for Cambodia to be chosen by ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and superpower U.S. as the location for such a large-scale international military exercise," Pol Saroeurn, Commander-in-Chief of Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF), told the paper.

"We will take efforts to make it a success," he said, adding that he will also instruct all his subordinates to be careful with the work.

The Sihanoukville port will be used as the maritime location ofthis military haul, the paper also quoted a governmental official as saying on condition of anonymity.

Cambodia once joined international military exercises respectively in Bangladesh and Mongolia and also sent peacekeepers to Sudan for de-mining operation under the U.N. umbrella.

In April 2008, 40 Cambodian soldiers participated in a three-week multi-national peace-keeping exercise in Bangladesh.

The U.S.-led mission was named "Ambassador of Peace" and involved some 400 soldiers from 12 countries, including Bangladesh,India, Indonesia, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Nepal, Brunei,Mongolia, Tonga, Cambodia and U.S.

In July 2007, 43 Cambodian soldiers took part in a military exercise for UN peacekeeping mission in Mongolia.

In addition, Cambodia sent 135 deminers to Sudan in 2006 for UN peacekeeping mission, and then 139 in June 2007 to replace the oldones. The deminers were renewed again in 2008.
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22 attacks conducted against journalists in Cambodia

PHNOM PENH, Twenty-two cases of violence against journalists were recorded in the second half of 2008 and the first two months of 2009 in Cambodia, said English-language daily newspaper the Phnom Penh Post on Monday.

These included cases in which journalists were detained and cases in which threats or accusations were made against them "by individuals, groups, authorities and court institutions," the paper quoted a press release from the Club of Cambodian Journalists (CCJ) as saying.

Meanwhile, the CCJ decried unprofessional behavior on the part of some journalists, who accepted bribes or used unethical means to advance the aims of the groups that they supported.

The press release also urged the Ministry of Information to use more discretion in issuing press cards.

"Some media pass holders are not journalists," said CCJ secretary general Prach Sim.

Over 300 newspapers are registered with the ministry, but only 10 are publishing daily and 30 can get printed on regular basis.
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Cambodia's ex-king cites progress against his cancer

PHNOM PENH (AFP) — Cambodia's former king Norodom Sihanouk says he is showing progress in his most recent fight against cancer, according to a royal letter posted on his website.
The 86-year-old, who left for Beijing in July last year to receive medical treatment for other illnesses, said in late December that his Chinese doctors had found a new cancer in his body.

Sihanouk said in a letter dated February 27 that after treatment, "today I went to hospital to have it checked with modern equipment (PET Scan) and saw that this cancer has shrunk."

However he added that he needed to prolong his stay in Beijing for further treatment.

Sihanouk was first diagnosed with B-cell lymphoma, a cancer affecting blood cells crucial to the immune system, in 1993.

The cancer began in his prostate and recurred in 2005 in his stomach.

Sihanouk has suffered from a number of other ailments including diabetes and hypertension.

Despite giving up his role as monarch, Sihanouk remains a prominent figure in Cambodia and often uses messages on his website to weigh in on matters affecting the country.
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Cambodian, Thai officials hold meeting on border issues

PHNOM PENH, Officials of the secretariat of the General Border Committee (GBC) of Cambodia here on Monday held a meeting with their Thai counterparts to find a solution for the long-running border dispute.

"We pledged to solve our border issues with a bilateral and peaceful deal on basis of the exiting mechanism that both sides have already agreed with, and we also agreed to avoid armed clashes in the future," Neang Phat, secretary of state at the Cambodian Ministry of National Defense, told reporters during the break time of the meeting.

"We will report what we agreed with at the meeting to both defense ministers and they are going to have a meeting in April," he said, adding that the meeting on Monday will help facilitate the troops of both sides to keep restraint and lead to a latest bilateral deal on the border issues.

Meanwhile, Hor Namhong, Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, told reporters here on Sunday that Cambodia and Thailand have agreed to resolve their border dispute by using a memorandum of understanding signed in 2000.

"I think if Thailand has a clear stance and is willing to use the 2000 MoU, there will be no further difficulties in the future," he said upon his return from the 14 ASEAN Summit in Thailand.

The MoU states that the Joint Border Committee (JBC) of the two countries should use maps drafted in 1904 and 1907, which was ratified by Siam (as Thailand was then known) and France, Cambodia's former colonial power, to delineate the common border.

Tension between Thailand and Cambodia ratcheted higher in 2008,when troops from both countries clashed near the Preah Vihear temple at the border area and soldiers on both sides died in their fighting in October. An uneasy peace was restored days later.
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Judge: Cambodian genocide court faces funds crunch

By SOPHENG CHEANG

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Funding for some operations of Cambodia's genocide tribunal, already tarnished by corruption allegations, may dry up by the end of the month and cause local staff to walk out, a judge said Monday.

The warning by Judge Kong Srim, president of the Supreme Court Chamber, raised the prospect of yet more disruption to the long-delayed U.N.-assisted tribunal, which is seeking justice for the estimated 1.7 million Cambodians who died during the brutal 1975-79 reign of the communist Khmer Rouge.

Political and procedural disputes between Cambodia and the United Nations have delayed the tribunal's launch . It has been 13 years since Cambodia asked the U.N. to help establish the special court, which still has not heard any testimony, and many fear the defendants — already old and infirm — could die before they face justice.

The judge's statement came as it was revealed that defense lawyers want to question the country's prime minister and former king, which could revive an uncomfortable debate about the roles each played during Cambodia's holocaust.

Kong Srim told reporters the tribunal would not have sufficient funds to pay Cambodian staff salaries this month.

"It hardly seems reasonable for judicial officers and staff to be expected to continue working without remuneration," Kong Srim said. He added, however, that Cambodian and U.N. officials "are confident that this problem will shortly be resolved." He did not explain how.

The U.N. Development Program, which manages the funds contributed by international donors for the Cambodian side of the court, froze disbursements last July pending an investigation into allegations that the Cambodian personnel were forced to pay kickbacks to obtain their positions,

Aid donors have warned they will reconsider their pledges if the allegations of corruption are not satisfactorily resolved.

The allegations, which were originally leveled two years ago by the Open Society Justice Initiative, a New York-based watchdog group monitoring the tribunal, have been publicly denied by Cambodian and most U.N. officials.

A report surfaced last week on the German legislature's Web site alleging that a top U.N. tribunal official had acknowledged the kickbacks and accused a senior Cambodian administrator of corruption.

The head of public affairs for the tribunal refused to comment on the report, which has been removed from the Web site.

"I can't comment on a document I haven't seen about a meeting I was not at," Helen Jarvis said Monday.

Legal maneuvering ahead of the trials meanwhile continued.

According to confidential documents obtained Monday, the defense team for Nuon Chea, the main Khmer Rouge ideologist, is seeking court permission to interview Prime Minister Hun Sen and former King Norodom Sihanouk.

The documents also request testimony from Senate President Chea Sim and Assembly President Heng Samrin. Both men, along with Hun Sen, were members of the Khmer Rouge but defected to Vietnam before the regime was ousted.

"They are likely in possession of much relevant information to the pending judicial investigation," one of the documents said. All have denied any role in atrocities.

The defense team said that the 86-year-old former King Sihanouk, who briefly served as a symbolic head of state after the regime took power, had "rare access to the Khmer Rouge leadership, their strategies and policies" and was "privy to a range of sensitive information."

Son Arun, Nuon Chea's Cambodian attorney, confirmed the authenticity of the documents but said he had not personally filed the request.

The tribunal's first trial, scheduled to begin March 30, is for 65-year-old Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Duch, who headed the Khmer Rouge's largest torture center. Later trials will be held for Khieu Samphan, the group's former head of state; Ieng Sary, its foreign minister; and his wife Ieng Thirith, who was minister for social affairs.
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Door closed for Cambodia, Myanmar reps

The governments of Cambodia and Myanmar have banned two representatives from their own countries from meeting with Southeast Asian state leaders during the official meeting between ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and civil society organizations scheduled Saturday at Cha-am.

Cambodia has refused to let in Pen Somony, a program coordinator for the Cambodia Volunteers for Civil Society. The Myanmar junta has barred the door for Khin Ohmar, the Bangkok-based chair of the Network for Democracy and Development. The two will not be able to join their seven counterparts in the meeting, held as part of the 14th ASEAN Summit program.

The injunction from Cambodia came as a last-minute surprise. Country representatives voiced their objection only a day before the meeting though the list of representatives had been submitted to the ASEAN Secretariat last November, said Yuyun Wahyuningrum of the Bangkok-based Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development, which represented Laos and Brunei.

Yuyun said they had anticipated the ban from military-ruled Myanmar but had not expected Cambodian to follow suit, especially since the latter did not specify any reason for a ban that could undercut freedom of expression in the region.

“The Cambodian [NGO] representative feels a bit threatened by the ban and fears returning to his country and has concerns for his safety. The Myanmar representative is based in Thailand and had expected the government’s ban because it frequently limits civil society voices this way,” she said.

She added only groups from eight of the 10 ASEAN countries had sent representatives to attend the 30-minute meeting, which included statement reading and a question-and-answer session.
“Laos did not participate because of concerns over government crackdowns on activists and Brunei Darussalam did not delegate a representative because it may not have any civil groups,” said Yuyun, who was delegated to represent the two absent countries.

She said the meeting – attended by the 10 ASEAN state leaders and the six representatives from Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam – ran smoothly despite the bans. Yuyun expressed regret afterward that only Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung answered the five questions put forward by the civil society leaders.

The Malaysian NGO representative, Wathshlah G. Naidu from Asia Pacific International Women’s Rights Action Watch, said their questions included public participation in the good governance process, representation on the ASEAN human rights body, migrant workers, the status of Burma (Myanmar) and gender issues.

“In response to the question on the ASEAN human rights body, they said they realized civil society leaders needed to be involved. They also recognized the [current bylaws] draft had no protective mechanisms. They affirmed that, in subsequent discussions, protections should be incorporated within the ASEAN human rights charter as part of its terms of reference,” Naidu said.

Naidu said further Abhisit had not responded directly on the issue of Burma but mentioned that ASEAN leaders would have an open discussion to address it. Yuyun added the Thai government had said they would ensure that political development in Burma would continue.

Yuyun also said the Vietnamese government had said it supported the participation of the civil society in community building but it should be within the scope of the ASEAN principle of noninterference.

“Prime Minister Abhisit agreed there is a deficit in the people’s participation in ASEAN forum that he wanted to improve. Hopefully, in the future, ASEAN is moving forward into a single society under the new charter,” she said, referring to the charter put into force last December.

“However, he emphasized that cooperation between civil society organizations and the ASEAN should be based on the principle of respect for national sovereignty and noninterference.”

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Barring of rights activists from ASEAN talks stirring anger

HUA HIN, Thailand -- Southeast Asian leaders were embroiled in a fresh row over human rights on Saturday after Myanmar's junta and Cambodia blocked activists from attending rare face-to-face talks.

Myanmar premier Thein Sein and his Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen had refused to join the meeting with civil society representatives if activists from their countries were present, delegates and rights groups said.

The angry spat at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in the Thai beach resort of Hua Hin threatened to overshadow the 10-member group's efforts to deal with the global financial crisis.

“I was disappointed but it was expected. The refusal by the Burmese regime clearly shows they are not committed to change,” one of the two barred activists, Khin Omar from Myanmar, told AFP after the meeting.

Myanmar's military regime changed the country's name from Burma in 1989. She said the move showed that a landmark ASEAN charter that came into force in December and calls for the establishment of a new regional human rights body “is just a cosmetic show”.

The meeting went ahead without Khin Omar and the other activist, Pen Somony of Cambodia, who instead both held a brief meeting with Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. Singapore-based civil rights activist Sinapan Samydorai, who was at the meeting, said that when one delegate raised the issue of the barred campaigners “I saw the face of the Cambodian and Burmese leaders change”.

There was also no representative from communist-ruled Laos because they feared possible repercussions at home, Samydorai said.

The meeting eventually covered topics including the rights body, migrant workers, Myanmar and gender, delegates said. There was no immediate comment by any of the ASEAN leaders who attended.

Human rights have been a perennial challenge for ASEAN in the 42 years since it was founded as a bulwark against the spread of communism. Its members now include a monarchy, a dictatorship and two communist states.

The bloc has repeatedly been pressed to use its influence to improve the rights situation in Myanmar but to little avail. Its soft approach contrasts with the sanctions imposed by Western nations.

A key problem has been the group's core policy of non-interference in domestic affairs, which has previously been used by nations like Myanmar to fend off criticism.

The policy has most recently been enshrined in a draft document seen by AFP on the proposed rights body, which in its current form has no powers to investigate or prosecute rights abusers.

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