By GRANT PECK (AP)
BANGKOK — Cambodia on Tuesday strongly denied allegations in Thailand that members of the anti-government Red Shirt movement were trained in Cambodian territory to assassinate top Thai leaders, including the prime minister.
A senior Thai security official alleged Monday that 11 men who were arrested last week in the northern Thai province of Chiang Mai were among 39 given ideological and combat training in a "neighboring country."
Lt. Col. Payao Thongsen, a senior investigator for the Department of Special Investigation, did not name the country when he made the allegation at a news conference. But he described the routes the men allegedly took to their training ground, which led to Cambodian border crossings.
Cambodia denied the accusation.
"Why would we need to do this? Cambodia would receive absolutely no benefit from training these people," government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said Tuesday. "Cambodia strongly rejects these allegations."
Cambodia's relations with Thailand have been contentious for years, with the focus mostly on a border dispute.
The Thai allegations also raise the stakes domestically in an increasingly convoluted political battle that began in 2006, when elected Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was ousted by a military coup for alleged corruption and disrespect toward Thailand's revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
The coup, which was touted as a way to restore stability after months of anti-Thaksin demonstrations that had all but paralyzed his administration, instead polarized the country, with Thaksin's opponents and supporters both protesting in the streets ever since.
The Red Shirts include many Thaksin supporters as well as activists opposed to military interference in politics.
Two months of protests earlier this year by the Red Shirts — formally called the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship, or UDD — demanding early elections degenerated into violence. About 90 people were killed in clashes before the army cleared the streets of demonstrators on May 19. Most top Red Shirt leaders have been detained on terrorism charges.
Dozens of bombings widely thought to be linked to the political strife have also plagued Bangkok this year.
Payao said the 39 alleged trainees were part of a conspiracy to topple Thailand's monarchy, an allegation that his agency — the equivalent of the FBI in the United States — has made in the past against Red Shirts and their sympathizers.
"During the training, they were taught by the Thai UDD members who were in the neighboring country about political beliefs and more importantly about hatred toward the institution," he said in an interview with the government-owned MCOT television network.
"The institution" is a common euphemism for the monarchy, which until recent years has been held in almost universal high regard. However, some Red Shirts and social critics perceive that some palace circles were involved in the coup.
A report on MCOT's Web site said that Payao asserted that the alleged terrorists' three weeks of training "was held in a Cambodian army camp and they were trained by Cambodian soldiers." The website of several Thai newspapers cited him making the same assertion.
Payao said the men were "trained to know almost every kind of weapon," including assault rifles and grenade launchers, and were also shown the use of C4 plastic explosive.
He did not explain why Cambodia would be involved in such a conspiracy.
The two nations have had small, sometimes deadly, skirmishes over the demarcation of their border near the 11th century Preah Vihear temple. Relations worsened last year, with both countries withdrawing ambassadors, after Cambodian leader Hun Sen made Thaksin an official adviser and hosted him like a VIP. Thaksin recently resigned that position, and both countries restored their ambassadors.
MCOT reported that Payao said the alleged assassination targets included Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, recently resigned Deputy Prime Minster Suthep Thaugsuban, influential politician Newin Chidchob and a senior police officer.
Payao displayed what he said was evidence of the plot, including maps and photos. None of the 11 men arrested in Chiang Mai have been produced for the press to give their side of the story.
MCOT reported that Jatuporn Prompan, a Red Shirt leader and member of Parliament, denied that his movement was part of any assassination plot.
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Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Cambodia denies Thai assassination plot allegation
Ties with Cambodia strained over reds
By The Nation
P Penh denies Bangkok claim red warriors got weapons training in Siem Reap; NSC backs up DSI findings
Thailand and Cambodia have found their newly restored relations at another highly delicate juncture after a Thai police investigation revealed militant red shirts were allegedly trained in Siem Reap.
The Cambodian government yesterday denied that red militants had been trained on its soil to carry out acts of terror in Thailand, while in Bangkok the government tried to cushion the impact on bilateral ties by saying Phnom Penh leaders had no policy of supporting such alleged training.
The bombshell allegations were made by the Department of Special Investigation on Monday and backed up by the National Security Council (NSC) yesterday
Cambodian Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said his country would receive no benefit from either sheltering or training red militants, while the spokesman's office for the Cambodian government said the report was a fabrication, and that giving weapons training to foreigners was against its constitution.
A statement released yesterday by the spokesman's office claimed the allegation was a Thai government plan to undermine the red-shirt movement for political gain. "It's a nonsense that Cambodia would want to have problems with anyone for no reason," the statement said.
The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) cited interviews with 11 men accused of seeking weapons training, who were arrested recently at a Chiang Mai resort. And it released details of similar weapons training for another 24 men in Cambodia.
DSI director-general Tharit Phengdit said yesterday details about Cambodia's training of some 39 red militants needed further verification.
Media reports cited different numbers of red militants becoming active after completion of weapons courses they attended, either in Thailand or elsewhere. The total number mentioned is 64 overall, with four allegedly assigned as bodyguards for wanted militant Arisman Pongruengrong.
Details from interviews with the 11 men, who have sought protection with the DSI and given much more information, will forwarded to the government's Centre for Resolution for the Emergency Situation (CRES). It will then decide how to deal with the issue, with advice from the Foreign Ministry.
Spokesman Panitan Wattanaya-gorn said Cambodia's denial about weapons training was being verified, but the issue would be discussed between Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and his counterpart Hun Sen at the 17th Asean meeting in Vietnam on October 28-30. He said Hun Sen had pledged to look into the matter to determine "how credible it could have been" after he met with Abhisit at the Asia Europe Meeting in Brussels on October 4 and 5.
Panitan said the Brussels meeting had a good atmosphere and both leaders made an unofficial pledge to exchange intelligence tip-offs about criminals from one country fleeing to the other.
He said the weapons training courses included bomb-making, demolition, use of firearms and grenade launchers, and given only to successful candidates.
The CRES was keeping a close watch on hard-core red-shirt groups. "Security officials will keep pressuring them to prevent them from being fully active," he added.
NSC secretary-general Thawit Pliansri had confirmed the DSI's
intelligence report about the red
militants receiving weapons training in Cambodia.
Justice Minister Pirapan Sali-rathavibhaga said more details were being gathered to verify that Arisman had been linked to the weapons training before Thailand decides whether to ask Cambodia to extradite him to face indictments here.
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Residents Claim Flooding From Developer's Lake Fill
Cambodian amputee beggar is given money by a passerby while wading in flooded street in Phnom penh
Most have now temporarily evacuated their flooded homes.
More than 50 people gathered in front of City Hall Tuesday to protest against the development, which has met with continued criticism.
The protesters delivered a complaint to city officials claiming their homes were filled with up to a half a meter of water after heavy rains. Some staid behind to yell their dismay, saying the development of areas of Phnom Penh were not good for its people.
Residents said Tuesday such flooding did not happen before Shukaku, Inc., began filling the lake as a development site.
Officials for Shukaku, which began filling the lake for a $79 million development in 2008, were not available for comment. The company is at odds with thousands of residents who say they have been offered a buy-out that is too small.
Phnom Penh Deputy Governor Pa Socheatevong said Tuesday the flooding was not caused by the pumping. Many areas of the capital had flooded as a result of heavy rains and a lack of drainage citywide, he said.
“Last night, I didn't sleep well, because of flooding in my house,” Laom Eang, a 38-year-old noodle vendor at Village 24 in the Srah Chok commune of Daun Penh district, said. She sat at her home, where she cooks for customers, and where floodwater 30 centimeters deep covered the floor. “I've never seen flooding like this after heavy rains,” she said, blaming the fill development, which seeks to cover about 120 hectares of lake.
Nearby, Kong Sokha, 44, who rents out a mobile gas stove from house to house, said he could no longer live in the area.
“I'm afraid the flood level will become higher and higher,” he said. “I've rented this house for nearly two months, but I've never seen it flood like this. The flood pollution has given me a little headache. My wife and I have decided to move to another place where there is no flood, to avoid danger.”
Indochine Mining to raise millions
Gold and copper miner Indochine Mining Ltd, which is exploring concessions in two Cambodian provinces, said it expects to raise as much as AU$25 million (US$24.5 million) in an initial public offering after receiving commitments from investors worldwide.
Indochine’s Phnom Penh-based operations manager and board member Ross Hill said that many institutional investors were seeking exposure to Cambodia’s gold and copper resources, with investors confirmed from the United Kingdom, Switzerland, the United States, Papua New Guinea, China, Malaysia and Australia.
“Already attracted at an early stage and continuing to support the company are some of the world’s most prestigious and professional investment houses,” he told the Post via email.
“For example, the company’s largest single investor Jabre Capital Partners is one of Europe’s biggest and the best performing fund in 2009.”
Priced at AU$0.20 per share, Indochine aimed to raise $12 million with provision to float another $13 million worth of shares, depending on demand.
With tenements of 2,900 square kilometres in Ratanakiri province and 1,400 square kilometres in Kratie province, Indochine claims to have the largest landholding of all miners in the Kingdom....read the full story in tomorrow’s Phnom Penh Post or see the updated story online from 3PM UTC/GMT +7 hours.
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Heavy rain, strong winds force cancellation of all flights in Cambodia
By The Associated Press (CP)
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Cambodia has suspended all flights to its two international airports due to heavy rain and strong winds.
Civil aviation official Him Sarun says the suspension at the airports in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap started at 10 a.m. Monday (0300 GMT) and would remain in effect as long as the weather was bad. He says some 20 flights to and from other countries were cancelled. Domestic flights were also stopped.
Him Sarun said Monday: "We did it for the sake of travellers' safety." He says that pilots could not see the runway.
The Ministry of Water Resource and Meteorology says the poor weather conditions started Sunday and would last until at least Wednesday. All-day rain flooded parts of capital Phnom Penh as deep as 1 metre (3.3 feet).
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Sam Rainsy Holds Congress, Vows Pursuit of Hun Sen
Phnom Penh residents are treated in Kalameth Hospital for wounds after grenade attacked in Capital Phnom Penh on Saturday afternoon July 5 1997. Fighting broke out between troops loyal to the rival prime ministers and shellfire hit downtown areas.
Sam Rainsy, whose party holds 26 of 123 National Assembly seats, said he will seek the arrest of Prime Minister Hun Sen for crimes committed during Cambodia's period of civil war, among others.
“We must file complaints to all the courts for the arrest of Hun Sen,” he told some 350 party supporters at the congress in Montreal.
“No need to wait until 2013,” he added, a reference to the date of the next national election. “The sooner the better. And this time I will not back off, brothers and sisters, because I am determined that this time will not be a protest in exchange for my return to Cambodia. I do not want to go back to Cambodia as long as Hun Sen is still destroying the nation and still serving the Vietnamese.”
Sam Rainsy is facing a total 12 years in jail on charges related to continued allegations, including a map on his party website, that the Vietnamese have encroached on Cambodian land. The issues of border encroachment and the government's relationship with Hanoi remain hot-button items for some Cambodians.
Sam Rainsy said he has filed complaints to the courts of the US, Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands, alleging Hun Sen's collusion in a number of violent incidents in Cambodia's recent history.
Sam Rainsy has charged that Hun Sen was involved in the 1997 grenade attack on an opposition rally; extrajudicial killings in the 1997 coup over coalition partner Funcinpec; the killings of non-violent demonstrators and monks in 1998; and atrocities against civilians along the border during the civil war in the 1980s.
Officials have denied the premier's involvement in the alleged crimes.
The latter policy “caused hundreds of thousands of Cambodians to die,” Sam Rainsy told the party congress. “That's why we've taken action against Hun Sen, to arrest Hun Sen and convict him by law.”
He likened Hun Sen to Manuel Noriaga, a Panamanian dictator, and Charles Taylor, the ex-president of Liberia who is on international trial for alleged war crimes.
“I believe Hun Sen cannot avoid a fate like that of Noriega and Charles Taylor,” he said to applause.
Government spokesman Phay Siphan said Tuesday Sam Rainsy's charges had no legitimacy and that it was “impossible” for Cambodia to have a dictator. Hun Sen was duly elected, he said.
Sam Rainsy, who has already filed a complaint in New York for the 1997 grenade attack, will travel to the European Union, where he hopes to collect signatures from parliamentarians to reactive the Paris Peace Agreement, thereby calling on its signatories to push harder for human rights, an independent court and other democratic institutions.
“All those countries with obligations vowed in the Paris agreement to ensure Cambodia's independent sovereignty,” he said. “Now where is the independence? Sovereignty? And freedom, where is freedom?”
Ruling party lawmaker Cheam Yiep said the Cambodian People's Party “completely” rejects accusations the country has not followed the peace agreement, citing the National Assembly, institutions of law and order, and democracy.
Security guard pleads self-defence in murder case
Phnom Penh Municipal Court has heard the case against a security guard charged with the premeditated murder of a Malaysian businessman and his Cambodian chef in February.
Nop Thearo, 20, was arrested on February 24 after being accused of stabbing Lim Theang An – the 71-year-old director of the Karasans company, a Malaysia-based engineering firm – to death the previous night at his house in Chamkarmon district’s Boeung Keng Kang I commune.
He is also accused of murdering Cambodian Hem Mali, 51, who was working that night as a chef for Lim Theang An.
According to a police report the accused allegedly stabbed the pair while working the evening shift at the Chamkarmon house. He later allegedly moved the bodies to the trunk of the victim’s car with the intention of abandoning the vehicle.
However, the report said he then changed his mind and dragged the bodies back to the entrance of the house, then brought a safe from downstairs in an attempt to fool police into thinking their deaths were the result of a robbery. The accused then waited for police to arrive.
Nop Thearo denied the charges against him during the court hearing, insisting he had been acting in self-defence.
“I heard loud sounds during the night, and I went to investigate and accidentally touched the front door,” he said. “The old woman then began to shout ‘thief’, but I tried to tell her, ‘It is me, Thearo’.”
He told the court the pair kept screaming, prompting him to try to cover Lim Theang An’s mouth.
He said he was then struck by Lim Theang An in the head with a petrol can.
“He grabbed a knife and stabbed me in the stomach, but I fought him and stabbed him with his own knife in the stomach just once,” he said.
“The old woman then came at me with a knife, but I dodged it and she stabbed the man in the stomach a second time.”
He said the woman then grabbed his penis and refused to let go, leading him to stab her. “It really hurt, and I told her to take her hands away but she ignored me,” he said. “I then attacked her with the knife twice.”...read the full story in tomorrow’s Phnom Penh Post or see the updated story online from 3PM UTC/GMT +7 hours.
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Monday, October 11, 2010
Government Issues Heavy Rain Warning
The Ministry of Hydrology on Monday warned that maritime provinces and others are facing the threat of flooding and damages under continued rains.
The warnings come after Preah Sihanouk province experienced heavy rains and as-yet undetermined damages. Two fishing boats and one tourist boat were overturned on Sunday in heavy weather, officials said, though no drownings were reported.
Local authorities are still assessing the damage from Sunday's storm, which may have destroyed some homes.
“There were some victims but the [National Committee For Disaster Management] is working on it,” said Keo Vy, a spokesman for the agency.
The ministry has issued warnings to the inland provinces of Kampong Speu, Pursat, Prey Veng and Svay Rieng, as well as the coastal provinces of Koh Kong, Preah Sihanouk and Kampot, of dangers resulting from flooding and storms over the next three days.
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Club Asks Minister for Help With Jailed Journalist
Information Minister Khieu Kanharith has asked a jailed journalist to write a letter requesting his intervention, following a meeting with a local journalist organization.
The journalist, Ros Sokhet, was sentenced to two years in prison in November 2009, after he sent a series of text messages to a famous news anchor that were deemed threatening.
The news anchor, Soy Sopheap, has said he complained of anonymous texts to the Ministry of Interior, whose police subsequently arrested and charged Ros Sokhet with criminal disinformation.
“If the information minister has the initiative to find the legal possibility of solving the case of Ros Sokhet, I completely support the initiative,” Soy Sopheap said Monday.
Ros Sokhet's Appeals Court hearing is scheduled for Friday, and the Press Council of Cambodia has asked the Information Ministry to aid on Ros Sokhet's behalf.
Following a meeting with the press club on Monday, Khieu Kanharith said he wanted Ros Sokhet to write a letter requesting his help. He would then meet with Ministry of Justice officials, he said.
Press Council President Sok Sovann said Monday the club had asked for help in Ros Sokhet's release because the journalist's mother is aging and ill.
Defense lawyer Som Sokong said he would discuss the possibility of the request with Ros Sokhet, “so that the Appeals Court will make a fair hearing.”
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Thai official: Red Shirts plotted assassinations
By GRANT PECK (AP)
BANGKOK — A senior Thai security official alleged Monday that members of the anti-government Red Shirt movement were trained in Cambodia to assassinate top Thai leaders, including the prime minister.
Eleven men who were arrested last week in the northern Thai province of Chiang Mai were among 39 given ideological and combat training in a "neighboring country," Lt. Col. Payao Thongsen, a senior investigator for the Department of Special Investigation, said at a news conference.
He did not name the country but described the routes the men allegedly took to their training ground, which led to Cambodian border crossings.
Cambodian officials were not immediately available for comment late Monday but have denied previous such allegations published in Thai media. Cambodia's relations with Thailand have been contentious for years, with the focus mostly on a border dispute.
The allegations also raise the stakes in an increasingly convoluted political battle that began in 2006, when elected Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was ousted by a military coup for alleged corruption and disrespect toward Thailand's revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
The coup, supposed to restore stability after months of anti-Thaksin demonstrations that had all but paralyzed his administration, instead polarized the country, with Thaksin's opponents and supporters both protesting in the streets.
The Red Shirts include many Thaksin supporters as well as activists opposed to military interference in politics.
Two months of protests earlier this year by the Red Shirts — formally called the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship, or UDD — demanding early elections degenerated into violence. About 90 people were killed by the time the army cleared the streets of demonstrators on May 19. Most top Red Shirt leaders were detained on terrorism charges.
Dozens of bombings widely thought to be linked to the political strife have also plagued Bangkok this year.
Payao said the 39 alleged trainees were part of a conspiracy to topple Thailand's monarchy, an allegation his agency — the equivalent of the U.S. FBI — has made in the past against Red Shirts and their sympathizers.
"During the training, they were taught by the Thai UDD members who were in the neighboring country about political beliefs and more importantly about hatred toward the institution," he said in an interview with the government-owned MCOT television network.
"The institution" is a common euphemism for the monarchy, which until recent years has been held in almost universal high regard. However, some Red Shirts and social critics perceive that some palace circles were involved in the coup.
A report on MCOT's website said that Payao asserted that the alleged terrorists' three weeks of training "was held in a Cambodian army camp and they were trained by Cambodian soldiers." The website of several Thai newspapers cited him making the same assertion.
Payao said the men were "trained to know almost every kind of weapon," including assault rifles and grenade launchers, and were also shown the use of C4 plastic explosive.
He did not explain why Cambodia would be involved in such a conspiracy.
The two nations have had a series of small but sometimes deadly skirmishes over the demarcation of their border near the 11th century Preah Vihear temple. Relations worsened last year, with both countries withdrawing their ambassadors, after Cambodian leader Hun Sen made Thaksin an official adviser and hosted him like a VIP. Thaksin recently resigned that position, and both countries restored their ambassadors.
MCOT reported that Payao said the alleged assassination targets included Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva; recently resigned Deputy Prime Minster Suthep Thaugsuban; Newin Chidchob, and influential politician who supports Abhisit government; and a senior police officer.
Payao displayed what he said was evidence of the assassination plot, including maps and photos. However, none of the 11 men arrested in Chiang Mai — said by Payao to be the source of information on the plot — have been produced for the press to give their side of the story.
Police have said the 11 are being held as material witnesses with useful information about other suspects. The identities of at least some of the other men allegedly trained in Cambodia are known, and Payao said officials are trying to track them down.
MCOT reported that Jatuporn Prompan, a Red Shirt leader who is a member of Parliament, denied that his movement was part of any assassination plot. The Red Shirts charge that allegations that they are involved in violence are meant to discredit them politically.
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Sunday, October 10, 2010
Program gave focus on developing nations
By Colleen Dane, Shachi Kurl, Sean Mcintyre, Sarah Petrescu, and Rob Shaw, Times Colonist
A Malawi orphan eats a desperately needed meal because of money raised by Vancouver Island volunteers.
A Rwandan woman, raped during the genocide and infected with HIV, finds hope and inspiration to live through her pen-pal friendship with an HIV-positive Victorian.
A Cambodian woman, her leg lost to the landmines of civil war, re-builds her life, employing other amputees in a thriving silk-export business whose biggest buyers are on Vancouver Island.
These are among the most powerful and inspiring stories published in Vancouver Island newspapers and aired on TV newscasts in the past four years. They were only possible because of a fellowship that supports international reporting through the B.C. Jack Webster Foundation.
As the reporters responsible for those stories from Malawi, Cambodia, Vietnam, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, we know full well their unique value and community impact.
You, the readers and viewers, flooded us with emails, letters and phone calls to express your support for our work. You encouraged us to do more. But it is unlikely you'll see such stories again.
Last month, that fellowship, called Seeing the World Through New Eyes, was cancelled because the federal government's Canadian International Development Agency withdrew its funding support.
CIDA's decision has deeply disappointed us as journalists. We believe our readers and viewers will be disappointed as well.
The harsh reality is that it's very rare for journalists working for Island media outlets to dedicate two weeks to international development reporting. In smaller communities, travel expenses usually only extend as far as a late-night town council meeting.
Few employers are willing or able to send journalists to the ends of the Earth -- even if they see the value in bringing to light stories about local-global relationships and connecting readers to long-forgotten places.
Yet even the smallest communities are now linked with countries around the globe.
When people in the Gulf Islands heard a Saltspring Island reporter was off to visit a community project overseas, they launched an island-wide campaign to deliver notebooks, pens and clothing to a classroom full of kids in rural Malawi. Today, the community-to-community relationship fostered by the trip is stronger than ever.
Islanders rallied behind a Victoria African Aids Angels project by starting their own angel-making groups and raising tens of thousands of dollars for Malawi food projects.
Times Colonist readers helped create a blog for Rwandan women and funded a project to build a lavatory in Mozambique. A touching story of a Rwandan woman and her Victoria pen-pal, both dealing with the difficulties of HIV, garnered a Times Colonist reporter more community feedback than on any other article she'd ever written.
In the Comox Valley, readers rallied around one of their local reporters as she examined the role of agriculture, tourism and non-profits in Mozambique and Rwanda. One story focused on a village that shed its desperate poaching past to launch a thriving eco-tourism industry.
Across Vancouver Island, the impact of an
A-News report on Kong Chim's silk factory in Cambodia kept her business going through a global economic downturn. Viewers here valued the fair trade between a struggling nation and a rich one. Thanks to her customer base here, amputees who would have been left to beg in the streets live with dignity and a modest income.
Since 2006, Seeing the World Through New Eyes has helped 25 young journalists produce more than 150 stories from developing countries.
The cost for CIDA was negligible -- $35,000 to $40,000 a year from a
$3.25-billion budget. When we asked CIDA why it had pulled support, the agency said it had reorganized its spending priorities to "discontinue programs that were a duplication of other activities, or that did not achieve strong results and value for money."
Some have questioned why the federal government has any role in helping pay for media to travel abroad.
But the feedback to our Island stories proves CIDA's money wasn't being spent on mere junkets; the fellowship gave small-town stories a global perspective and provided readers access to more informed and broader-minded journalism.
Nor was the source of the funding a guarantee of positive coverage for federal projects.
Many of our stories highlighted how Canadian funding didn't always translate into success.
Still, our audiences embraced international issues, started conversations and donated their time and money. They helped CIDA fulfil its stated mandate to "lead Canada's international effort to help people living in poverty."
There are many reporters waiting and willing to tell new stories that will inspire Islanders to redouble their international efforts. But we need the support and assistance of a fellowship like Seeing the World Through New Eyes to make that possible.
CIDA should restore funding to the program. And if it can't, or won't, we know there are other organizations out there who would see the value in stepping up to correct what we believe is a regrettable decision.
Colleen Dane is a former reporter for the Comox Valley Record who wrote stories from Mozambique and Rwanda in 2008. Shachi Kurl is a reporter at A News who shot and produced stories from Cambodia and Vietnam in 2007. Sean McIntyre is a reporter at the Gulf Islands Driftwood who wrote stories from Malawi and Tanzania in 2005. Sarah Petrescu is a reporter at the Times Colonist who wrote stories from Mozambique and Rwanda in 2008. Rob Shaw is a reporter at the Times Colonist who wrote stories from Malawi and Tanzania in 2005.
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Confronting Cambodia's past at the Killing Fields
By Thomas Huang
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia -- I wander the fields, tracing the gentle slopes where the mass graves were. I want to hear the voices of those who died here. I want to hear their stories. That might be a way of honoring them.
Instead, silence enshrouds me. And perhaps that's not a bad thing.Silence allows me to pray.
Silence helps me hold back the tears.
I've come to the Killing Fields to pay respect to the dead. And I've come to remember Dith Pran.
Pran was a wise soul. He persevered through a great horror, but you wouldn't have known it from his quiet demeanor.
I met him through the Asian American Journalists Association about 15 years ago. Every year at our national convention, I taught and mentored college students on a newspaper project. Every year, Pran, a small man who always carried a camera, entered the room and offered words of encouragement.
"Do you know who this man is?" I would ask my students. No, they would say.
And so I would tell them Pran's story. He'd been a photojournalist and translator working with a New York Times reporter in Cambodia in the mid-1970s. He stayed to cover the fall of Phnom Penh to the Khmer Rouge.
He survived four years of hard labor under that regime, pretending to be uneducated and hiding his American ties. Finally, Pran escaped to Thailand. He eventually came to the United States and became a Times photographer.
In a way, I knew Pran even before I met him. His story was the subject of the film "The Killing Fields." I was in college when the movie came out, and when I learned about Pran's courage, something stirred inside me. I began to think about becoming a journalist.
I remove my shoes and walk up the steps to the Buddhist stupa, a towering shrine built two decades ago next to the fields. I pass an altar of figs, flowers and incense sticks. I'm joined by a few other tourists, but no one says a word.
The sign at the entrance says: "Would you please kindly show your respect to many million people who were killed under the genocidal Pol Pot regime."
From 1975 to 1979, Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge leader, was responsible for the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians. In these fields, known as Choeung Ek, the Khmer Rouge executed and disposed of several thousand people.
Many of them had been interrogated, tortured and brought to the fields from Tuol Sleng, known as S-21, an old school that's now a museum a few miles away. Many of them were killed with farm tools -- hoes, knives, shovels and hatchets.
I enter the memorial. Before me, on several levels, lie piles of human skulls. They stare back at me, some discolored, others showing the damage inflicted upon them during the executions.
At first, I am overwhelmed with sorrow and revulsion.But then I ask myself: How else should we remember the genocide and memorialize the dead?
The Cambodians still are struggling with the best way to bring those responsible to justice. (In July, a United Nations tribunal convicted the first Khmer Rouge official of war crimes and sentenced him to 19 years in prison. Four other former leaders await trial.)
But, at least at this memorial, the Cambodians have decided to confront the terrible past and resist erasing history.
Pran died in March 2008 after battling pancreatic cancer. He had worked hard to educate us about the Cambodian genocide. He had worked hard to encourage younger journalists like me.
So, as I leave the memorial, I say a prayer for Dith Pran, hoping he finally has found some measure of peace.
I say another prayer for his country. Despite Cambodia's beauty, I know it's one of the world's poorest countries, devastated by the killings.
As I leave the fields and walk out onto the city street, a girl approaches me. "Papa," she says in rehearsed English. "Give me one dollar, and I go away."
Then a man nudges his 2-year-old daughter, who is completely naked, toward me. She holds up her tiny hands in prayer, beseeching me. I turn away; I fear that if I give her money, more people will approach me.
She is silent, and in that silence, I hold back my tears. It isn't until I write these words a few months later that I begin to weep.
If you go
Getting there: Access Phnom Penh on most major airlines, including Korean Air and Delta Airlines, with a connection through Seoul, South Korea. American Airlines has flights with connections through Los Angeles and Hong Kong.
The killing fields: The Killing Fields site, known as Choeung Ek, is about 10 miles south of Phnom Penh, so you'll need to hire a taxi or motorbike to get you there. To enter the memorial, you're asked to donate $3. With that donation, you can get a guide to show you around, but I didn't find that necessary.
It's a small area and easily walkable. Steel yourself before you view the human skulls in the Buddhist stupa. In addition to the memorial, signs indicate where detention areas were located, and a visitors' center provides historical information about the Khmer Rouge and the Cambodian genocide. cekillingfield.com.
Tuol Sleng, also known as S-21, is the former school where thousands of people were interrogated and tortured. It's now the Museum of Genocide. The most moving, and overwhelming, section contains hundreds of mugshots of the newly arrived. www.tuolsleng.com.
Where to stay, eat: I enjoyed my stay at the colonial-style Raffles Hotel Le Royal (92 Rukhak Vithei Daun Penh; raffles.com). It was built in the late 1920s and has a lot of charm. I also received recommendations for Blue Lime, a more modern hotel with 14 rooms (42 Street 19Z; bluelime.asia).
The Foreign Correspondents Club (363 Sisowath Quay) has become a bit of a tourist draw, a multilevel complex with a cafe, restaurant, bar and shops. I had a decent chicken sandwich for lunch and an Angkor beer while looking out upon the Tonle Sap River, trying to do my best foreign correspondent impression.
Where to shop: Phnom Penh was evacuated during the Khmer Rouge regime and became a ghost town. When people moved back, it became a city of drugs, prostitution and violence. Those problems have largely subsided in recent years -- or at least are less than evident to the tourist. Still, it's odd to think there'd be good shopping here. Street 240 is known for its antique shops and boutiques. I liked Couleurs D'Asia (33 Street 240), which sells beautiful, traditional Khmer cotton scarves.
More to do: The National Museum (just north of the Royal Palace) is a gem. You'll find hundreds of artifacts and statuary from across Cambodia, as well as a courtyard with fountains full of koi. It's a good place to relax after viewing the horrors of the Killing Fields and Tuol Sleng. www.cambodiamuseum.info.
Resources:
Tourist information: gocambodia.com and visit-mekong.com.
Getting an electronic visa to Cambodia is easy and costs $25. Apply online at evisa.mfaic.gov.kh.
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Friday, October 08, 2010
Construction on railway conecting China, Laos to begin in late October
By The Associated Press (CP)
BEIJING, China — A state news agency says construction will start this month on a railway from southern China to Laos, further connecting the country with its Southeast Asian neighbours.
The official Xinhua News Agency reported Friday that the 530-kilometre railway will connect Xishuangbanna city in the southern province of Yunnan to Vientiane, the capital of Laos. Work is expected to begin Oct. 28.
The project is part of the Trans-Asian Railway network, which is expected to pass through 28 countries in Asia, the report said, including Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam.
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Cambodians hold buffalo race to honour the dead
VIHEAR SOUR, Cambodia — Thousands of Cambodians descended on a small village northeast of the capital Friday to cheer on the annual water buffalo race that marks the end of the 15-day festival for the ancestors.
"We hold the race to ask the Neakta Preah Srok (pagoda spirit) to protect us and to keep the people and animals in the village from illnesses," said farmer Sam Sen, who was also a judge in the race.
Around 20 villagers rode their buffaloes up and down a short stretch of road leading to the pagoda, to huge cheers from the crowd.
The buffaloes were adorned with colourful masks, their horns carefully bandaged to keep them from injuring anyone.
"I am happy, it was fun," said 23-year-old contestant Chan Ny after the race, still sitting on his buffalo. "I will be back next year."
The number of buffaloes taking part in the race has steadily declined over the last few years.
Sam Sen said this was because "many big buffaloes have been sold off" by families struggling to make ends meet.
Some of the village's buffaloes had also been struck by disease, organisers said.
Cambodians believe their dead ancestors emerge to walk the earth during the Pchum Ben festival, and they honour and remember them with prayers and food offerings at Buddhist pagodas.
Vihear Sour village, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) northeast of Phnom Penh, began holding the race more than 70 years ago. It is followed by a traditional wrestling match.
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Cambodian efforts to promote silk weavers
Cambodian handmade silk remained the centre of attraction at a conference organized by the National Silk Centre on the outskirts of Siem Reap at Pouk District, with funding from the European Union.
The main aim behind organizing the Silk Day was to foster the quality of handmade silk items, while giving an idea about the industry and the issues confronting it. The occasion also commemorated conclusion of a project for establishment and promotion of silk sector in Siem Reap and Bantey Meanchey districts.
The project that came along with the EU funding was executed by the Khmer Silk Villages and Chantiers-Ecoles de Formation Professionelle.
Experts at the conference informed that, Khmer silk all in all produces 19 different items for exports.
Also that, the US $25 million worth Cambodian silk industry, provided employment to around 20,500 weavers, this year.
Experts even said that, visitors get drawn towards the Cambodian silk items as it is handwoven.
The silk industry in the country is a vital source of employment for women in Cambodia, and even helps to scale down poverty in rural provinces. Customarily, the silk production task is being carried out by women weavers, who constitute 99.54 percent of the workforce.
The country uses around 400 tons of imported industrial white silk yarn, each year to churn out three tons of superior quality handmade golden silk.
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Cambodia: Abysmal Lawlessness, Powerless Citizens
Press Release: Asian Human Rights Commission
A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission
WORLD: Cambodia --Abysmal Lawlessness And The Powerlessness Of The Citizens
(Part One)
The first election in post Pol Pot Cambodia was held in May 1993. The new constitution promised a liberal democracy and a system of governance based on the rule of law. However, the country is still in a state of abysmal lawlessness and ordinary Cambodians are powerless. There are no institutions in the country which can offer them any kind of protection. The Cambodian police is in a rudimentary stage of development, is known to be corrupt and completely under the political control of the regime and those who are rich and powerful. Cambodian courts are also known to be corrupt and are used as instruments of political control by way of jailing opposition politicians; people resisting land grabbing; those who express independent opinions and civil society activists who express solidarity with victims of abuse of power. There are no institutions that people can turn to make any complaints or to turn to any kind of help when faced with injustice. And the injustices that the people face are many.
The major complaint everywhere is that of "Land Grabbing". Having a title to a plot of land is normally the ultimate guarantee of some security in this poor country. However, having a title to land is of little use when the same land can be allotted to some company by a government authority, who does not even inform the original title holder when such allocations are made. It is only when the company begins the operation to redevelop the land that the original owners get to know that the land they rightfully own has been given away.
Naturally they protest and at that stage security forces enter the scene and harassment is the result. As the people literally have nowhere to go, they fight back. Then they are brought to courts on all kinds of charges and many are detained. There are thousands of reports of such happenings from around the country. "In the capital, Phnom Penh, 133,000 people -- more than 10% of its population -- are believed to have been evicted since 1990." (This is according to a report of reliable civil society organization).
The result of such land evictions is that those who are displaced are excluded from any benefits, and lose their source of income, they are exposed to poor health and their young face lack of education. In a country, with so little opportunities, eviction from land implies a transformation which ends in destitution. Hopes for stability and a future ends for many. Naturally the women and young and the elderly suffer the most. Naturally, prostitution and other similar problems are on the increase in today's Cambodia.
"The Cambodian courts continue to act on behalf of rich and powerful interests, ignoring the evidence, the Land Law and other relevant legislation, enforcing eviction where ownership remains undecided and imprisoning those who dare to protest", states a report from well known LICAHDO, a human rights organization. This view is confirmed by many other organizations and almost everyone.
Cambodian courts are not able to protect land titles. Their function is not the protection of the individual but the interests of those who are in power. The idea of the balancing of interests is an alien concept in Cambodia. The role of the authorities is to protect the state, not the people.
ENDS
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Burma, Cambodia & Laos: Juggling trade and diplomacy
Heavy Chinese investment in its southern neighbours has been a boon as well as a diplomatic challenge for Burma, Cambodia, Laos and Viet Nam.
Even as these governments welcome Chinese investments in everything from dams to bauxite mines and rubber plantations, they have also made an effort to roll out the red carpet for other investors.
Laos, for instance, has made a move towards strategic diversification. Earlier this year, it scrapped a plan to let Chinese investors convert farmland and wetlands outside Vientiane into a new city.
The Chinese investors were said to have baulked at the cost of compensation and relocation, but there were other factors at play. Kham Ouane Boupha, the Laotian minister for land management, was quoted as saying the marshland had been designated a protected area.
As senior officials began a two-day meeting yesterday (October 7) in Vientiane to discuss land policies, it was clear that while China was the country's largest foreign investor - having put in US$340 million in the first half of this year alone - other players, such as Viet Nam and Thailand, had entered the field.
Likewise, in Cambodia, a huge investment in water infrastructure has drawn interest not just from China but also from India, Kuwait, Qatar and South Korea.
Governments need to decide whether they want to broker stronger alliances with Japan, Europe and the United States, noted a Laos-based analyst specialising in natural resources who asked not to be named. He pointed out that America's Lower Mekong Initiative - announced last year and aimed at Laos, Cambodia and Viet Nam - was clearly meant to counterbalance China.
Burma balances China's influence against that of India, which also has ventures there. Moreover, Burman nationalism provides a natural damper. Nevertheless, the regime is limited by its fraught relations with many Western powers.
Says historian Thant Myint U: "Western sanctions have been China's best friend. Though intended to promote democratic change, the net effect of the embargoes and boycotts has been far greater Chinese economic domination."
China is the country's largest investor, pumping in US$8 billion this fiscal year, according to official Burma data released in August. Still, Myanmar has no problem welcoming Thai, Japanese, Indian, Malaysian and Korean investment. Since 1988, Thailand has invested US$9.6 billion there.
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Thursday, October 07, 2010
Troubled Water
Southeast ASIA is the battleground for international dispute over a group of islands in the South China Sea
China has aggressively staked its claim over the 3,500,000 square km territory that encompasses a string of more than 200 islands of various sizes, including the Spratly and Paracels, even going as far as planting a flag via submarine on the ocean floor 3,760 metres below sea level.
Control over the islands is an important issue, as almost every Asean country has claimed ownership over one or more island, yet the real motive for Asean is maintaing dominance of the sea over China.
The South China Sea is a vital shipping route for whichever country (or countries) can hold territorial rights over it, in addition to its rich commercial fishing areas and oil and natural gas fields. It also plays an important role for Northeast Asia which relies heavily on the flow of oil and commerce through South China Sea shipping lanes, which includes 80% of the crude oil to Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.
China claims complete sovereignty of up to 80% of the South China Sea, which includes the Spratly and Paracel Islands, intentionally stepping on the toes of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. Yet in July, at a meeting of Asean foreign ministers in Hanoi, United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton boldly stated that the US "supports a collaborative diplomatic process for resolving the various disputes" over the South China Sea, despite Chinese repeated requests not to broach the issue. Clinton also elaborated that the US could offer its services as a mediator and that they oppose "the use or threat of force by any claimant".
Vietnam appeared to embrace the olive branch offered by the US, conscripting them as an unlikely ally against China’s increasingly aggressive role in the South China Sea. The two countries staged a joint military exercise in August, sending an authoritative message to Beijing. Coming 35 years after the end of the Vietnam War, the visit officially marked the 15th anniversary of the normalisation of relations between the two countries.
Not surprisingly, the Chinese media, alarmed at the bold moves made into Southeast Asia by Washington after being warned to stay out of the region, was clearly put on the defensive. The China Daily called the exercise the start of a US effort to create an “Asian NATO” to quash Beijing’s rising influence in the region. The US Navy's plans to step up its maritime presence in the South China Sea for the foreseeable future in order to ensure free navigation through its vital sea lanes, didn’t help calm China's image of the US as a threat – especially since the they plan to include their nuclear-powered aircraft carrier the USS George Washington in future exercises.
However, not all countries in the region are quick to align with the US. Representatives from the Philippines said in early August that Southeast Asian nations did not require US involvement in solving territorial disputes with China over the potentially resource-rich waters.
Alberto Romulo, the foreign secretary of the Philippines, told reporters that negotiations should be strictly between Asean and China, without any foreign interference, especially from the US – which, geographically speaking, is nowhere near the disputed territory. When asked if he supported Clinton’s earlier comments that hinted at increased US involvement in the South China Sea debate, Romulo bluntly replied “No.”
“It’s Asean and China. Can I make myself clear? It’s Asean and China. Is that clear enough?” Romulo asked.
Yet just days later another military PR gesture, dubbed the Philippines-US Mutual Defence Board meeting, took place in Manila, in which Admiral Robert Willard, the head of US Pacific Command, commented on China's "assertive" behaviour in the South China Sea.
"We discussed the assertiveness that we're experiencing by the Chinese in the South China Sea and the concerns that that has generated within the region," he said at a news conference.
"It's very important that the governments in the region invest in sufficient militaries and security apparatus to protect their respective territorial waters.
"This is about preventing conflict, not allowing any of the circumstances in the region to lead up to a shooting war," said Willard.
Though most, if not all, Asean countries don't have the military capabilities to adequately defend their claims of island ownership in the South China Sea. The Philippines' military chief Lt. Gen. Ricardo David said that due to the country's outdated ships and airplanes, their presence and defence capabilities in the disputed area is "almost negligible".
At the Asean Regional Forum in Hanoi in July, Clinton stressed that the US position isn't necessarily to become the judicator of free trade and open navigation of the South China Sea and its mineral resource deposits. Instead, it hopes these goals can be achieved through multilateral discussion between China and Asean. China, however, is vehemently opposed to this approach, preferring to negotiate claims on an individual basis, which would help them gain strategic leverage over the territory by applying specific political pressure to each individual country.
So why is the US so adamant in its efforts to maintain a presence in the region while urging Asean countries to build-up their militaries for future preventative measures?
The reason is that China has been systematically modernising and expanding their military arsenal behind closed doors, in a move that the US sees as intentional intimidation, which then forces them to take premeditative diplomatic action in the region. In a report released by the Pentagon in August titled Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China 2010, the US Department of Defense characterised the military expansion as "extended-range power projection".
The main concerns in the report are that China is developing a large arsenal of medium-range ballistic and cruise missiles, electronic attack warfare, effective long-range air defence systems, computer network attack capabilities, advanced fighter aircrafts, counter-space technology and submarines equipped with advanced weaponry. The People's Liberation Army Navy, which is the largest naval force in Asia, has also been modernising its nuclear force, which now has a range in excess of 11,000km, with most of continental US under potential threat.
One weapon in particular is of great concern to the US Navy due to its devestating capabilities in the South China Sea – the anti-ship ballistic missile, which is also called the "carrier killer" for the damage it can inflict on aircraft carriers in particular.
A successful anti-ship ballistic missile could have a range of 1,500km, is armed with a manoeuverable warhead and when combined with advanced control systems, could be launched from the mainland coast of China, with the disputed islands of the South China Sea well within scope. Admiral Willard stated in an August press conference in Tokyo that the US would not be deterred from deploying vessels in the region because of the missile, but the development of this weapon has become a clear threat that the US doesn't want to take a chance on.
"Many uncertainties remain regarding how China will use its expanding military capabilities," reads the Pentagon report. "The limited transparency in China’s military and security affairs enhances uncertainty and increases the potential for misunderstanding and miscalculation."
One can only hope that a diplomatic, balanced solution can be reached before the potential powder keg of uncertainties is realised.
“[The US-China] relationship has not been without disagreement and difficulty," says US President Obama. "But the notion that we must be adversaries is not pre-destined.”
Fanged Fish Among New Species Found In Greater Mekong
Scientists discovered an average of three new biological species each week in the Greater Mekong region of Asia, including such unique life forms as a fish with vampire-like fangs and a 22-foot tall carnivorous plant, international conservation group WWF announced on Wednesday.
According to WWF officials, a total of 145 new species were found in 2009 in the area near the Mekong River, which includes Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and China's Yunnan Province. Joining the fanged minnow and the massive meat-eating vegetation as the more intriguing discoveries are the only bald songbird in Asia, a sucker-fish that uses its body to stick to rocks in order to move upstream in quickly-moving waters, and a completely new genus of fangless snakes.
"This rate of discovery is simply staggering in modern times," Stuart Chapman, the Conservation Director of WWF Greater Mekong, said in a statement. "Each year, the new species count keeps going up, and with it, so too does the responsibility to ensure this region’s unique biodiversity is conserved… These new species are a timely reminder of the extraordinary biodiversity in the Greater Mekong."
In an interview with AFP, Chapman attributed the rate of discovery "to the enormous geographical and climatic range within the region, going from high altitude to dense tropical forests through to some of the richest freshwater in the world… Undoubtedly this region is one of the richest in terms of its biodiversity, but it's also one of the most threatened."
According to the WWF, the Greater Mekong houses some of the most endangered species of wildlife on Earth, including tigers, the Asian elephant, the Mekong dolphin, and the Mekong giant catfish--one of the largest freshwater fish in the world which the WWF says is threatened by proposed hydropower dams along the river. The conservation group also points to the now-extinct Javan rhino of Vietnam as "one tragic indicator" of the threats facing animal life in the Mekong valley.
"We need to keep one of the treasure troves of the world properly conserved," Chapman told AFP.
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Cambodian information minister to visit Thailand
The Cambodian minister of information will pay a visit to Thailand later this month as part of the plan to boost Thai-Cambodia ties, said an senior official.
Thanom Onketpol, secretary to the Prime Minister's Office minister, said on Wednesday the Cambodian information minister was visit Thailand along with a group of Cambodian reporters during October 18-22.
The visit was a result of an agreement made with Cambodia during Prime Minister's Office Minister Ong-art Klampaiboon's recent visit to the neighboring country, he said.
According to the agreement, the two countries will exchange information and arrange mutual-visit of news reporters, and will carry out a cultural exchange program after the ties between two countries have been approved after the resignation of Thailand's ex-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinnawatra as economic advisor to Cambodian prime minister late August.
Source:Xinhua
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