'Unfit' Khmer Rouge defendant to stay detained

In this photo released by the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, Khieu Samphan, center, former Khmer Rouge head of state, sits in the dock during a trial at the U.N.-backed war crimes tribunal in the outskirt of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2011. (AP Photo/Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia) NO SALES, EDITORIAL USE ONLY


By SOPHENG CHEANG

Print Font: +-PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Cambodia's U.N.-assisted tribunal ordered Tuesday that a Khmer Rouge defendant earlier ruled unfit to stand trial will remain detained to see if her mental condition improves.

The highest chamber of the tribunal reversed a ruling by junior judges that would have freed 79-year-old Ieng Thirith whose doctors concluded has Alzheimer's disease. The lower panel had said the illness diminished her mental capacity. Prosecutors had appealed against her release.

The new ruling came during the second week of testimony in the trial of Ieng Thirith's three co-defendants, who include her husband, Ieng Sary, foreign minister in the 1975-79 Khmer Rouge regime. Ieng Thirith was social affairs minister.

The tribunal is seeking justice for 1.7 million people who died of starvation, lack of medical care or execution under Khmer Rouge rule. The defendants have been charged with crimes against humanity, genocide, religious persecution, homicide and torture. All have pleaded innocent and in statements to the tribunal have blamed Vietnam for much of Cambodia's troubles.

Lars Olsen, a spokesman for the tribunal, said Ieng Thirith would remain at the tribunal's detention center until medical treatment was arranged and she could be detained at the location where she undergoes treatment.

"After six months of medical treatment, Ieng Thirith shall undergo a new medial, psychiatric and/or psychological expert examination, before the Trial Chamber will have to make a new assessment of her fitness to stand trial," he said in an emailed statement.

Ieng Thirith has said the charges against her are "100 percent false" and said she always worked for the benefit of the people. She is the sister-in-law of Khmer Rouge supreme leader Pol Pot, who died in 1998. Pol Pot married Ieng Thirith's sister, Khieu Ponnary, who died in 2003.

Her husband and the other co-defendants were also part of the communist group's ruling inner circle: Nuon Chea, who was second in command to Pol Pot and the group's chief ideologist, and head of state Khieu Samphan.

To handle the case faster, the tribunal has grouped different charges to be tried separately. The current proceedings cover the forced movement of people and crimes against humanity.

Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan gave testimony Tuesday — both rehashing positions they had taken in their opening statements — while Ieng Sary asserted his right not to testify.

Nuon Chea told the court that the forced evacuation of Phnom Penh had been planned by Khmer Rouge leaders two years before they captured the capital on April 17, 1975. More than 1 million people were forced to immediately go to the countryside, where most were forced to work on giant communes as the Khmer Rouge attempted to create a pure agrarian socialist society.

He said the Khmer Rouge had determined that the people in Phnom Penh were already starving and would be better off moving to the countryside.

They also wanted to see if the United States, which had been fighting against them, and Vietnam, socialist allies but Cambodia's traditional enemy, would seek to attack them.

He insisted that Vietnam, not the Khmer Rouge, was responsible for killing hundreds of thousands of Cambodians. Vietnamese spies and traitorous Cambodians were responsible for the regime's troubles, he insisted.

Only the most hardcore enemies of the Khmer Rouge, who would not reform despite repeated attempts at re-education, were killed, he said. The revolution needed human beings as capital, to defend the country, he said. Keeping people alive "was much better than killing them."

Khieu Samphan insisted he was not a part of the group's inner circle, but only an intellectual they had recruited but not really trusted. "I did not participate in any decision making process," he said.

"I was appointed deputy prime minister of nothing, a defense minister of nothing, military commander of nothing," Khieu Samphan said in his statement, referring to positions he held during the group's armed struggle for power in 1970-75. Read more!

Three Thai soldiers killed by landmine

BANGKOK — Three Thai soldiers were killed and one was critically wounded when an old landmine exploded Tuesday as they were trying to defuse it on the country's border with Cambodia, a military official said.

The anti-tank device, thought to have been planted decades ago, was discovered in Klong Hat district, Sakaeo province, around 240 kilometers (150 miles) east of Bangkok.

"The three soldiers killed in the course of their work were aged between 45 to 50," said a local military official, who declined to be named.

The border between Thailand and its neighbour is littered with landmines left over from decades of war in Cambodia.

Earlier this year, deadly border clashes broke out between the two countries near an ancient temple further northeast on their shared frontier.

The Hague-based International Court of Justice in July asked both nations to withdraw military personnel from around the Preah Vihear temple complex and the border has been calm in recent months.
Read more!

Malaysia seizes hundreds of elephant tusks worth $1.3M from Kenya en route to Cambodia

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Malaysian authorities have seized hundreds of African elephant tusks worth 4 million ringgit ($1.3 million) that were being shipped to Cambodia.

Customs official Azis Yacub says inspectors at Port Klang harbor found the tusks hidden in containers of handicrafts from Kenya’s Mombasa port. The shipment was headed for Cambodia’s beach resort area of Sihanoukville.

Officials said Tuesday they had no precise figure for the number of tusks, which weighed nearly two tons.

The seizure followed a tip-off Monday. No arrests have been made.

Malaysia has stepped up inspections for illegal ivory after wildlife groups said the country was becoming a transit hub for tusks amid robust demand in China. Read more!

Scientists discover more than 200 new Mekong species

Many of the animals recently identified by the WWF, like this self-cloning lizard, are under threat


Scientists have identified more than 200 new species in the Greater Mekong region of south-east Asia, a report by conservation group WWF says.

They say that throughout 2010 more than 100 plants, 28 reptiles, 25 fish and seven amphibians were discovered.

But the WWF warns that many are endangered - while others could disappear before they are identified.

The Greater Mekong area includes Thailand, Cambodia, Burma, Vietnam, Laos and Yunnan province of China.

It is one of the world's most bio-diverse areas, home to some of the planet's most endangered wild species including the tiger, the Asian elephant and the Mekong dolphin.

The WWF says that more than 1,000 species have been discovered in the Greater Mekong over the past 10 years.

BBC environment reporter Mark Kinver says that new species are frequently found in the region because of increasing levels of human activity, which is proving to be a double-edged sword.

On the one hand, building roads opens up remote habitats to scientists who can then venture into previously unexplored areas and record the rich diversity of wildlife.

But this can also have a damaging ecological impact, especially if it results in a greater exploitation of the land which destroys these fragile ecosystems, our correspondent adds.

Female-only lizard

Among recent finds was a female-only lizard species, which reproduces by cloning, and was only discovered after a scientist spotted it on the menu of a Vietnamese restaurant.

Ms Bladen said that the female-only cloning lizard was also an exiting find.

"This lizard is not genetically diverse and is therefore very vulnerable. So these species are often found in shrinking habitats that are under pressure from rapid and unsustainable development and climate change," she said.

"But while we have extraordinary richness in this region, it is a richness that is under threat and shrinking fast and needs urgent effort to protect it."

The latest WWF report comes just days after the organisation announced the extinction of the Javan rhino in Vietnam because of poaching, and a 70% reduction in the number of wild tigers in just over 10 years.

China, Laos, Thailand and Cambodia are all planning hydropower dams along the Mekong river to meet the increasing demand for electricity.

Another new species - discovered in 2010 - is a snub-nosed monkey found in a remote and mountainous part of Burma's Kachin state, WWF spokeswoman Sarah Bladen told the BBC.

"It is well known to locals, who would spot the black-and-white monkey in the rain with its head between its knees, shielding it from the rain running into its upturned nose," she said. Read more!

Cambodia, U.S. start another joint exercise to boost military ties

PHNOM PENH, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- Royal Cambodian Armed Forces and the U.S. marines on Monday began another humanitarian assistance and disaster relief exercise to boost the two countries ' military relations, according to a press release from the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh.

The joint exercise was made just days after a similar one was ended last Friday between Cambodia's military police and U.S. marines from the III Marine Expeditionary Force.

The press release said that the joint exercise will be held in the vicinities of Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville and last until Dec. 18.
It added that U.S. marines and sailors from the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit and Amphibious Squadron 5 aboard the USS Pearl Harbor and USS New Orleans will exchange experiences with Cambodian forces pertaining to humanitarian assistance and disaster relief response, as a means to enhance professional cooperation and coordination between the two forces.

Components of the exchanges include an engineering civic action project, medical and mass casualty response drills, platoon maneuvers, and a community relation-building blood drive campaign.

"This exercise serves as another example of how U.S. and Cambodian forces can work together, increase each other's cultural understanding, enhance capabilities, and improve coordination, while providing services to areas and individuals in need," said Jeff Daigle, charg d'affaires of the U.S. Embassy to Cambodia.

Humanitarian assistance and disaster relief exercises have strengthened the relationship between the U.S. and Cambodian armed forces, while also improving the ability of Asia-Pacific nations to work together effectively to provide relief and assistance in the event of natural disasters and crises, added the press release. Read more!

Cambodia to send labour to Qata

By May Kunmakara

The government has approved Qatar as a destination for the growing number of Cambodian labourers seeking employment overseas.

Workers will not be recruited for housekeeping services, however, private sector officials said. The abuse of maids in Malaysia – many of whom were reportedly under-aged – has brought much scrutiny to the recruiting agencies that sent the women abroad.

Prime Minister Hun Sen on Friday approved the agreement on domestic labour with Qatar that the two governments originally endorsed in 2008.

A statement from the Council of Ministers said the agreement would promote a higher level of private-sector cooperation between Cambodia and the gulf state, something in line with the Kingdom’s goals for globalisation. It would also curb illegal migration and mitigate the risk of a domestic labour shortage, the statement said.

Hong Chheoun, director of Cambodia’s National Employment Agency, was not immediately available for comment.

The Qatari market needs thousands of labourers annually, a demand higher than other labour-importing countries, An Bun Hak, chairman of the Association of Cambodia Recruitment Agency, said.

“We’ve seen that Qatar’s labour market conditions are much better compared to many other countries in the Middle East,” An Bun Hak recently told the Post.

“The [Cambodian] government is in part trying to reduce unemployment. Domestic labour markets are also not sufficient in supporting young labourers, so this is a temporary strategy for helping them find employment.”

About 300,000 Cambodians enter the labour market each year, according to a report from the United Nations Development Programme. Securing employment for recent entrants would require cooperation between the government and the private sector, the report said.

Qatar will absorb up to 40,000 Cambodian workers a year with fixed salaries of up to US$400 per month for unskilled workers, An Bun Hak said.

Cambodians sent to Qatar would not work as maids or housekeepers as they have in other countries, An Bun Hak claimed. Sending workers to private households presents a risk for abuse, he said.

“We won’t allow them to work in the housekeeping industry because we have different cultures and daily living habits. We want to avoid any abuse that could happen by chance so we decided not to send them to work in housekeeping,” he said, adding that Cambodians would be employed as construction workers and hotel staff.

Nine Cambodian maids have died in Malaysia this year, the Post reported last month. The Cambodian government temporarily prohibited recruitment companies from sending young women to Malaysia last month after cases of rape, forced detention, exploitation and death rocked both countries.

The Philippines has considered banning labour recruiters from sending maids to Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates because the countries could not guarantee the protection of the workers, according to UAE business publication Arabian Business. But Cambodian workers in Qatar would be protected by the gulf state’s Ministry of Labour, An Bun Hak claimed. Employers would also provide round-trip airfares once a year, a unique offer from the country, he added.

Cambodia sends about 80,000 domestic workers to South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia and Japan every year. While private companies manage business between the latter three countries, the South Korean government manages incoming labour from Cambodia.

Cambodia also signed a similar memorandum of understanding with Kuwait in 2008, however, a formal agreement has yet to materialise, An Bun Hak said, adding that he was unsure if complaints of abuse in the country were at fault for the delay.

“We’re waiting for an annoucnment from the government on [the Kuwaiti] market. If it’s okay, we will contact [employers],” he said.. Read more!

Cambodia: prison labor concerns

A new law legalizes the use of prison labor by private companies, putting Cambodia's "sweatshop-free" reputation on the line.



Prisoners at Prey Sar Prison in Phnom Penh, Cambodia,

detail garments from the Croft & Barrow brand,

which is owned by the Milwaukee-based Kohl's Department Stores. (Courtesy)

 PHNOM PENH — Take a look at what you’re wearing. If any of your clothes bear a “Made in Cambodia” label, it’s a safe bet they were produced under decent conditions, by relatively well-paid workers.

The Cambodian garment industry is small by global standards, but it has one big thing going for it: as Western clothing brands have become increasingly sensitive to the conditions in their supply chains, Cambodia has set itself up as a “sweatshop-free” alternative to garment giants like China and Bangladesh.

Though such standards are not always upheld in practice, the country has become something of a boutique destination for foreign brands concerned about corporate social responsibility.

But all this could be about to change. Human rights groups say the country’s hard-won reputation is on the line following the passage of a new law that legalizes the use of prison labor by private companies — including garment contractors.

More from GlobalPost: Pay hike follows Cambodia garment workers' fainting spell

The law, approved by Cambodia’s Senate late last month, gives the general director of prisons the power “to enter into a contract to allow prisoners to work for any organization or individual” in industry or farming.

Rights groups say the new rules fly in the face of both Cambodian and international labor laws, such as Convention 29 of the International Labor Organization. It also puts the country’s trade partners — which include US firms — at risk of importing garments and footwear unlawfully produced by prisoners.

“What they’ve done with this new law is open Pandora’s Box,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW). “All of a sudden [prison officials] are going to have a captive prison workforce that they can use to contract labor production for a fraction of what a normal company would pay to a free person.”

More from GlobalPost: Angelina Jolie's legacy in Cambodia

There are good reasons to worry. For a start, Cambodian prisoners live in appalling conditions.

According to the local rights group Licadho, the government allots just 2,800 riels (about $0.70) per day to feed each prisoner, and inmates are packed like sardines into overcrowded cells. In these conditions, exploitation is rife.

“Inside prison walls, life is dominated by corruption,” Licadho reports. “There is a price tag attached to every amenity imaginable, from sleeping space to recreation time. Those who can’t afford to pay are forced to endure the most squalid conditions.”

More from GlobalPost: When genocide turns personal in Cambodia

Since 2009, according to information shared by HRW, Prey Sar, Phnom Penh’s main correctional facility, as well as jails in Kandal, Takeo, Battambang, Svay Rieng and Preah Sihanouk provinces, have set up small-scale prison labor programs. While nominally producing goods for the domestic market, there is some evidence that prisoners have produced goods for export, including to the US.

Photos obtained by GlobalPost appear to show female prisoners at Prey Sar working on garments bearing the Croft & Barrow and Sonoma brands, both owned by the Wisconsin-based Kohl’s Department Stores. The 1930 Tariff Act bans the import to the US of any goods that have been produced with forced labor. The photo attached to this story is one such photo, and below is another. The source of the photos wished to remain unidentified.

The contents of the photos, dating from late 2009 and early 2010, could not be independently verified. But rights activists say the corruption and squalor of the Cambodian prison system mean that the passage of the new law could trigger a steady leak of for-export garment work into prisons.

Already, local media have reported that prisons in Battambang, Kandal and Takeo are planning to establish for-profit garment schemes under the new law. Cambodian prison officials say the programs are voluntary, with profits being split among inmates, prison management and reinvestment in raw materials.

At the same time, the government also claims it is taking a strong line against the use of prison laborers in export production.

In July, the Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh rose the issue in a letter to the head of the Garment Manufacturers Association of Cambodia (GMAC), which represents the apparel industry, writing that the use of “impure” sources of labor could “cause the buyers in main import countries to cancel their buying agreements” and result in “a disaster” for an industry that employs around 300,000 Cambodians.

Ken Loo, GMAC’s secretary general, said similarly that his organization opposed the use of prisoners to assemble for-export garments, and would investigate any allegations. “The fact that it’s legal here doesn’t change things for other countries where we export,” he told GlobalPost.

Vicki Shamion, a spokesperson for Kohl’s Department Stores, said her company was unaware that any of its products had been or were being manufactured in Cambodian jails, but that its vendor guidelines “expressly forbid the use of bonded labor, indentured labor, prison labor or forced labor in the manufacture or finishing of products ordered by Kohl’s.”

“We take allegations related to violation of these terms very seriously,” Shamion said. She added that recent allegations would be investigated.

Whether or not government checks succeed remains an open question. HRW says turning Cambodia’s ramshackle prisons into ad hoc garment factories — for domestic production or otherwise — has the potential to call into question the standards of the entire industry.

“I have no confidence whatsoever that the government of Cambodia has either the political will or the capacity to prevent prison production for profit from ending up in the export stream,” Robertson said.

Adam Hutchinson, executive director of the Prison Fellowship Cambodia, which provides services in 24 Cambodian prisons, said it was important to distinguish between the use of prison labor for producing export goods, and inmate labor programs in general.

“Prison work schemes, if used well, can be of great benefit for both prisoners and prisons,” he said. But the “inefficiency and inconsistency” in monitoring capacity meant that prison labor systems were “open for abuse.”

“There seems to be no clearly defined process at the present moment,” Hutchinson said. Read more!

Fading memories give K.Rouge trial slow start

By Michelle Fitzpatrick (AFP)

PHNOM PENH — Cambodia's historic Khmer Rouge trial has barely begun but one verdict is already in: the fragile health and failing memories of the elderly accused and witnesses will make for a long, slow road to justice.

More than three decades after up to two million people died in the country's "Killing Fields" era, a UN-backed tribunal began hearing evidence over the past week in the case against the Khmer Rouge's three most senior surviving leaders.

For the hundreds of Cambodians who came to the Phnom Penh court each day hoping for answers that could shed light on the secretive 1975-1979 regime, the proceedings proved an exercise in patience -- punctuated by frequent bathroom breaks.

Judges pleaded for "flexibility" from all parties as they were forced to constantly adjust the schedule to accommodate the needs of the first four men to give evidence -- including defendant "Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea.

"We saw a lot of hurdles this week from technical glitches to recollection issues and age issues," said tribunal monitor Clair Duffy from the US-based Open Society Justice Initiative.

"It kind of set the stage for what this trial will be like, because these issues will crop up time and again."

Led by "Brother Number One" Pol Pot, who died in 1998, the hardline communist movement wiped out nearly a quarter of the population through starvation, forced labour and execution in a bid to forge an agrarian utopia.

Co-defendants Nuon Chea, former foreign minister Ieng Sary and ex-head of state Khieu Samphan deny charges including war crimes and genocide.

A fourth accused, 79-year-old former social affairs minister Ieng Thirith, who is married to Ieng Sary and was Pol Pot's sister-in-law, was recently ruled unfit to stand trial due to dementia.

Owing to fears that not all the suspects will live to see a verdict, the court has split their complex case into several smaller trials, starting with the forced evacuation of Phnom Penh and related crimes against humanity.

"But even this first mini-trial is going to take one or two years," Nuon Chea's lawyer Michiel Pestman told AFP. "It's going to be a very long, tiring process. It's like a trial with a Zimmer (walking) frame."

Nuon Chea, 85, was first to give evidence on Monday, and although the session was cut short because he was suffering from fatigue and high blood pressure, his performance was easily the highlight of the week.

Pol Pot's most trusted deputy gave detailed insight into the rise of the communist movement in Cambodia, rarely needing to refer to a blue binder filled with notes to jog his memory, though he did repeatedly complain of tiredness.

In his testimony, broadcast live on television, he claimed the Vietnamese were instead to blame for the mass killings -- and were still trying to encroach on Cambodian land.

Judges later turned their attention to the first high-profile witness, a former aide to Ieng Sary, who spoke via videolink as he was too ill to leave his home in northern Cambodia.

Long Norin, 73, appeared to struggle to recount exact dates and events.

"It has been 30 years. How can I remember all these things?" he said in exasperation after the prosecution probed him about the tasks he carried out under Ieng Sary.

Taking evidence from the Khmer Rouge insider, who prosecutors said seemed "reluctant" to testify, was an agonisingly slow process interrupted by the witness's numerous toilet breaks and trouble with the audio technology, requiring questions to be repeated several times.

In an effort to bring at least one testimony this week to a close and avoid renewed hassle with the interactive set-up, judges said the court would exceptionally sit on a Friday.

But that hearing was adjourned as soon as it began after Long Norin called in sick -- disappointing the 300 high school students who had travelled for more than two hours by bus to catch the trial in action.

"We will come back again. We want to know about the Pol Pot regime," said Seang Virak, 19, after the session ended abruptly, allowing him only a quick glimpse of the accused.

"I am very angry with them because they killed people all over the country," he said.

Unfailingly polite, however, the teenager added: "But I am sorry to hear the witness is sick."
Read more!

Cambodia observes int'l human rights day

PHNOM PENH, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- Tens of thousands of Cambodians on Saturday marched and gathered in different places throughout the country to celebrate the 63th anniversary of the International Human Rights Day.

One of the events at Phnom Penh's Freedom Park organized by the Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee (CHRAC) and other 21 Non- Governmental Organizations and trade unions were attended by approximately 4,000 participants from the Senate, the National Assembly, government, United Nations officials, NGOs, unions, students, indigenous communities, and foreign diplomats.

The celebration was under the theme "Independent Judiciary and Freedom of Expression are Foundations for Social Justice and Respect for Human Rights".

Speaking at the celebration, Prince Norodom Chakrapong, representative of Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni, said Cambodia has been actively working towards a society that is full of democracy and human rights respect.

He called for people from all walks of life to join force to promote human rights and to build the culture of mutual respect for a society of peace, harmony and rule of law.

During the celebration, Surya Subedi, UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Cambodia, said Cambodia has seen significant progress since the conclusion of the Paris Accord in 1991 in so many different areas of human activities.

"The country has seen sound economic growth and a political stability over the past decade," he said. "The challenging issue for the country is to advance economic development and human rights agenda hand in hand."

"The respect of human rights should walk as the same pace as the development of economic growth," he said.

The gatherings marked the achievements made to advance human rights in Cambodia, but also focused on critical issues still facing Cambodian citizens, including exploitation of land and natural resources; labor abuses; restrictions to the freedoms of expression, association and assembly, and violations committed against women and children, it said. Read more!

Bokator in fight for recognition

Photo by: Sreng Meng Srun
The Cambodian Bokator Federation is pursuing UNESCO Heritage Asset status for the ancient martial art



The Cambodia Bokator Federation (CBF) is planning a big promotion drive in the Southeast Asian neighbourhood early next year to establish new vistas in a bid to gain SEA Games recognition for the Angkorian-era martial art.

“We are targeting the 2015 or 2017 Games as possible launching pads for Bokator,” CBF president and grand master San Kim Sean told the Post in an exclusive interview yesterday.

“We will start reaching out soon to all the ASEAN countries, virtually taking Cambodia’s proud heritage to their doorsteps, to create region-wide Bokator awareness.”

As a logical first step, the federation is stringing together video presentations of the nuances of Bokator and the rules governing this complex but challenging art of fighting, along with an insight into its 1,000-year-old history.

“More importantly, our mission is to convince the rest of the ASEAN community that Bokator is not just a Cambodian obsession pursued by Cambodians and a handful of foreigners, but an exciting sport that is as good as any other form of martial arts,” San Kim Sean said.

Although the federation is out in front spreading Bokator far and wide, it strongly believes in the idea of fighters seeking mixed martial arts as a profitable alternative.

“We were highly encouraged by our performances at an MMA meet in Malaysia a couple of months ago. A Cambodian team will be taking part in a similar event in Kuala Lumpur early next year,” San Kim Sean said.

Running parallel to the Federation’s promotional initiatives is its mission to acquire UNESCO Heritage Asset status.

“We have a lot of historical evidence to support our claim that Bokator originated in Cambodia,” the grand master, who sports a Gold Kroma, Bokator’s highest distinction, said.

“Now we are in the process of gathering additional information that would strengthen our case. We are delving into the history books, re-visiting historical sites such as Angkor Wat and poring over old Khmer literature to gather as much evidence as possible.

“By the end of this month, the federation is also planning to interview some of the past masters so as to get their take on all facets of Bokator.”

The World Martial Arts Union, of which Cambodia is a member, recently deputed a representative to undertake a more in-depth study of Bokator.

San Kim Sean said the Kingdom was banking on the power of the union, which has an advisory role with UNESCO, to get its due.
Read more!

Cambodia must address electoral capacity gaps to ensure freedom of speech – UN expert

Surya P. Subedi, Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Cambodia



9 December 2011 – Cambodia must address the capacity gaps within its electoral system to ensure freedom of speech and encourage debate among its political parties, a United Nations expert said today, urging the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure free and fair elections next year.

Special Rapporteur Surya P. Subedi, who just finished a six-day visit to the country, said that he was particularly concerned about access to mass media in the lead-up to the commune elections next year and the 2013 parliamentary elections.

“I have had concerns expressed to me that a number of political parties have been denied access to the mass media on an equal footing, or have encountered difficulties with local authorities when they try to claim their right to participate in a free and fair election campaign,” he said.

Mr. Subedi also noted that during his visit, he received allegations by several stakeholders claiming civil servants, military personnel and police members have campaigned for political parties using government resources. At the same time, he said State authorities assured him they would look into the allegations.

“I was assured that government will be instructing all personnel working in these particular groups that they should not participate in any political activities whilst working in their official capacities, which includes the use of government resources, and that neutrality is to be paramount.”

During his visit, Mr. Subedi met with government officials in charge of facilitating elections in the country, the national police, members of civil society, and members of various political parties, as well as citizens who have been affected by the human rights situation in the country.

Mr. Subedi said he would provide the government with concrete recommendations on how to address the capacity gaps. He is also due to present a report on his findings to the Human Rights Council in September next year. Read more!

Encinitas Group Improving Lives in Cambodia

Microloans for Mothers is spearheaded by a Cardiff man.

By Marlena Medford

Two dollars will barely buy you a cup of coffee in Encinitas, but in Cambodia that’s what the average person survives off per day. Poverty is rampant there and it’s especially hard on single mothers, many of whom raise their kids on a monthly income equal to about 50 US dollars. To say they struggle would be putting it mildly.

But an Encinitas-based nonprofit has figured out how to harness the power of micro-lending to help these women. The group, Microloans for Mothers, gives them very small loans so they can launch their own businesses. The goal is to help them become independent entrepreneurs while teaching them how to save money.

Some of us spend $100 on a routine trip to the grocery store without thinking much of it. In Cambodia, $100 can and has changed lives. Take Kim Vanny, a single mother of two living in the slums of Phnom Penh. She, like many women there, ran a small snack store out of her home. After receiving a $100 loan through the non-profit, she was able to grow her business considerably, even adding a Karaoke machine for customers. She’s been able to turn a nice profit, which she’s now using to send her kids to school and provide them with more food.

“To get this program going, I did a lot of research about how micro-lending works,” said executive director Niels Lund, a Cardiff resident of 25 years. Microloans for Mothers follows the model that began in the 1970s with the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, which helped many in that country rise above poverty through self-employment.

Lund first realized the need in Cambodia after he traveled there for work with Class Arts, Children, Technology (Class ACT) another Encinitas-based nonprofit he help found. Class ACT was launched about ten years ago with the aim of brining more art programs to our local schools. In 2008, the non-profit began a global outreach, working with school children in Cambodia. This is when Lund realized that many of these Cambodian school children came from homes with single mothers who often couldn’t make ends meet.

“I came back from that trip and I just wanted to help these mothers,” Lund recalls. And now that’s precisely what he’s done. Microloans for Mothers started about one year ago with five women in the program, and today it’s grown to include about 30 mothers. Lund hopes that by this time next year, the group is helping 70 mothers.

“When you start talking about art and Class ACT’s mission, you lose people in about 20 seconds — but this, they get right away. People understand it, and they want to help.”

Because Microloans for Mothers branched out of Class ACT, the two non-profits are still run in conjunction. All of the mothers who get loans have children who attend schools in the Class ACT program. Once a mother gets a $100 loan, she pays a $10 interest, which is donated to the school her children attend.

The average monthly income for the first group of mothers in this program is about $135 per month, a significant increase from the $50 most in the country are accustomed to living off of. Now that these women have paid back their initial loan of $100, they will be given a $150 loan, and then a $200 loan. The hope is that with each cycle, the women’s earning power grows.

Mothers in the program also meet weekly for free business training and fellowship — and as they pay back their loan, they also contribute to personal savings accounts. “The savings accounts are important because many of these women are so used to living day-to-day, it’s hard for them to think long term, but we try to teach them the importance of saving some of their own money,” Lund explains. Microloans for Mothers staff members, who are also Cambodian, meet with the mothers monthly to track their progress.

On a recent trip to Cambodia, Lund got to see some of that progress for himself as he visited with the mothers face-to-face. Though they may lack material wealth, Lund said there is an abundance of love within these families — something we could learn from.

“You look around here and we have so much stuff, more stuff than we could ever need. And when you visit there, they don’t have a lot of stuff. But you get a clear sense of how close they are in their family. There is no Facebook. Their family is their social network. Family is everything to them. You can see it. You can feel it.”

Microloans for Mothers’ success has been made possible thanks to support from several local groups, including the Encinitas Rotary Club — and through fundraisers, like the recent Live Rock Love benefit concert in Cardiff, which included donations from several local business, including Bliss 101, Encinitas Elks Lodge, and Isabell French Pastry Café.

If you would like to help, Microloans for Mothers is always looking for volunteers to help with events. The nonprofit also has a booth space on the north side of Seaside Bazaar every Saturday and Sunday in December before Christmas, and Friday, Dec. 23. The group sells bags, scarves, and bracelets from Cambodia — all ranging $20 to $5 with proceeds benefitting the nonprofit. A portion of the booth is also dedicated to Class ACT, and includes an area for kids to create art.

Microloans for Mothers also hosts a happy hour called Microbrew 4 Microloans the first Tuesday of each month from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Encinitas Elks Lodge.

For more information, or to read Lund's blog about his recent trip to Cambodia, please visit microloans4mothers.org. You can also follow Lund on Twitter at @classactarts. 

Do you know of another Encinitas-based nonprofit you’d like to see featured on Patch? Send an email to editor Marlena Medford at marlena.medford@patch.com. Read more!

Mekong dam decision delayed

SIEM REAP, Cambodia, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- A decision on the controversial $3.8 billion Xayaburi dam project on the Lower Mekong River has been delayed.

Xayaburi is the first of 11 hydropower dams -- nine in Laos and two in Cambodia -- proposed along the river.

About 95 percent of the dam's 1,260-megawatt capacity is intended for export to Thailand, which is financing the project. Thailand would operate the dam, turning it over to Laos after 30 years.

The Mekong River Commission's agreement Thursday to delay a decision on approval for the dam and to conduct further studies was reportedly already made by the prime ministers of MRC countries -- Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam -- on the sidelines of the ASEAN meeting in Indonesia last month, International Rivers says.

MRC also delayed a decision on Xayaburi last April.

"Further study will provide a more complete picture for the four countries to be able to further discuss the development and management of their shared resources," Lim Kean Hor, chairman of the Mekong River Commission's council and Cambodia's minister for water resources said Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The longest river in Southeast Asia, the Mekong stretches 3,000 miles to the South China Sea and is home to more than 700 species of freshwater fish, including the endangered Mekong catfish. The Lower Mekong supports nearly 60 million people who depend on it for their livelihood, says the World Wildlife Fund.

Environmentalists warn that the proposed Xayaburi dam poses a threat to the environment and surrounding communities.

A study funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development that examined the impact of all the region's proposed dams found that the projects could lead to a net loss of up to $300 billion.

International Rivers says the $300 billion would represent lost income to the region because the fish stocks are a vital resource for the livelihoods of the people.

An international petition with more than 22,000 signatures calling for the project to be scrapped was submitted Nov. 30 to the prime ministers of Laos and Thailand.

"Ultimately the only responsible solution is to cancel the Xayaburi Dam and other dams planned for the Mekong River. We are confident that scientific studies on the Xayaburi Dam's impacts, conducted in a transparent, participatory, and independent manner, will reach the same conclusion," Teerapong Pomun, director of Thai environmental group Living River Siam, said in a statement. Read more!

Cambodia economy to grow 7% in 2012: IMF

By AP

WASHINGTON - The International Monetary Fund said on Thursday that Cambodia's economy is set to grow by 7.25 per cent next year, buoyed by garment exports and growing tourist arrivals.

The fund reports that recent floods have hurt agriculture in the final quarter of this year, but the non-agricultural gross domestic product is forecast to grow in 2011 at its fastest rate in four years.

The Washington-based fund's predictions came in a statement after an annual consultation with Cambodia on its economy. A visiting IMF team ended its mission on Thursday.

Cambodia enjoyed rapid growth of more than 9 per cent between 2000-7, the highest of any low-income country in Asia, but it was hit hard by the global economic crisis.

GDP in 2010 grew by less than 5 per cent. Read more!

Floods deepen poverty for rural Cambodians

Chhoet Choeun, 75, in her flood-damaged home in Tamoul village in Prey Veng province, South Cambodia, where she struggles to provide for the three grandchildren who are in her care. ALERTNET/Thin Lei Win


By Thin Lei Win

PREY VENG, Cambodia (AlertNet) – Chhoet Choeun was already living precariously, having sold her land to pay for her husband’s medical bills a year ago.

The 75-year-old widow had been providing for herself and a 14-year-old granddaughter by planting peas on the small plot of land behind her shed and selling them for up to 30,000 Riel ($7.50) every three months.

Then the worst floods Cambodian had seen for more than a decade struck in August. At Chhoet Choeun’s tiny, rickety hut, built two metres (6.6) above the ground on stilts in Tamoul village in Prey Veng province, the water rose to knee level.

It destroyed parts of her thin bamboo floor and the flimsy palm leaf walls and forced them to sleep in the water, atop a mattress borrowed from a neighbour. It also washed away her pea plants.

With the land damaged and inundated for three months, her daughter and son-in-law, who were already in debt, left for Thailand last month to look for jobs. They left their two children, a five and six-year-old, with her to look after as well her other granddaughter.

“The situation has become worse after the floods. Last year, I had my peas, which I can pickle and sell or exchange for rice,” she told AlertNet, sitting on the floor of her bare hut, bereft of any belongings save for a bamboo floor mat, a blanket and a pillow.

She said they have been surviving off the rice given by an aid agency, but that is fast depleting. The peas would not be ready for at least two more months.

“For me, it’s ok. I can find anything. I just worry for my grandchildren,” she added, wiping away tears. “I cannot sleep at night. I always worry about what my grandchildren have to eat.”

EXISTING VULNERABILITIES WORSEN

Severe floods caused by heavy monsoon rains and a series of tropical storms devastated impoverished Cambodia, inundating 18 of the country’s 24 provinces. They killed 247 people and affected some 1.6 million, more than 10 percent of the population. Prey Veng, in the country’s south, is one of the worst-hit provinces.
Flooding along the Mekong and other key rivers which began in August also destroyed more than 10 percent of crops in the nation, raising concerns of food insecurity and increased personal debt.
Already, 71 percent of Cambodians depend on agriculture and livestock for their livelihood and close to 80 percent live in rural areas. Even before the floods, many were struggling to get enough food.

“The floods did not make them vulnerable, they worsened it,” said Jeunsafy Sen, Save the Children’s spokesperson in Cambodia. “They were already poor and vulnerable before. So livelihood and mental recovery from a disaster of this magnitude will take years.”

When AlertNet visited Tamoul with Save the Children, who had provided support to some of the most vulnerable families there, water had receded but the small village was still cut off.

The road remains submerged after the three lakes that surround Tamoul merged to form a vast expanse of water, a metre higher than the normal level, the chief of the local commune said. Currently it is only reachable by a 30-minute boat ride.

STUCK IN A VICIOUS CYCLE

Many of the villagers AlertNet met are in dire straits. Some had used their land as collateral to plant wet season rice, only for the harvest to be destroyed. Many have family members who migrated to Thailand after the floods.

A woman asked for help, saying the floods had dashed her hopes of building a palm leave hut for herself. Her violent husband burned down the original house years ago and it had taken her 10 years to afford thin concrete pillars to serve as stilts.

The floods have made it difficult for people to get out of poverty, like 47-year-old Vong Kim.

She and her husband borrowed $1,000 from a microfinance institution to buy petrol and fertiliser for two plots of land – half a hectare (1.2 acres) of which is her own while she rents the rest.

Unfortunately, the floods destroyed the paddy, killed the chickens and half of the rice the family of eight has in stock. It also left parts of her wooden floorboards rotten and worsened the condition of the roof, which was battered by heavy rains and covered in a giant plastic sheet.

“I borrowed the money for wet season rice and now I had to borrow 5 million Riel ($1,247) from a moneylender to pay back the microfinance and for spending money,” she told AlertNet, cradling her four-month-old baby.

“We had no idea or expectation of the floods so we didn’t have time to grab anything.” Read more!

Xayaburi dam fight stepped up

Protesters ask for public hearing on the impacts

Xayaburi dam protesters in eight provinces plan to petition the Administrative Court to revoke a Thai-Laos contract on joint usage of electricity produced by the dam on the Mekong River.

Calling themselves the "people network" in the Mekong basin, the group took to the streets after the Mekong River Commission (MRC) began a three-day meeting in Cambodia yesterday to discuss the controversial project.

The network said it disagreed with what it claimed was a "non-publicised" cabinet resolution in June that allowed the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand to sign a contract with Vientiane on electricity usage because the project has yet to go through a complete public hearing process in Thailand.

"When we learned the government had Egat sign the joint contract without announcing it, we decided to petition the court immediately," said network leader Itthiphon Khamsuk, who was informed of the resolution yesterday morning as his group was petitioning the government to hold a public hearing.

He blamed the government for pushing the project ahead without listening to input from people in the provinces that would likely be affected by the dam. The public hearing did "not follow the correct and complete procedures" as required by the Constitution, he said.

Although environment ministers from Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam will discuss the dam at the ongoing MRC meeting, Mr Itthiphon said his group would not wait for the results because the project should be stopped.

The network yesterday petitioned two Senate committees to support a proposal to delay the project for 10 years.

Senate natural resource and environment committee chairman Surachai Liaobunloetchai said his committee and the Senate committee on education and corruption scrutiny will ask the government to clarify project details.

Although the dam will be built in Laos, the project should follow Thai laws, including a mandatory public hearing because Thailand will be the main beneficiary of the project. He said Laos had contracted with Thailand's Ch Karnchang to build the dam. Four Thai banks are the project's financial sources and Egat would buy 95% of the electricity produced by the dam, Mr Surachai said.

The 1,260-megawatt dam's future is uncertain. Officials at an April 19 meeting of the MRC approved a resolution requiring further study of the dam's potential impact on the Mekong River.

Vietnam and Cambodia are worried about the dam's impact on their crops, especially rice, because of fears over reduced water flow into the two countries. Read more!

Group of locals builds houses for the poorest of Cambodia

Homes are very basic but offer security and refuge from rains and flooding


By Penny Coles

Yolanda Henry is hooked on helping.

She has just returned from her seventh trip to Cambodia, where she and a group of friends helped build 18 houses for the poorest of people living in the underdeveloped country, and although it's hard work under blistering sun, it's also very rewarding, she says.

And while she's not committing now to returning, she says at some point in the future she will likely need her fix and go back to build more houses.

In the meantime, says Henry, now a board member of Tabitha Foundation in Canada, the non-profit agency that organizes the volunteer builds in Cambodia, she would be happy to help organize trips for groups of 10 people or more who might want to experience the .

Volunteers pay their own way, and must fundraise about $1,000 to pay for the cost of the materials and the contractors who erect the frames.

The houses are very basic—four metres by five metres, they are build of wood and tin, on stilts that lift them six feet off the ground. During the dry season, families live, cook and sleep underneath them, and when the rainy season begins, they move their meager belongings—a few cooking pots, some clothing, mats to sleep on—into their shelter to keep dry.

"They really don't have much," says Henry. "It doesn't take long for them to move in—maybe a few minutes."

The NOTL woman first visited Cambodia 2000. She was living in Singapore, and while volunteering at her children's school—they were selling handicrafts made by the women of Cambodia—she became interested in doing more. She and her daughters visited the country during their spring break, and since then, she has been back several times, volunteering through Tabitha to build secure and weatherproof homes for families of six to eight—a step up from the tarps or a hut of straw that is all that protects them when the rain comes—and is more than they ever expected to have.

Henry has just returned from a trip with a group of 14 people. The missions, she says, typically begin with someone saying they are interested in volunteering, and she begins planning dates and rounding up friends until she has enough of a group to go.

Most volunteers will plan a trip to neighbouring countries while they're there—and although there is incredible poverty, they are beautiful countries.

Dennis Kam, who just returned from an extended five-week stay with his wife Kathy Heit, once their work with Tabitha and Henry's group was complete, said a holiday can be anything from a $3 a day stay at a hostel to five-star hotel accommodation, which is still inexpensive by our standards.

They travelled with their daughter and granddaughter, and this trip, the group stayed in an eco-lodge in the jungle while they worked on the houses.

Although they say they might go back—it was their second trip—they would opt for different accommodations after sharing their cabin with a family of rats, a bat, a frog and other assorted wildlife. It's not for the squeamish, they agree, but it was an experience.

On most of the house-building missions, accommodations are in hotels in the nearest town or city, and are quite comfortable.

"You have to be tolerant and adaptable," says Dennis.

You also have to be relatively fit and able to stand the heat—the work, while not difficult, is undertaken in 34 degree heat with a humidex in the 40s.

"You have to take a lot of water breaks, and you have to pace yourself. If you don't you get heat stroke," says Henry.

While there, volunteers are given a lesson in the history and the culture of the country.

They visit a genocide museum and the Killing Fields, sites in Cambodia where large numbers of people were killed and buried by the Khmer Rouge during its rule of the country from 1975 to 1979.

In addition to hearing about the genocide, they learn that education was stripped, the middle class destroyed, that agricultural socialization resulted in famine, and that the country is still in the beginning stages of rebuilding.

And they learned that the people of Cambodia have a distrust for North Americans, who did nothing to help during that horrendous era in their past.

"Westerners don't have a lot of credibility," says Henry, "because we didn't do a lot to help them. We ignored their plight.".

House-building presents opportunities to restore trust, and those who have volunteered say the reward comes from the smiles and expressions of gratitude from those who so badly need a hand up.

"What they end up with is still subsistence living, but it's significantly improved living," says Dennis.

And volunteers who return often see the difference they have made as families are able to increase their income and add onto the houses—they are still very basic, but larger, with the original building becoming one room on a larger structure.

Families have endured poverty and hardship since the beginning of the Pol Pot era, but with the help of Tabitha Foundation, are slowly improving their quality of life, said Henry.

The reward, she says, is knowing that all the work is done by volunteers, and that every cent is spent on helping the people of Cambodia rebuild, not only their homes but their trust and their self-esteem. Read more!

Another UN Failure

More than 30 years ago, the Vietnamese army invaded Cambodia, ending a four-year long genocide that killed up to two million Cambodians. This past July, the first judgment was passed down against a perpetrator of the genocide, the chief jailer of the main torture prison responsible for more than 15,000 deaths. Many Cambodians were disappointed with the 19-year sentence set down by the Khmer Rouge Tribunal, a function of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC).

The Cambodian government wanted that trial to be the only one held by the Tribunal and has done everything in its power to prevent more cases from being heard. Many former cadres in the Khmer Rouge are now occupying high posts in the Cambodian government, and Prime Minister Hun Sen has warned further trials could throw the country back into civil war. The court has nevertheless pushed through with “Case No. 2″ against four senior members of the former Khmer Rouge government.

The ECCC is a UN-backed court, comprised of both Western and Cambodian judges. Without experience trying a case of this magnitude, the United Nations insisted upon having Western judges involved in every aspect of the case – from investigations to sentencing. Predictably, the court has fallen apart under the mixed supervision of both local and international judges and administrators. Less predictably, the UN-appointed Western judges have been the ones to have their impartiality and effectiveness questioned by observers and even co-workers. In what many on the ground describe as a mutiny, a team of UN lawyers wrote to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to report that the actions of a German judge “[breached] international standards of justice, fairness and due process of law.”

Douglas Gillison writes for Foreign Policy: “In the seven months since the letter was written, the United Nations has not offered a substantive answer to these problems. Indeed, as matters continued to worsen, officials at headquarters in New York determined that their hands were tied, leaving matters to deteriorate to the point of scandal.”

The ECCC was established in 2003 after six years of negotiations with the UN about the scope of Western countries’ involvement in the trials. Western powers were convinced the Cambodians were unable to convict Cambodians of crimes against other Cambodians, and thus had to step in. The court was constructed in such a way that there would be safeguards against Cambodian judges’ improper behavior, but none for Western judges’ abuse of power. In Foreign Policy, Gillison writes in depth about the shocking details that finally, after months, brought the resignation of the German judge. Since 2009, when the UN appointed an Australian academic and a self-proclaimed Marxist to be a liaison for Cambodian victims of the Marxist Khmer Rouge, the United States has contributed more than $10 million to the court. Despite reports from New York and Phnom Penh about the court’s dysfunction and wasteful spending, the UN, United States and other leading Western governments continue to silently watch the court daily crumble into total anarchy, all the while pouring millions of dollars into its operations. Read more!

Cambodia opens China-funded hydro electric dam

Energy-starved Cambodia has opened its largest hydro-electric dam to date, a multi-million dollar China-funded project that has drawn praise from the Phnom Penh government and criticism from environmentalists.

Prime Minister Hun Sen and a host of dignitaries witnessed the start of operations Wednesday at the 194-megawatt dam on the Kamchay river in southern Kampot province. The prime minister called the inauguration a “historic event” that will help reduce the cost of electricity in his country, where only about 15 percent of households have access to electrical power.

The $280 million project has pitted Cambodian and foreign-based environmentalists against government planners. Opponents say locals have been denied a voice in the Kamchay project and several others under construction.

The U.S.-based International Rivers organization also says the dam has destroyed hundreds of hectares of forest and farmlands, and says it will have a negative impact on fisheries in the impoverished country.

Proponents have argued that unreliable and increasingly expensive electrical utilities have severely hampered foreign investment in Cambodia, despite government efforts to reduce energy costs. Read more!

Cambodiaand 1 othe and one other Waging Peace: ASEAN and the Thai-Cambodian Border Conflict

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Border clashes between Thailand and Cambodia that caused dozens of casualties and displaced thousands have challenged the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) to finally turn its rhetoric on peace and security into action. Cambodia’s successful attempt to list the Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage Site came against the backdrop of turmoil in Thai politics after the 2006 coup that deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Thai pro-establishment movements used this issue to whip up nationalist sentiments against Cambodia as they tried to topple the Thaksin-backed government. The emotionally-charged campaigns halted border demarcation and sparked a bilateral conflict. In early 2011, the dispute turned into the most violent clash yet between ASEAN’s members, testing its historical commitment to non-aggression and prompting it to get involved. This has raised expectations that it might live up to its stated aspiration to keep peace in its own region. As yet, however, while its engagement set important precedents, it has no significant achievements. More robust diplomacy and leadership are still needed.

The resurgence of a largely forgotten 50-year dispute into an active armed conflict was related to two events: the colour-coded struggle in Thailand between the pro-establishment “Yellow Shirts” and the pro-Thaksin “Red Shirts” sparked after Thaksin’s ouster in the September 2006 coup; and the decision of Cambodia to register Preah Vihear as a World Heritage Site, which UNESCO accepted in July 2008. In Cambodia, the listing was occasion for national joy and Khmer pride. In Thailand, the ultra-nationalist Yellow Shirts used it to argue that Thaksin’s proxy administration led by Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej had sold out their motherland and committed treason. It became a powerful weapon to further their agenda, forcing the foreign minister to resign and destabilising the government. They successfully portrayed backing for the listing as a move to further Thaksin’s business interests, despite this policy having been supported by the previous military-installed administration. Until the Yellow Shirts’ attacks, bureaucrats on both sides had seen the listing as a mutual tourism bonanza.

The frontier became increasingly militarised and tense. Border survey and demarcation ground to a halt, as it became too dangerous to field joint teams. At the same time, political turmoil in Thailand led to a high turnover of foreign ministers and other senior officials. Nationalist lawsuits, controversial court rulings and constitutional provisions hamstrung the efforts of officials to negotiate and poisoned the bilateral relationship. Frustrated by this inaction and these obstructionist tactics, Cambodia’s prime minister, Hun Sen, often lashed out and on one occasion appointed Thaksin as an adviser – an episode that was the political low point of a troubled period.

Despite the warning signs between 2008 and 2010, passivity rather than active peacemaking was the “ASEAN way”. After the outbreak of hostilities in 2011, the UN Security Council set a precedent by referring the issue back to ASEAN and its then chair, Indonesia, which showed how energetic and bold leadership could bring the association closer to what [some of] its supporters wished it might be. ASEAN broke more new ground after both sides agreed to receive teams of Indonesian observers to monitor a ceasefire.

Thailand’s civilian leaders initially agreed to the deployment but backtracked after its military resisted, claiming the observers would undermine sovereignty, a sign that the post-coup struggle for power is unresolved. Cambodia approved them in May, but Indonesia would not dispatch its monitors until both sides signed on. The election of Yingluck Shinawatra as Thailand’s prime minister in July 2011 was expected to be a turning point, but was not. Even a ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that ordered the creation of a provisional demilitarised zone around the temple and called on ASEAN to monitor a troop withdrawal did not remove political obstacles. Then in October, Thailand was crippled by the worst flooding in living memory, leaving the government overwhelmed. With the waters now subsiding, Thailand and Cambodia need to recommit to complying with the ICJ decision as soon as possible.

ASEAN aimed to stop hostilities and restart negotiations when it took up the border issue in early 2011. While there has been no fighting on the border since May, the ceasefires in place are mostly verbal and unsigned. Until troops are verifiably withdrawn and diplomats resume negotiations, this conflict is not over. But in trying to resolve it, ASEAN, under Indonesia’s leadership, has laid out a methodology for dealing with future disputes. If it wants to fulfil its stated goal of taking responsibility for its own peace and security, it needs to use its existing mechanisms at the first sign of trouble and not just rely on an activist chair. The Thai-Cambodian conflict remains an active challenge for ASEAN, which must achieve a certifiable peace on this disputed border if it wishes to keep its own region secure in the future.

Bangkok/Jakarta/Brussels, 6 December 2011 Read more!

Cambodia Turns Increasingly to China: Analysts

"If there’s any country that could put pressure on Vietnam these days in support of the Hun Sen government, it’s China.”

Wu Bangguo, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) of China, second right, and Heng Samrin, president of the Cambodian National Assembly shake hands after exchanging documents on cooperation between NPC and the Cambodian assembly during their meeting at Beijing's Great Hall of the People, file photo.



Cambodia has increasingly turned to China for economic and political support, US analysts say.

Richard Solomon, a former US ambassador and assistant secretary of state, told an audience when he was one of the panelists at Berkley University in California that under Prime Minister Hun Sen Cambodia has become increasingly reliant on its relationship with China.

“So what will Hun Sen’s government do?” said Solomon, who is the president of the United States Institute for Peace. “They are primarily relying on the relationship with China for their economic development, and, I would assume, also for protection against pressures from Vietnam. If there’s any country that could put pressure on Vietnam these days in support of the Hun Sen government, it’s China.”

The recent development is a product of a long-standing Cambodian strategy, he said.

“Cambodia over the centuries has tried to maintain is independence and survival by maneuvering in this very complicated international environment,” he said.

That balance has proven difficult at times. Many Cambodians harbor resentment for a decade-long occupation that came after the Vietnamese ousted the Khmer Rouge. Cambodian farmers along the border have long complained of border encroachment by the Vietnamese, and critics of the government say it is too far under the sway of the eastern neighbor.

On the other hand, China supported the Khmer Rouge, who based their ideology on extreme Maoist principles. It has now become one of the largest donors to Cambodia, providing around $1 billion in aid last year. With that money, Cambodia has been able to build bridges, roads and other infrastructure, with fewer demands compared to Western aid, which can come with conditions.

“But China is not there as the great charity,” said Joel Brinkley, author of “Cambodia’s Curse.” “It wants something in return.”

China remains hungry for resources, and in Cambodia that means offshore oil and minerals.

Brad Adams, Asia director for Human Rights Watch, said the Chinese aid does not come with requirements for human rights, democracy or the rule of law. This can make it harder for other donors to exert influence over the country, he said.

“I still believe that the Cambodian government does not want to depend only on China,” he said. “The Cambodian people do not want that. They do not want to have only one country that they depend on.”

Nguon Nhel, vice president of the National Assembly and a senior member of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, declined to elaborate of the relationship, but he said Cambodia has worked to reintegrate with the world following the Khmer Rouge. Read more!

Missionary travels to Cambodia with one rusty press to spread the Word

By Anna Flagg
Reporter

One man is spreading Christianity as he travels the globe, however, Tim Comer isn’t your average missionary.

Inspired by printing press inventor Johannes Gutenberg, Comer spent the last two weeks of November in Cambodia, helping to install the first web printing press in the country to be used for printing Bibles. Comer says he hopes to share the Gospel with those who have never experienced it.

Comer married his wife, Sharon, at age 20 and went into the printing business soon after, starting in Waco. The couple has since traveled to Ghana, Africa, Kurdistan, Iraq and Sri Lanka doing missionary work.

Toward the end of the Comers’ most recent four-year stint in Sri Lanka, they were contacted by John Dupree of Bethany Press, a company that partners with Christian publishers. Dupree contacted Comer to discuss the installation of a printing press in Cambodia and Comer accepted.

After locating, buying and inspecting the press, Comer spent two weeks overseeing its installation in a print shop that is little more than an open barn with no air conditioning

Luckily for Comer, due to the amount of rust on the machine, the import duty to get it into Cambodia was low.

“The press is pretty simple, and electronically it is not very sophisticated,” Comer said. “It’s perfect for a Third World country.”

The press, he said, will be used primarily to print Bibles. In charge of the project will be a team of Cambodian workers that has been printing books for 15 years.

The team is hoping to get the necessary text and begin printing today.

So far, only two editions of the Bible have been available in Cambodia, first in 1920 and then in 1953. Many of these were not distributed, and the translations were difficult to understand. The Cambodian government does not allow Bibles to be imported, mainly for economic reasons. However, the government does allow the use of the printing press. Comer says that a terrible event in Cambodia’s history led to the resurgence of Christianity in the country.

Under the leadership of Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge took control of the country in 1975 in a bloody revolution that resulted in the deaths of more than 3,000,000 Cambodians. The Communistic Khmer Rouge did not allow religious freedom. The revolution, and its ghastly death toll, continues to haunt the country. From this, Comer said, Christianity got a second chance.

“They are getting saved through a spiritual hunger,” he said. “The country was so desolate and desperate that a spiritual hunger rose up.”

But the Khmer Rouge passed, and though a prime minister now rules the country, which now includes more than 500,000 Christians in the population, only 10 percent of the citizens own a Bible.

American missionary Steve Hyde is responsible for starting dozens of churches in Cambodia, and the people consider him one of their own. Hyde has a network of churches and pastors, and he plans to help distribute the Bibles printed on the new press.

The Comers said they witnessed the power of the gospel in northern Iraq in 2005. The couple met a man named Saman, a former terrorist who converted to Christianity after finding a small booklet, “The Book of Luke,” in the clothing of a man he had shot.

Christianity,
Comer said he remembered Saman asking, “How could anyone say to love your enemies? Only God could say to love your enemies.”

The Comers believe the story of Saman shows the transformative power of Christian Scripture.

The couple currently reside in Waco as the directors of the local Samaritan Foundation. Their current project is a series of books called “The Life of Jesus,” a compilation of the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in chronological order, to allow people to read Jesus’ story in a clear format.

So far, the “Life of Jesus” books have been translated into Arabic, Spanish and Hindi. Their mission is to spread the gospel by handing them out to indigenous people who may not have access to the Bible in their native language.

To find out more about the Samaritan Foundation, visit the website.
. Read more!

New Zealand to fund landmine clearance in Cambodia

New Zealand Campaign Against Landmines

For immediate release

New Zealand to fund landmine clearance in Cambodia

Annual Mine Ban Treaty meeting underway in Phnom Penh

(Phnom Penh: 2 December 2011) The New Zealand Campaign Against Landmines (CALM) welcomes the New Zealand government’s decision to provide US $1.05 million (NZD $1.3 million) to clear landmines in north-west Cambodia. New Zealand announced the funding contribution today in Phnom Penh during an annual meeting of state parties to the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty.

“This is a significant and most welcome contribution of funds that will save lives,” said Mary Wareham, CALM Coordinator, who is attending the Phnom Penh meeting. “It sends a strong message that New Zealand is committed to matching its political support for the eradication of this weapon with practical financing.”

The head of the disarmament division of New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Dr. Joan Mosley, announced the contribution during the Eleventh Meeting of States Parties of the Mine Ban Treaty, a major diplomatic meeting that is being held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia from 27 November until 2 December. New Zealand’s demining contribution is part of a larger contribution of US $2.5 million (NZ $3.27 million) for a three-year agricultural development project in heavily mine-affected Odtar Meanchey province. The mine clearance funded by New Zealand will be conducted by the Halo Trust, a British demining organization.
Cambodia is one of the most mine-affected countries in the world. According to Landmine Monitor, there are approximately 44,000 survivors of landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) in the country. An extensive mine action program established in 1992 has resulted in a dramatic decline in the number of new mine victims, but lives continue to be lost. There were at least 286 Cambodian mine, ERW, and cluster munition remnants casualties in 2010.

Representatives from approximately 100 countries, including New Zealand, are attending the Mine Ban Treaty’s Eleventh Meeting of States Parties in Phnom Penh. A total of 158 countries have joined the Treaty, most recently South Sudan on 11 November 2011. The Mine Ban Treaty comprehensively prohibits antipersonnel mines and requires their clearance and assistance to victims. The meeting is reviewing a range of treaty compliance issues, including the threat posed to the emerging norm by new landmine use in countries including Israel, Libya, and Myanmar (Burma).

CALM is providing a donation of US $1,200 to Jesuit Service Cambodia that will be used for the construction of accessible housing for landmine survivors and mobility devices such as wheelchairs. The donation includes funds raised by an online Trade Me auction of bags made from local materials by women landmine survivors in Kandal Province, Cambodia.

In October 2011, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon. McCully, confirmed that New Zealand is providing a total of $2.8 million for mine clearance project in the West Bank (Occupied Palestinian Terriorities). McCully also confirmed that a long-standing contribution of New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) military personnel serving in the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) in New York was terminated in 2011.

CALM is a long-standing member of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), 1997 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, and is a sister campaign to the Aotearoa New Zealand Cluster Munition Coalition (ANZCMC). Both CALM and the ANZCMC are governed jointly by a working group comprised of the following groups: Amnesty International Aotearoa NZ, Caritas Aotearoa NZ, Christian World Service, Engineers for Social Responsibility NZ, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War NZ, National Council of Women NZ, National Consultative Committee on Disarmament, Oxfam NZ, Peace Movement Aotearoa, Soroptimist International NZ, United Nations Association NZ, United Nations Youth Association NZ, UNICEF NZ, and Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, Aotearoa.
For more information, see:
• CALM website – http://nz.mg261.mail.yahoo.com/neo/http:/www.calm.org.nz
• Landmine Monitor 2011 Cambodia - http://nz.mg261.mail.yahoo.com/neo/http:/bit.ly/ralBLU
• 11MSP website - http://nz.mg261.mail.yahoo.com/neo/http:/bit.ly/spxxO8 Read more!

Cambodia's prisons have garment production all locked up

Cambodia's Senate has approved a new prison law that will legalise prison labour and looks likely to encourage more garment factories to be set up inside the country's notoriously corrupt prisons.

The Cambodian Government insists it will enforce a ban on prisoners making goods for commercial use, but rights group doubt that will happen. The news comes as Radio Australia has obtained photographs showing female inmates producing clothing branded with major US labels in prison, despite the American company - Kohl's Department Store - having specific policies outlawing prison labor.

Presenter: Liam Cochrane
Speakers: Phay Siphan, spokesman Cambodian Council of Ministers; Phil Robertson, deputy director of Asia for Human Rights Watch; Vicki Shamion, Senior Vice President for Public and Community Relations at Kohl's Department Stores
Read more!

Cambodia, U.S. boost military ties with joint exercise

PHNOM PENH, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's military police and the United States marines on Wednesday began a humanitarian assistance and disaster relief exercise here, aimed at strengthening the two countries' military ties.

Speaking at the opening of the exercise, Jeff Daigle, Charg d 'Affaires of the U.S. Embassy to Cambodia, said some 23 U.S. marines from the III Marine Expeditionary Force have joined the exercise.

"It focuses on sharing humanitarian assistance and disaster relief response techniques to enhance professional relationships and coordination between Cambodia and U.S.," he said.

"This partnership is a tribute to our combined commitment to strengthen the relationship between the U.S. Marines and the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, and provides another opportunity for the U. S. government to assist with enhancing the overall capacity of Cambodian Armed Forces," he added.

Brigadier General That Chantha, deputy chief of Cambodia's Military Police's planning department, said the exercise would help build capacity for Cambodian military police to provide relief and assistance to victims in the event of natural disasters and crises.

"The exercise is also to create closer cooperation between Cambodian armed forces and their U.S. counterparts," he said at the opening ceremony. Read more!

2nd Chinese bank officially launches operations in Cambodia

PHNOM PENH,Cambodia- China's Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), on Wednesday officially opened its branch in Phnom Penh, aimed at cementing Sino-Cambodia economic and trade cooperation.

The ICBC Phnom Penh Branch is the second Chinese bank operating in Cambodia after the first one--Bank of China-- launched here in May. The bank is the kingdom's 30th commercial banks.

Speaking at the launching, the ICBC Board Chairman Jiang Jianqing said the establishment of the branch in Cambodia was not only an embodiment of ICBC's confidence in the future economic development of Cambodia, but also showed the bank's commitment to bridge Sino-Cambodia economic and trade cooperation.

"China and Cambodia have long benefited from a friendly, sincere, trustworthy and win-win partnership," he said. "The closer economic and trade cooperation between the two countries has provided wide space for ICBC's development in Cambodia."

He said the bank will reinforce its cooperation with Chinese enterprises in Cambodia and support the infrastructure development in fields like communication, transportation and electricity.

It will also extend its financial service to traditionally advantageous local industries such as grain and tourism and provide quality and convenient comprehensive financial service to indigenous enterprises and individual customers, he said.

At the meantime, Cambodia's Deputy Prime Minister Keat Chhon, minister of economy and finance, said the presence of the bank would build more public confidence in Cambodia's banking industry.

"It's great honor for Cambodia that the World No 1 class bank launches here," he said at the bank's launching.

He asked the bank to focus its loans on agricultural sector, especially rice sector, in order to help the government of Cambodia to achieve the target of exporting 1 million tons of milled rice in 2015.

Chea Chanto, governor of the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC), said the bank's presence would help attract more Chinese investors to Cambodia.

"The bank is vital to contribute to the development of Cambodia's economy," he said. "I believe that the bank would bring new technology and innovative banking products to develop Cambodian banking industry."

By the end of September this year, the customers' deposits in the banking sector grew by 17 percent to $4.72 billion, while the customer credits increased by 23 percent to $4.04 billion, according to the NBC's reports.

So far, some 1.43 million people have their money deposited at Cambodia's banks, while about 1.3 million people have borrowed money from the banks, Chea Chanto added.

During the launch, Pan Guangxue, the Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia, also expressed congratulation to the ICBC for opening the first branch in Cambodia.

"The bank will contribute to the development of economic and trade ties between China and Cambodia," he said.

He added that the bilateral trade volume between China and Cambodia had reached $1.6 billion in the first nine months of this year, an increase of 57.5 percent.

On the investment side, from 1994 to September this year, there have been nearly 400 Chinese investment projects in Cambodia with the accumulative investment of nearly $9 billion, making China the largest investor in Cambodia.

ICBC is the largest bank of China's big four state-owned commercial banks. It is ranked top among all listed banks in the world in terms of its market value, profitability, customers' deposit and brand value, according to the bank's press release.

By the end of this September, it has established 234 institutions in 31 foreign countries and regions, forming a global service platform covering the major international financial centers and China's economic and trade partners. Read more!

Cambodia starts large-scale road construction after flood devastation

PHNOM PENH (Xinhua) -- Cambodia on Thursday simultaneously began to construct 19 new rural roads with a total length of 505 kilometers in seven provinces after they were damaged by the recent floods.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the construction project in Pursat province in western Cambodia, Prime Minister Hun Sen said that the floods were over and now it was the time for post-flood rehabilitation.

The construction will take four years to complete by turning those damaged gravel roads to tar-paved ones, he said, adding that the estimated 68.5-million-U.S.-dollar cost would be financed by the Asian Development Bank, South Korea and Nordic Development Foundation.

The seven flood-ravaged provinces are Pursat, Kampong Cham, Kampong Speu, Kampong Chhnang, Battambang, Siem Reap and Kampong Thom.

Cambodia had suffered the worst flooding in more than a decade in recent months. At least 250 people were killed, according to the reports of the National Committee for Disaster Management.

The floods have also affected 1,970 kilometers of roads and about 660 kilometers of roads have been damaged. Read more!

Some 2,500 Cambodians die of HIV/AIDS in 2011: official

PHNOM PENH(Xinhua) – Cambodia's Vice-Chair of National AIDS Authority Tia Phalla said Tuesday that it's estimated that some 2,500 HIV/AIDS patients died this year and the deaths would decline to about 2,300 in 2012.

"Cambodia has seen success in fighting HIV/AIDS -- the prevalence rate among adults aged 15 to 49 has dropped to 0.8 percent in 2010 from 2.5 percent in 1998," he said on Tuesday at a press meeting and photo exhibition to commemorate the World AIDS Day. "However, the deaths, new infections and discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS still persist in this country. "

He said that the number of new infections exceeds 1,000 a year.

In Cambodia, the first HIV infection was detected and diagnosed in 1991 and the first AIDS case was found in 1993.

Tia Phalla said that it is difficult to verify the number of Cambodian people who have died from the disease since then as some AIDS infected people had been killed by opportunity diseases such as hepatitis or tuberculosis.

Meanwhile, he said that the country has seen good results in promoting the use of condoms.

According to a recent annual research survey, he said, condom use of male clients of the entertainment industry and with sweethearts has been steadily increasing.

The survey showed that the condom use among commercial partners increased from 85 percent in 2008 to 96 percent in 2011 thanks to sustained investment and targeted outreach to this important target group.

On the other hand, condom use among sweethearts has increased from 58 percent in 2008 to 60 percent this year, he said.

Currently, the country has an estimated 67,000 people living with HIV/AIDS. Some 6,000 of them are children, according to the National AIDS Authority.

The country needs about 58 million U.S. dollars a year to fight against HIV/AIDS, said Tia Phalla, adding that the current challenge for the country is fund shortage due to the recent announcement of the cancellation of the next round of funding from the Global Fund to Cambodia. Read more!