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.
Read more!

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.

Read more!

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.
Read more!

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.

Read more!

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.
Read more!

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.
Read more!

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.
Read more!

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.
Read more!

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.
Read more!

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.”

Read more!

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.

Read more!

US: drug problems in Cambodia, Philippines

By FOSTER KLUG

WASHINGTON - The United States on Friday praised Beijing for its efforts to fight drug smugglers but said China remains a major transit point for international drug markets.

The State Department, in its annual survey of global counter-narcotics efforts, also described substantial drug problems facing Asia, including in Cambodia, the Philippines and Myanmar; progress was seen in Laos and Vietnam.

While Beijing recognizes drugs as a major threat to its security and economy, "corruption in far-flung drug-producing and drug transit regions of China limits what dedicated enforcement officials can accomplish," the report said.

North Korean drug activity, the report said, "appears to be down sharply. There have been no instances of drug trafficking suggestive of state-directed trafficking for six years."

But, the State Department said, not enough evidence exists to determine if state-sponsored trafficking has stopped. The State Department has previously raised suspicions that Pyongyang derived money from drug production and trafficking.

In the report, the United States also said that drug runners have increasingly looked to move their products through Cambodia because of Thai and Chinese crackdowns.

The report noted "a significant and growing illegal drug problem" in Cambodia. It praised the country for destroying seized drugs and stiffening penalties for drug use and trafficking but said corruption hampers government efforts.

The State Department called the scope of the drug problem in the Philippines "immense," despite law enforcement efforts to disrupt major drug organizations. Still, the report said, the government had some success enforcing counter-narcotics laws.

Laos has made "tremendous progress" in reducing opium cultivation, but, the report said, the country's momentum is "stalling, and gains remain precarious."

Vietnam was said to have continued making progress in fighting drugs, improving its pursuit of drug runners and its cooperation among state agencies and with the United Nations.

The report said that, in 2007, rising opium values pushed poppy cultivation into new regions of military-run Myanmar. The State Department did not receive 2008 U.N. statistics on Myanmar in time for the annual report.

Read more!

Burma, Cambodia Bar Rights Activists from ASEAN Talks

By VOA News

Burma and Cambodia blocked leading activists from attending talks with Southeast Asian leaders Saturday in Thailand, where the regional bloc is trying to promote human rights as part of its charter.

Leaders from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations - ASEAN - were set to hold rare talks with civil society representatives at their annual summit, taking place in the Thai beach resort of Hua Hin.

But, Burmese Prime Minister Thein Sein and his Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen said they would not take part if activists from their own countries were present.

Debbie Stothard, a coordinator with the Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma, said rights groups had no choice but the withdraw their Burmese and Cambodian representatives.

The barred activists were Khin Omar, a democracy campaigner from Burma, and Pen Somony, a volunteer coordinator from Cambodia.

Human rights have been a recurring issue for ASEAN, which has a charter that prevents interference in its members' affairs.

Soe Aung, with the Burmese rights group, told reporters that ASEAN needs to change its policy of non-interference or no change will ever come to Burma.

ASEAN comprises Thailand, Cambodia, Burma, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Laos, Brunei and the Philippines.
Read more!

Cambodian opposition leader loses immunity

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - A Cambodian parliamentary committee has suspended the immunity of opposition leader Sam Rainsy, a move he condemned on Friday as unconstitutional and intended to silence criticism of Prime Minister Hun Sen.

The French-educated former finance minister, who leads a party named after himself, was stripped of his immunity for refusing to pay a $2,500 fine for defaming Hun Sen's ruling Cambodian People's Party during last year's election.

Rather than paying the fine to what he says is a systemically corrupt government, he had offered to give the same amount to a hospital.

Under Cambodia's constitution, only the full National Assembly, not its Permanent Committee, can strip a sitting Member of Parliament of immunity from prosecution.

"They are definitely taking a short-cut. They definitely violated the constitution, which means that they want to silence me," Sam Rainsy told Reuters.

When stripped of his immunity in the past, he has often fled Cambodia shortly afterwards, normally to France.

A former Khmer Rouge soldier who has been in charge for the last 23 years, Hun Sen won a landslide in July's election but remains vulnerable in Phnom Penh to Sam Rainsy, who commands support from the capital's increasingly educated youth.

Read more!

Thai, Cambodian PMs meet as border tension eases

HUA HIN, Thailand, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva met his Cambodian counterpart on Friday as tension along their disputed border has eased, vowing to start energy cooperation in the overlapping Gulf of Thailand.

Abhisit said both countries had agreed to set up panels of technical experts to work on demarcation of the gas-rich area.

"Our understanding has been improved a lot recently and we are looking into possibilities to start our energy cooperation," Abhisit told reporters.

Cambodia's exploration area covers 37,000 square km (14,300 sq miles), while another 27,000 square km are disputed with Thailand.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said this month his government was preparing a framework to manage its energy revenues when offshore oil fields start producing from 2010.

In November last year, U.S. major Chevron Corp (CVX.N) and operator of Block A in the Gulf of Thailand, said Cambodia's first oil was unlikely to be onstream before 2010 at the earliest.

Chevron operates the block with a 55 percent interest, while Mitsui Oil Exploration, a unit of Mitsui & Co (8031.T), holds a 30 percent stake and South Korea's GS Caltex a 15 percent stake. Abhisit said he would expand cooperation with Cambodia to trade and tourism, aiming for a one-visa-two-country project for tourists who want to visit both countries at once.

Phnom Penh and Bangkok agreed earlier this month to withdraw the remaining troops on their disputed border to avoid a repeat of last year's armed clashes near a 900-year-old Hindu temple.

Hun Sen told reporters this month both countries would jointly demarcate the jungle-clad area where four soldiers died in a firefight last October.

The Preah Vihear temple, or Khao Phra Viharn as it is known in Thailand, sits on an escarpment that forms the natural border between the two countries and has been a source of tension for generations.

The International Court of Justice awarded it to Cambodia in 1962, but the ruling did not determine the ownership of 1.8 square miles (4.6 sq km) of adjoining scrubland, leaving considerable scope for disagreement. (Reporting by Nopporn Wong-Anan; Editing by Valerie Lee) Read more!

US: drug problems in Cambodia, Philippines

By FOSTER KLUG

WASHINGTON - The United States on Friday praised Beijing for its efforts to fight drug smugglers but said China remains a major transit point for international drug markets.

The State Department, in its annual survey of global counter-narcotics efforts, also described substantial drug problems facing Asia, including in Cambodia, the Philippines and Myanmar; progress was seen in Laos and Vietnam.

While Beijing recognizes drugs as a major threat to its security and economy, "corruption in far-flung drug-producing and drug transit regions of China limits what dedicated enforcement officials can accomplish," the report said.

North Korean drug activity, the report said, "appears to be down sharply. There have been no instances of drug trafficking suggestive of state-directed trafficking for six years."

But, the State Department said, not enough evidence exists to determine if state-sponsored trafficking has stopped. The State Department has previously raised suspicions that Pyongyang derived money from drug production and trafficking.

In the report, the United States also said that drug runners have increasingly looked to move their products through Cambodia because of Thai and Chinese crackdowns.

The report noted "a significant and growing illegal drug problem" in Cambodia. It praised the country for destroying seized drugs and stiffening penalties for drug use and trafficking but said corruption hampers government efforts.

The State Department called the scope of the drug problem in the Philippines "immense," despite law enforcement efforts to disrupt major drug organizations. Still, the report said, the government had some success enforcing counter-narcotics laws.

Laos has made "tremendous progress" in reducing opium cultivation, but, the report said, the country's momentum is "stalling, and gains remain precarious."

Vietnam was said to have continued making progress in fighting drugs, improving its pursuit of drug runners and its cooperation among state agencies and with the United Nations.

The report said that, in 2007, rising opium values pushed poppy cultivation into new regions of military-run Myanmar. The State Department did not receive 2008 U.N. statistics on Myanmar in time for the annual report.

Read more!

ASEAN leaders challenged on rights, economy

by Thanaporn Promyamyai, Agence France-Presse


HUA HIN, Thailand - Southeast Asian leaders Thursday faced renewed pressure to deal with rights abuses in Myanmar on the eve of an annual summit likely to be dominated by the global economic crunch.

International rights watchdogs and the United States both urged Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders gathering here this weekend to push for reform in the military-ruled nation, the 10-member group's black sheep.

Tight security was in place in the Thai beach resort of Hua Hin, amid fears anti-government protesters who have besieged the premier's office in Bangkok could turn their attentions to the three-day summit starting Friday.

ASEAN ministers are expected to discuss the formation of a regional human rights body on Friday, a day before heads of state formally meet, but Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch expressed concerns.

"To be worthy of its name, the body must be empowered to effectively address human rights in Myanmar," Donna Guest, London-based Amnesty's Asia-Pacific deputy director, said in a statement.

Myanmar, ruled by the military since 1962, is a member of ASEAN but has long been a thorn in its side, with Western nations urging the regional bloc to push the junta towards political reform.

The rights groups said the summit must in particular address the rights of refugees and migrants, in particular Myanmar's Rohingya boat people, whom the military of fellow ASEAN member Thailand is also accused of abusing.

They also highlighted recent harsh prison terms handed down to pro-democracy activists.

Separately the US ambassador to ASEAN, Scot Marciel, called on the region to push Myanmar's rulers for "political progress" using their contacts and access to the country.

ASEAN has not put the issue of the Rohingyas on its agenda for the rigidly organised summit, but Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said it might be discussed at an informal dinner with his colleagues late Wednesday.

Kasit defended the planned rights body, saying: "We are an ASEAN family... we can talk to one another without making demands or questioning."

But the focus of the summit is expected to be ASEAN's efforts to help its export-driven economies escape the ravages of the global financial crisis, with several member nations either already in recession or on the brink.

Leaders are to sign a declaration on a roadmap for forming a European Union-style community by 2015 and to formally initial a free-trade pact with Australia and New Zealand.

They will also discuss a 120-billion-dollar emergency fund agreed on by Asian finance ministers on Sunday -- but analysts warn that the region is largely at the mercy of what happens elsewhere.

Several ASEAN nations are also distracted by elections or political turmoil, with Thailand facing a recent resurgence of months of unrest that had forced the summit to be delayed from its original date in December.

Key regional partners including China, Japan and India have stayed away from the rescheduled summit.

In Bangkok, supporters of ousted Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra rallied for a third day outside current Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's office to demand new elections.

Thailand's Kasit, who faces calls to quit over his involvement in a protest movement that shuttered Bangkok's airports last year, defended his record and said he did not think his attendance at the summit would be a distraction.

"I am such a nice person and serving society to the best of my ability," Kasit said.

Officials said there was no threat to the summit from the latest protests but police said they had deployed more than 5,000 officers, including some with sniffer dogs, to protect the venue.

Thailand currently holds the rotating chair of ASEAN, which includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam.

Read more!

Two UK men found dead in Cambodia

Two British men have been found dead in a Cambodian hotel room after apparently snorting heroin by mistake.

Mark Ganley, 34, and David Hunt, 36, both originally from Southampton, were found in a hotel in the capital city Phnom Penh earlier this week while on holiday, sources said.

The Foreign Office added that consular assistance was given to the families of the men after the deaths were reported.

Cambodian police said businessman Mr Ganley, believed to be living in Vietnam at the time of his death with his partner, and journalist Mr Hunt had bloodied noses.

It is thought they died of overdoses after snorting heroin-based powder but believing it to be cocaine.

The men were found in a shared hotel room with a bag of white powder and some local currency after a maid entered.

Cambodian police are investigating the deaths.

Mr Hunt's sister Kate Sanderson told the Southern Daily Echo: "This was a tragic accident and we are devastated by our loss.

"Both Mark and David were talented individuals and were hugely loved and respected by family and friends alike. They will be sadly missed."

Mr Hunt worked for the Portsmouth based news agency M&Y and its director Pat Symes said: "David worked for us for three years and we were deeply shocked and saddened by the news. He was an outstanding news and sports journalist and is already greatly missed."
Read more!

Detention hearing for Khmer Rouge official delayed

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: Judges at Cambodia's genocide tribunal say they have delayed a hearing on whether to release the Khmer Rouge's former foreign minister from pretrial detention, citing his poor health.

Head judge Prak Kimsan said Thursday the hearing was postponed until April 2 following an appeal by Ieng Sary's attorneys on health grounds. Ieng Sary did not appear in court.

It is the second time that Ieng Sary, 83, has filed a petition for release since his arrest in 2007 on charges of crimes against humanity.

He was hospitalized Monday with a urinary infection and returned to his cell Wednesday.

The U.N.-assisted tribunal has charged five people in connection with the estimated 1.7 million deaths during the Khmer Rouge's 1975-79 rule. Read more!