Cold-blood murder of SRP activist in Kampong Thom by masked gunmen

SRP activist in Kampong Thom murdered

September 05, 2009
By Sok Serey
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Socheata
Click here to read the article in Khmer

One SRP activist from Chomnar Leu commune, Staung district, Kampong Thom province, was murdered by two unknown assailants at 7PM on Friday 04 September 2009, while he was sharing his meal with his family at home.

51-year-old Chan Thorn, a SRP activist in Trea village, Trea commune, Staung district, Kampong Thom district, provided information about this murder. He told RFA on Saturday 05 September that two masked assailants came by motorcycle and stopped near the victim’s house, they then shot and killed the victim: “[The victim] died at home at 7PM, they shot him.”

Sok Serey: What’s the motive [of the murder]?

Chan Thorn: We couldn’t find the motive, we couldn’t find the motive yet, we are doing our research, but we did not find out yet as to why the [victim] who was just eating his dinner and masked men came in by motorcycle to shoot him at 7PM.”

Sok Serey: Did they stop the motorcycle or did they shoot from their motorcycle?

Chan Thorn: They stopped [their motorcycle], they walked over to shoot and they took off on their motorcycle.

Loy Lem, the No. 1 Chomnar Leu commune councilor, said that the victim who was killed was Touch Hot, he was the SRP party president in Ko village, Chomnar Leu commune, Staung district, Kampong Thom province. He added that this murder seems linked to the accusation leveled against Touch Hot that he knew witchcraft.

A source indicated that Touch Hot’s remain was cremated by his family already. This recent murder coincides with the Kan Benn religious ceremony which is currently being observed in the entire country.

On Saturday 05 September, the local authority could not be reached to ask for clarification in the investigation into this murder.

However, General Khieu Sopheak, spokesman of the Ministry of Interior, said that an investigation must be conducted. “We do not care what party it is, this is the individual right of our people in the entire country, but, if there is a crime committed, an investigation must be conducted to search for the perpetrators,” Khieu Sopheak said.

Kep Thy, SRP party vice-president for the Kampong Thom province, said that he already received information about this murder. “They told me to travel to the location of the incident to check the situation by myself in order to obtain actual information.”

Am Sam Ath, director of investigation for the Licadho human rights organization, said that his group in investigating into this case. “Licadho’s investigating group is following up in this case to find out the cause of this murder,” Am Sam Ath said.

A political observer source in Cambodia noted that the murders on SRP activists have quieted down for a while already, but now, this observer is concerned about this murder, [especially] when it is blamed on witchcraft.

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CPP mouthpieces mounting virulent attacks against SRP MP Mu Sochua: Is the CPP nervous?

CPP mouthpieces: Cheam Yeap (L) and Phay Siphan (R)

Mu Sochua inflates the truth in the US –sic!–

Friday, September 04, 2009
DAP news
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

Mrs. Mu Sochua, SRP deputy-Secretary general and Kampot MP from the SRP opposition party who lost the defamation lawsuit against PM Samdach Akkok Moha Xena Bat Dey Dek Cho Hun Xen in a verdict rendered by the Phnom Penh municipal court in the past, is currently creating a tempest to gather her supporters by yelling that the Cambodian court decision handed to her is an injustice.

Since she turned over her appeal to the Appeal Court, Mrs. Mu Sochua left to the USA, and up to now and until the near future, she has organized meeting and dancing events in various US states [KI-Media note: In fact, these events are organized by the US branch of the SRP]. During these occasions, she plans to provide information and comments to the participants on what she believes as being injustice in the defamation lawsuit and the decision to lift the parliamentary immunity of the two opposition MPs, i.e. those of Mrs. Mu Sochua and Phnom Penh MP Ho Vann.

Cheam Yeap, chairman of the National Assembly finance committee, told DAP news over the phone, on Friday afternoon that it is her right to organize the events above, but that these rights must be done according to the law [KI-Media note: Since when must events organized in the US abide by the Cambodian law?].

Cheam Yeap said: “She indicated that the court belongs to Samdach PM Hun Xen, but the samdach did not participate in it, and such statement is like the Cambodian old saying: ‘Ropis day, Chang-rai khluon’ (Fidgety hands bring in bad luck to oneself).”

Cheam Yeap added that such action is taken to ask for pity, but for him, he has no pity towards her whatsoever: “If the two of them were soldiers, they would surely be dead from bullets already.”

Cheam Yeap, the CPP Prey Veng province MP, indicated that Mrs. Mu Sochua’s action makes it such that the CPP can no longer tolerate, and in particular, what Hun Xen did in the past, it was all according to the law. For example, the immunity lifting of Mrs. Mu Sochua and Mr. Ho Vann was done based on the request of the ministry of Justice only, in order to open the way for the court to question her.

Phay Siphan, spokesman of the Cambodian Council of Ministers, is also of the same opinion as CPP Cheam Yeap, He said that this is Mrs. Mu Sochua’s right, and the right of those who will joint these events only. However, he claimed that the participants to the events will have the opportunity to find the truth and they will also hear the reply back from the Phnom Penh regime also.

Phay Siphan told DAP news that: “For the losers, they always yell that it is injustice, but the action taken by Mrs. Mu Sochua is a behavior that wants [to see] all Cambodians disobeying the law, disobeying the court, in particular, disobeying the National Assembly which represents the people’s will.”

Phay Siphan said that Mrs. Mu Sochua should display dignity by abiding the law of Cambodia, because this is her share of her political life.

In the invitation letter sent out by Mrs. Mu Sochua, it is stated: “The two MPs, Mrs. Mu Sochua and Mr. Ho Vann, saw their parliamentary immunity lifted by Hun Xen’s National Assembly, and Hun Xen’s tribunal unfairly sentenced them to lose in these defamation lawsuits.”

The invitation letter to meet Mrs. Mu Sochua also stated and boasted about her courage, and that she is a Cambodian woman who dares to stand up against injustice in Cambodia, in spite of the government’s threats.

A majority of people [KI-Media note: how did DAP knows that there is a majority of people? Unless it is inflating the truth] criticized that, just to meet with the two MPs, people will have to pay $25. On the issue above, DAP could not obtain any comment from the SRP, in particular from Mr. Yim Sovann, the SRP spokesman.

It should be noted that Mrs. Mu Sochua was summoned for mid-September by the Phnom Penh Appeal court for questioning related to the lawsuit brought up by PM Hun Xen, but she asked for a delay.

Regarding the actual timing of the summon, DAP could not obtain the comment from Mr. Kar Savuth, the Appeal Court judge. When he heard over the phone that we are from DAP news, he immediately turned off his phone and did not say anything. Read more!

If given the chance, Miss Korea 2009, Kim Ju-ri, would like to help Cambodian children

Kim Ju-ri

Miss Korea Kim Ju-ri hopes to aid N. Korean children

By Lee Haye-Ah

SEOUL, Sep. 5 (Yonhap) -- Before being crowned Miss Korea 2009, Kim Ju-ri was not always a symbol of female beauty and charm. Looking at her bare face without a trace of make-up, friends would teasingly ask, "Are you a girl?"

Two months into her career as South Korea's beauty queen, Kim still moans about the pains of applying make-up.

"I hate putting on make-up everyday. It takes so long and I feel like my skin can't breathe," Kim said in an interview with Yonhap News Agency on Saturday.

But in many other ways, the 21-year-old was already well prepared for the role. Having trained in ballet since the age of five, she was used to being on stage and receiving attention. Apart from the fact that many people now recognize her in public, she feels that not much has changed since becoming Miss Korea.
Kim Ju-ri

"I really love to be loved by people," Kim said in English, which she learned while studying ballet at the Royal Ballet School in England. She also answered some quesitons in Russian, but the interview was conducted mostly in Korean.

Ballet helped her to prepare for her future role as Miss Korea. As if to illustrate, she radiated confidence and poise while posing for photographs after the interview. Through ballet she came to feel comfortable in the spotlight. It also took her abroad, where she gained the 'international' experience needed to be a true "Miss Korea."

The Asian currency crisis of the late 1990's forced her to return home due to skyrocketing tuition costs after a two-year stay in England. Once Korea overcame the crisis some years later Kim again had the opportunity to go abroad, this time to Moscow. She spent four years studying ballet at the Moscow State Academy of Choreography.

She says Russia was not a very kind country, at least on the plane and at the airport. "When I got on the plane, I asked the Russian flight attendant for a glass of orange juice. I didn't speak any Russian, so I read outloud the phrase from a book. I was so shocked when I heard her say, "Nyet (No)"," Kim recalled of her first trip to Moscow.

"When I arrived at the airport, the official checking the entry of foreigners was very unfriendly. I thought, 'I'm dead'." But as soon as she arrived at the school dormitory, she was given such a warm welcome that she was soon able to forget her earlier frustrations.

Soon afterwards, she began to promote Korean culture to her Russian friends, getting them to try kimchi, a traditional dish of pickled cabbage, and Korean-style pancakes.

"There were people who couldn't stand the smell of kimchi and thought negatively of the fact that we serve dog meat in Korea. The more they avoided our food, the more I wanted them to try it. So I fed them, and soon they were asking for kimchi to have with their steaks."

Kim's efforts to promote Korea didn't stop there. When her friends mistakenly thought that Korean-made mobile phones were made in Japan, she didn't hesitate to correct them.

Kim adjusted so well to her new surroundings, that she began to feel more comfortable there than she did in Korea. But life in Moscow wasn't without its flaws.

"I was walking with my friends on the street, when we were suddenly shot in the face with a air gun. The culprits grabbed my friend's bag and ran away," Kim said.

"We reported the case to the police but they weren't very helpful. In the end, we couldn't find the culprits and nothing was resolved."

Despite such incidents, her love for Russia is evident.

"Each country has its own style of ballet. The Russian style suits me well. If I'd gone to France, I think I would have easily been discouraged because they pay so much attention to detail. Plus, Russian ballet dancers don't develop big muscly legs. As a girl, it would be dreadful to have muscly legs!" she joked.

After graduating from the academy last year, she moved back to Korea to treat a leg injury. It was then that she happened to watch the Miss Universe contest on TV and decided to try out for this year's Miss Korea.

Ballet may have helped her come this far, but Kim's plans for the future go well beyond dance.

"I'd like to work as a goodwill ambassador and raise awareness of Korean culture abroad. I'd also like to work toward attracting foreign students here to study ballet," she said.

She also wants to help children in poor countries. "If I'm given the chance, I'd also like to do volunteer work abroad, helping children in Cambodia suffering from a lack of water. And I also hope I will have the opportunity to go to North Korea and help children there. I once had the chance to watch North Korean children sing and dance on a stage and they were absolutely mesmerizing. I want to help them have more opportunities to perform on world stages."

The beauty queen is now preparing to enter the contest for next year's Miss Universe. So far, as Miss Korea 2009, she feels that she isn't given enough to do. Her activities have mostly consisted of attending various events at the request of sponsors and volunteering at facilities for the disabled.

"I love babies. I'd like to visit orphanages and take care of little children, but no one has asked me to yet!"

Read more!

Happy International Vulture Awareness Day (IVAD09)!

A white-rumped vulture in Cambodia's Northern Plains. (Photo Credit: Allan Michaud)

09. 5.09
By Emma Grady, New York
TreeHugger.com

Vulture populations have declined more than 95% in South Asia due to diclofenac, an anti-inflammatory drug used on cattle which acts as a poison to vultures. Just in time for International Vulture Awareness Day (today, September 5, 2009) the Wildlife Conservation Society has announced that populations have been on the rise in Cambodia, a new population of white-rumped vultures (pictured above) has been in located in the country's Northern Plains, and eighteen new vulture fledglings took flight this year, oh happy day!

International Vulture Awareness Day will focus on promoting the conservation and awareness of vultures with events around the world -- from birth watching to visiting zoos and wildlife reserves -- and online with bloggers sharing photos, videos, and posts in the IVAD09 blog festival. Visit International Vulture Awareness Day to take part in the day's virtual event.

The Wildlife Conservation Society works to save vulture populations in Cambodia with community-supported projects such as a bird nest protection program and "restaurants" which provide reliable food sources. They work with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the Ministry of the Environment, WWF, BirdLife International, the Angkor Centre for Conservation of Biodiversity (ACCB), and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Support is provided by the Global Environmental Facility (GEF)/United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF).

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Life in focus

Locals call it Smoky Mountain. Stung Meanchey Municipal Waste Dump is a 40-hectare tip on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, where thousands come to escape the crippling poverty of rural Cambodia. Here, amid the haze of toxic smoke from the smouldering garbage, they scavenge their living. Sonang, 13 (above), is one of the many children whose families live and work here. Photo: Simon O'Dwyer

September 6, 2009
CLAIRE HALLIDAY
The Age (Australia)

WHEN Age photographer Simon O'Dwyer first visited Cambodia in 1997 to photograph the landmine clearing work being done by AusAID and the Cambodian Mine Action Centre, he found a country devastated by war and death.

Under the command of Pol Pot, between 1975 and 1979, the Khmer Rouge systematically killed an estimated 2 million Cambodians, almost a quarter of the country's population.

The victims' ''crimes'' ranged from having an education or speaking a foreign language to being a soldier or government official from the previous regime. Entire families were imprisoned and murdered and, even today, the country remains forever changed, with generations lost to the Killing Fields.

Back in 1997, despite Cambodia's continuing struggles with poverty and disease and the pain still so visible on the scarred bodies of so many people, O'Dwyer also saw a resilience and hopeful dignity.

It was a resilience and hope that he explored further on a recent trip back - photographing the displaced people of Andong Village, the Stung Meanchey garbage dump and the historic temples of Angkor.

"For me, returning so many years later, the growth of tourism has taken a small part of that initial charm, but the spirit of the people and their hopes for a happier future remain," O'Dwyer says.

With more than 42 per cent of the country's population under the age of 15, Cambodia is a young country that is trying to move forward; taking what it can from a growing tourist market that draws international visitors to both the memorials of its grisly past and a raw beauty that decades of killing and conflict have not been able to destroy.

Next weekend, as part of the third Ballarat International Foto Biennale, a collection of photographs from O'Dwyer's two Cambodian journeys will be on display. It is just one of the exhibitions being staged at venues in and around the Ballarat Heritage and Arts precinct featuring at least 2000 images from up to 500 photographers.

For festival director Jeff Moorfoot, the decision to include O'Dwyer's work was based on his belief in the photographer's "humanist approach" to the subjects he photographs.

"There is a real empathy with his subjects, rather than sensationalism," Moorfoot says.

For more information, see ballaratfoto.org.

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Can we stop using the word “Ka-nak-pak Pro-chhaing” (the fighting party)?

31 August 2009
By Heng Thal Savuth
Khmer Sthabna news
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

[KI-Media note: In Khmer, the word “Ka-nak-pak Pro-chhaing” – which literally translates to the “fighting party” – is used to designate the “opposition party”.]

Since 1979, following the demise of the cruel and inhumane Democratic Kampuchea regime of Pol Pot, Ieng Sary, Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan, Kaing Keg Iev, etc… our small and pitiful Cambodia should have found peace, but quite to the contrary, we only met a meaningless war between Khmer people: one side accused the other side of being the puppet of the Yuon Hanoi regime, while the other side accused the other of being the gang of the Pol Pot genocidal group.

The intense war between Khmer people continued on for another decade, and it finally ended with the help of the International community, in particular, that of the UN under the aegis of the [1991] Paris Peace Agreements. Following this event, constitutional monarchy was formed in Cambodia following its prior topping by the Lon Nol regime on 18 March 1970. After 1993, Khmer people from all political tendencies agreed with each other to rebuild the country under the aegis of the king and they were all determined to steer Cambodia towards a plural democracy.

Since then, several Cambodian political parties were formed, but, nevertheless, at the end, political bumps also started and they continued on until the present. In truth, since 1993 and until now, Cambodia never became a democracy, i.e. our country is inching toward democracy, but whether this process is long or short, reachable or unreachable, depends entirely on whether Khmer people from all political tendencies clearly understand the meaning of the word “democracy” and their willingness to unite and understand each other to achieve this common goal.

As a Cambodian, even though I live overseas for more than 20 years, I still think about the destiny of my birthplace, in particular, I was interested in the word “Pro-chhaing” which has an opposite meaning to its English counterpart, known as “opposition party.”

After 1979, all Khmer citizens faced many problems, both physically and mentally, due to the cruel Pol Pot regime, and Khmer people from all political tendencies fought (“Pro-chhaing”) each other for decades to see who won or lost. Therefore the word “Pro-chhaing” carries a bad connotation for those Khmer people who are holding onto power, they consider the “opposition party” (“Pak pro-chhaing”) as their personal enemies.

While Cambodia is inching toward true democracy, the use of the word “Ka-nak-pak pro-chhaing” (the fighting party) or simply “pro-chhaing” is considered as the tip of a sharp weapon or a sharp spear used to pound and break through the ruling party instead.

Therefore, at a time when Cambodia is moving along the democratic path, “nationalist” Cambodian parties should not use the word “pro-chhaing” at all, we can use this word only when our country reaches full democracy, such as the USA.

The use of the word “Ka-nak-pak Pro-cheng” (rival party) and “Ka-nak-pak Chum-toas” (opposition party) carries a better connotation than the word “pro-chhaing.”

Those who consider themselves as wonderful “democrats” just because they live overseas, and they look down, undervalue other parties, are not true democrats because they have extremely wrong and bad views in a circumstance when our country needs to unite together to build the country.

The official use of the words “Ka-nak-pak Pro-cheng” or “Ka-nak-pak Chum-toas” on radio, TV and newspapers is a good gesture and it is tantamount to a magical pill that can cure the illnesses of all Cambodian politicians, and this will lead them to unite, to truthfully love each other to build our small and pitiful Cambodia, and bring her to prosperity and turning her into a true democracy, just like any other country in Southeast Asia. This will also pull Cambodia out of the influence and the unwholesome greed of all our neighboring countries that plan to swallow our Cambodia.

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World Bank in talks with Cambodia over evictions

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - A senior World Bank official held talks with the Cambodian government over the forced eviction of people from their homes and said the development bank would continue to work with it on land reform to tackle the problem.

Land ownership is a controversial issue in Cambodia, where legal documents were destroyed and state institutions collapsed under the Khmer Rouge regime of the 1970s and the civil war that followed.

The World Bank joined with other aid donors in July to ask the government to halt forced evictions and the problem was raised again by its vice-president for East Asia and the Pacific Region, James Adams, during a visit last week.

"A major focus of the visit was Cambodia's urban land sector and the increasing numbers of disputes and evictions of poor people in urban settlements," the bank said in a statement.

"The discussions on land reform were constructive and it was agreed to continue these discussions over the coming week to agree next steps," it said.

The bank has provided funding of $24.3 million for a land management and administration project from 2002 to 2009, and an estimated 1.1 million land titles were issued, said Bou Saroeun, a spokesman for the World Bank in Phnom Penh.

Other donors such as Germany, Finland and Canada have together provided more than $14 million to support the land title project, Saroeun added.

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"... this troop withdrawal will not lead Thailand to respect our territorial integrity": SRP MP Son Chhay

Son Chhay indicated that the resolution of the border dispute with Thailand cannot be done through armed forces or bilateral negotiations between Cambodia and Thailand. A successful resolution requires the participation of the International community, including ASEAN countries. Cambodia must push the signatory countries of the 1991 Paris Peace Agreement on Cambodia to guarantee that Thailand does not violate Cambodia’s territorial integrity.

In the afternoon of 29 August, the spokesman of the Cambodian ministry of Defense indicated that the withdrawal of troops from the border region where the confrontation of Cambodian and Thai troops is taking place, is done according to a plan set on 30 August.

Chhum Socheat, spokesman of the ministry of Defense, indicated that 50% of troops, heavy artillery and tanks were pulled out according the set strategy, and the number of troop withdrawn amounts to 3 divisions: the Preah Vihear province division, the Kampong Thom province division and army Brigade No. 11, etc…

Chhum Socheat indicated: “In some locations, we should pull out, at some others, we shouldn’t pull out, we base [the pullout] on the actual number of troops. This does not mean that 50% of the frontline troops were pulled out… it means that, out of the total number [of troops being pulled out], some regions that we consider as vital, we preserve the troops there, at other regions where we are not doing anything, we are pulling them back out. This means that we pull the troops out according to our military strategy, we are not pulling them out unilaterally. The majority of our troops have their bases prepared already along necessary locations, they can return back there on time.”

Troops withdrawal took place after Hun Xen said that Thai troops pulled out the border region near Preah Vihear temple and the situation will no longer be explosive anymore.

John Johnston, spokesman for the US embassy in Cambodia, indicated that troops pullout is a good sign for peaceful negotiations between the two countries, and this could lead to a peaceful resolution.

Regarding this troop withdrawal, SRP MP Son Chhay said that this pullout does not equate to a border resolution with Thailand at all.

Son Chhay said: “We want to know: this pullout was due to what? Reports indicated that only our side is pulling out, but Thailand still maintains the same position. For this border problem with Thailand, we don’t understand which strategy led the government to make this decision, could it be that Thailand promised not to conduct further aggression or anything else? Nevertheless, I say that this troop withdrawal will not lead Thailand to respect our territorial integrity.”

Son Chhay indicated that the resolution of the border dispute with Thailand cannot be done through armed forces or bilateral negotiations between Cambodia and Thailand. A successful resolution requires the participation of the International community, including ASEAN countries. Cambodia must push the signatory countries of the 1991 Paris Peace Agreement on Cambodia to guarantee that Thailand does not violate Cambodia’s territorial integrity. Read more!

Close to 100 garment workers passed out during work

Saturday, August 29, 2009
DAP news
Translated from Khmer by Socheata
At least 100 workers at the Rea Garment Corp. factory located along National Road No. 5, Svay Pak commune, Russey Keo district, passed out one after another while working. The cause of the workers passing out is not known and the incident took place at 09:30 AM on 29 August 2009. Ten private and state ambulances were used to bring these workers to the various hospitals and clinics. Khleang Huot, Russei Keo district governor, who came to the incident location to review the situation, claimed that the cause of the incident is not known yet, but he asked the factory owner to pay attention to the workers involved in the incident, including their food cost and hospital bills. Read more!

Cambodia is moving into the Indochinese Federation abyss: A Seminar Presented by Khmer M'Chas Srok Movement in Long Beach

Click on the English and Khmer announcements to zoom in

VENUE

When:
Saturday August 29, 2009
from 2:00 pm - 6:00 pm

Where:
Guesthouse Hotel
5325 East Pacific Coast Hwy.
Long Beach, CA 90804
Room #293 - phone # (562) 597-1341

For additional information about the Khmer M'Chas Srok Movement, click here Read more!

N.Korean team visits South to mourn Kim Dae-Jung

Writer: AFP

Published: 21/08/2009 at 04:00 PM

A high-level North Korean delegation visited South Korea Friday to join in national mourning for former president Kim Dae-Jung, the latest sign of easing relations after months of high tension.

Kim Ki-Nam (centre), a secretary of North Korea's ruling communist party, burns incense in front of the memorial altar for the late former South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung in Seoul. A high-level North Korean delegation has visited South Korea to join in national mourning for Kim Dae-Jung, the latest sign of easing relations after months of high tension.

Pyongyang also announced it is lifting tough restrictions on border crossings imposed last December as ties with Seoul went into deep freeze.

The six-strong team, including two senior officials, delivered a wreath from leader Kim Jong-Il and bowed their heads in mourning before an altar outside parliament.

"Condolences for late former president Kim Dae-Jung," read a message on the wreath.

They were the first North Korean officials to pay tribute to a former South Korean president. The nations have remained technically at war since their 1950-53 conflict.

The deceased ex-leader, a former leading democracy activist, held the first-ever inter-Korean summit in 2000 during his 1998-2003 presidency.

He pioneered a "Sunshine" aid and engagement policy with the North which improved relations but failed to curb its drive for nuclear weapons.

The visit provides an opportunity for dialogue with Seoul's conservative government, which enraged Pyongyang last year by ending the "Sunshine" era and linking economic aid to nuclear disarmament.

Seoul's unification ministry said Friday the North had not asked for any meeting and "as of now" there was no plan for one.

It welcomed the decision to ease curbs on border crossings and on the number of South Koreans staying at a joint industrial estate in the North. It urged the North not to repeat unilateral actions which damaged relations.

Cross-border and regional tensions rose sharply in recent months after the North made threatening gestures to the South, fired a series of missiles and staged a second nuclear test which brought tougher United Nations sanctions.

As Washington works to enforce the sanctions, Pyongyang this month has attempted to mend fences both with the United States and US ally South Korea.

Kim Jong-Il pardoned two American journalists after former president Bill Clinton flew to Pyongyang. The North freed a detained South Korean and on Monday announced willingness to restart tourist trips and family reunions for South Koreans.

Diplomats from the North's United Nations mission held talks this week with New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, a veteran troubleshooter with Pyongyang.

Richardson said the North Koreans indicated they wanted a new dialogue with the United States about the nuclear standoff. But they rejected a return to a six-nation nuclear disarmament forum which Pyongyang quit in April.

The US government reaffirmed Thursday it is open to bilateral talks but only in the six-nation framework.

US and South Korean officials believe this year's bellicose moves were a show of strength by the ailing Kim, 67, as he tried to win support for a succession plan reportedly involving his youngest son.

Kim "is regaining his health and feeling more confident about the succession process, and trying to avoid the consequences of sanctions with an olive branch to South Korea to get aid flowing again," said Peter Beck, a Korea expert at the American University in Washington.

South Korea previously shipped around 500,000 tons of rice and 300,000 tons of fertiliser annually to its neighbour, which suffers serious food shortages.

Shipments ended under the current conservative government.

The North's team is headed by Kim Ki-Nam, a secretary of the ruling communist party. It will not stay on for Sunday's state funeral.

Some 100,000 people have visited 175 mourning altars nationwide for Kim Dae-Jung, who died Tuesday aged 85.

President Lee Myung-bak paid his respects Friday at the altar at parliament. The funeral will be held there to emphasise Kim's contribution in bringing democracy to the country.

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Another useless meeting with Thai military leaders to address border dispute?

Songkitti Jaggabatra

Thai Military Leaders Scheduled for Visit

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
21 August 2009

High-ranking Thai military commanders are slated to meet their Cambodian counterparts later this month, in an effort to address the longstanding border dispute near Preah Vihear temple and an emerging maritime dispute, officials said Friday.

Already high military tensions escalated this week, when Thailand protested Cambodia’s push for further oil exploration in the Gulf of Thailand, especially near Kuth island. Thailand said this was an encroachment of its maritime borders, a claim Cambodia denies. Both sides have had soldiers entrenched near the Preah Vihear border for more than a year.

Gen. Songkitti Jaggabatra, supreme commander of the Royal Thai Armed Forces Headquarters, and his deputies, Adm. Apichart Pengsritong and Air Chief Marshal Bureerat Ratanavanich, will be accompanied by some 87 Thai military officials to visit Cambodia Aug. 24.

The delegation will meet with Gen. Pol Saroeun, commander of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, and other senior officials.

The visit “is intended to strengthen the relationship and cooperation between the two countries,” Defense Minister Gen. Tea Banh told VOA Khmer. “This visit will reduce military tension in border disputes.”

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Asean may call for pardon

Portraits show pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi during a rally calling for Suu Kyi's release on August 11. Suu Kyi was found guilty of breaching the terms of her house arrest. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

Aug 19, 2009
AFP

UPBEAT ABOUT BREAKTHROUGH
MR WEBB, the first US official to hold talks with Than Shwe, was upbeat about the prospects of a breakthrough.

'I think we have a moment here we might be able to do something,' he told CNN, speaking from Bangkok.

'We had about a 40-minute conversation on a wide variety of issues,' he said of his landmark meeting with the junta leader.

'And with respect to her (Suu Kyi's) situation, I also want to emphasise that I made a request of the government that they consider releasing her from detention and... (said) no future election process would have any credibility with the outside world unless she were able to participate in the political debate.' -- AFP

REGIONAL officials will discuss a proposed joint call for Myanmar to free democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi during a meeting in Jakarta later this week, a diplomatic source said on Tuesday.

Thailand, the current chair of the Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean), said on Friday it was pushing for a consensus among member states to ask Myanmar's military rulers to pardon Ms Suu Kyi.

'We will discuss it at a senior officials' meeting this week in Jakarta,' the source, who asked not to be named, told AFP. The meeting will be held on Thursday and Friday in the Indonesian capital, the diplomat said.

'We support it, but I don't know if all Asean (members) support it,' the diplomat said, when asked about his country's position. 'There's nothing firm, only a proposal so far,' he added.

US Senator Jim Webb, in an interview with CNN on Monday after a visit to Myanmar, said he understood that Asean was working on the proposal to seek amnesty for Suu Kyi. Mr Webb had met with Myanmar's reclusive ruler, Senior General Than Shwe, during his trip.

Asean has faced frequent criticism for taking a soft line on its most troublesome member, but Mr Webb indicated the bloc could be about to toughen its stance. 'I am of the understanding that we are possibly going to see from Asean... a petition of some sort that would ask for amnesty for her as well, which would be a major step forward in resolving the situation,' he said.

The 64-year-old Suu Kyi was found guilty last week of breaching the terms of her house arrest after an eccentric American man, John Yettaw, swam to her lakeside villa in May and stayed there for two days.

Myanmar junta leader Than Shwe commuted her sentence to 18 months under house arrest, but this would still rule her out of elections due to be held next year.

International anger erupted at Myanmar after Tuesday's verdict, but Asean's reaction was typically muted, expressing only 'deep disappointment.' Mr Yettaw flew out of Myanmar on Sunday with Mr Webb, who secured the former military veteran's release from a sentence of seven years' hard labour.

Asean leaders will hold their next summit from October 23-25 in the Thai beach resort of Hua Hin. As well as Myanmar, Asean also groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

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Khmer Spell Checker for Firefox (Mekhala) is now available

Please click on the link below to get additional details from MitLeap website:
http://mitleap.com/profiles/blogs/khmer-spell-checker-for

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The Free Press Magazine Online Vol. 1, No. 9 now available

Click here to read The Free Press Magazine Online:
http://fpmonline.net

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Sen disregards covenant on rights

"One Web site, one group and a few others send out the message: "Cambodian younger generations are the hope, the catalyst and the agent of change for Cambodia."

Certainly, their time has come. My hat is off to them, I wish them success."

August 19, 2009
A. Gaffar Peang-Meth
Pacific Daily News (Guam)

One can learn much from old sayings and words of the wise. An African saying goes, "One must talk little and listen much." The Turks say, "Those who know do not talk; those who talk do not know." The Swedes say, "Whine less, breathe more; talk less, say more."

Mother Teresa of Calcutta implored, "There should be less talk. ... Take a broom and clean someone's house. That says enough."

Eleanor Roosevelt, whom Americans called "the best first lady" in United States history, is known for her work to improve the lot of the underprivileged. She said, "Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people."

In contemporary Cambodian politics, the small minds that delight in digging and throwing dirt at those they don't like are "willing executioners," tools of the ruling autocracy that needs them to overwhelm, distract and disrupt legitimate debate on issues of public and national interest. A boneless tongue that flaps, Cambodians say, turns a lone black crow into 10 ravaging crows.

Father Lawrence G. Lovasik, a missionary, wrote: "Only the ignorant and narrow-minded gossip, for they speak of persons instead of things," and that, "it is just as cowardly to judge an absent person as it is wicked to strike a defenseless one."

Lord Buddha teaches, "The evils of the tongue are lying, slander, abuse and idle talk."

Recently, a Khmer reader inquired about the meaning of the Khmer saying, "Somdei sar jiat," which, literally, means "words reveal one's race." The intent of the saying was to convey that words, spoken and written, reveal the kind of a person one is. One's value, worth, dignity -- or lack thereof -- are intertwined in his words.

American essayist, philosopher and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, "Words are alive; cut them and they bleed."

Last April 24, The Cambodia Daily's front page article, "Mu Sochua To Sue Premier For Defamation," reported on Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen's nationally broadcast speech on April 4, in which he affirmed that he wouldn't help villagers who side with the opposition. He spoke to the audience about a Mu Sochua, woman "cheung klang," or "strong legs," a derogatory term, who in the 2008 election campaign "hugged" someone and then complained her blouse had been "unbuttoned" by force.

The Daily said that in June 2008, an army officer "twisted her arm, thus making her blouse buttons come undone," so Sochua filed an "assault complaint."

At an April 23 press conference, Sochua announced her lawsuit against Sen for defamation, seeking 500 riels, or 13 cents. On April 27, The Daily reported on its front page: "Prime Minister To Countersue Mu Sochua."

Thus began a Khmer political ramvong, a popular slow dance in which participants move around and around in a circle to the sound of drums.

"Executive control of the court is an established fact and it is known that the court lacks independence," lamented the Asian Human Rights Commission in a press release.

On June 10, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court dismissed Sochua's lawsuit, claiming no defamation had occurred, but processed Sen's countersuit against Sochua.

On June 15, Human Rights Watch called on Sen's regime to "cease its threats, harassment, and spurious legal action against opposition members of parliament and lawyers defending free expression." The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights-Cambodia declared, "the use or the threat of legal action ... is a serious threat to democratic development which may undermine the efforts of the past 16 years to rebuild a tolerant and pluralistic environment in Cambodia."

Those words didn't matter to Sen and his ruling party.

On Aug. 4, the Court ordered Sochua to pay 8.5 million riel ($2,500) in fines to the state, and 8 million riels ($2,000) in compensation to Sen, for defaming the premier.

A day later, Sen, who likes to use ceremonies as platforms and the media as tools, warned in a graduation ceremony speech in Phnom Penh that government critics should "be careful with the language of 'dictatorial regime.' Be careful, one day legal action will be used" ... and "when legal action is used, you guys would say freedom of expression is prohibited, but your expression is wrong."

Sen, recipient of a University of Hanoi honorary doctorate, no doubt meant every word he said. For the last few months, several criminal defamation and disinformation lawsuits have been filed against government critics -- politicians, journalists and a 22-year-old law student.

Sen, premier of a country that signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and incorporated it into Cambodian law, tramples that law, tells the world it doesn't understand free expression as he does and makes clear he doesn't care who thinks what. Unconditional Chinese aid and assistance to keep him and his autocratic regime afloat allows him to thumb his nose to the West, who lecture him to respect the international standards of good governance.

That seems to leave Cambodians on their own.

One Web site, one group and a few others send out the message: "Cambodian younger generations are the hope, the catalyst and the agent of change for Cambodia."

Certainly, their time has come. My hat is off to them, I wish them success.

A. Gaffar Peang-Meth, Ph.D., is retired from the University of Guam, where he taught political science for 13 years. Write him at peangmeth@yahoo.com.

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Garment exports plummet 18pc over first half of year

Garment Manufacturers Association head Van Sou Ieng says industrial disputes like the one in this file photo are to blame for the garment-sector downturn, as new figures show first half exports fell 18pc. (Photo by: Tracey Shelton)

Monday, 17 August 2009
Chun Sophal
The Phnom Penh Post

It is difficult for us to estimate the total value for long-term exports of apparel in Cambodia ...

Commerce Ministry figures show a smaller drop than over the first quarter as manufacturers group head blames industrial unrest, not economic crisis

Exports of garments, footwear and other textile products dropped 18 percent year on year over the first half to US$1.27 billion, Ministry of Commerce figures released at the weekend show.

Exports to the United States, Cambodia's key market, were down 30 percent. Canada took 13 percent less by value, while European purchases were down 5 percent over the period.

The figures were released by the ministry's Trade Preferences Systems Department and account for all exports under the generalised system of preferences (GSP) and most favoured nation (MFN) programmes.

Cambodia exports almost all its garments, textiles and shoes through these schemes, which allow the world's least-developed nations to avoid quotas imposed by rich countries on exports from other developing countries.

Looking for a rebound

Department Director Mean Sophea said he expected a rebound would begin to be seen in September.

"It is difficult for us to estimate the total value for long-term exports of apparel in Cambodia because the situation of the world's economy has not recovered yet," he said.

Month-by-month data was not available at the weekend, but the figures suggest the rebound may have already started. In the first quarter of the year, garment exports fell 26.41 percent year on year across to $534.6 million, suggesting a better second quarter.

In March alone, exports were down 38.03 percent year on year to $164.3 million.

Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh told the Post in May that export orders for that month and June would provide a strong indicator of the sector's prospects for the rest of the year. The two months coincided with the start of the "hot season" in the US and Europe, he said.

Van Sou Ieng, president of the Garment Manufacturers Association of Cambodia (GMAC), told the Post Sunday that the decrease in apparel exports could not be blamed entirely on the global economic crisis.

Cambodia's garment products are more expensive than those of China, Vietnam and Bangladesh, and the country was clearly losing to its more efficient competitors., he said.

"I believe at least 100 factories have been closed down and suspended so far because there has been no orders," Van Sou Ieng said.

Industrial unrest

He also revised a prediction he made in May that exports would fall 30 percent for 2009 on the previous year. He said Sunday he anticipates a 40 percent decline for the full year, claiming that buyers were being scared off by strikes and demonstrations.

Sector representatives have also blamed high electricity prices, customs inefficiencies and a poorly trained workforce for the garment industry's low competitiveness.

Ath Thun, president of the Cambodian Labour Confederation, admitted that factories were closing and that there is pressure on the sector, but said Sunday that GMAC exaggerated the number of closures to scare unions. Factory owners are using the global economic crisis as an excuse to close factories without paying workers' wages properly and to frighten workers from protesting or negotiating, he said.

"I think Cambodia's garment sector would have collapsed already if 100 factories were really closed because the country's total number of factories is only around 300," he said.

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NZ man seeks justice for brother at KRouge trial

Rob Hamill's brother Kerry was one of three foreigners who were murdered by the 1975-1979 communist movement

Tuesday, August 18, 2009
By Suy Se
AFP

PHNOM PENH — A New Zealand Olympic rower told Cambodia's UN-backed war crimes court Monday how he had felt like killing the boss of the Khmer Rouge prison where his brother was killed by the regime.

Rob Hamill's brother Kerry was one of three foreigners who were murdered by the 1975-1979 communist movement after their yacht was blown off course and into Cambodian waters.

Hamill, who represented New Zealand at the 1996 Olympics, was testifying at the trial of jail chief Duch, who was accused of overseeing the torture and execution of about 15,000 people at the Tuol Sleng detention centre.

"At times I have wanted to smash you, to use your word, in the same way that you smashed so many others," he said. Duch has said that the Khmer Rouge used the official term "smash" to refer to killing its enemies.

"Today, in this court room, I am giving you all the crushing weight of emotion -- the anger, the grief, and the sorrow. I am placing this emotional burden on your head," Hamill said.

Kerry Hamill, 27, was sailing through the Gulf of Thailand in 1978 with two friends, Canadian Stuart Glass and Briton John Dewhirst, when their yacht was intercepted by a Cambodian patrol boat.

Glass was shot dead immediately while Dewhirst and Hamill were taken for interrogation and torture at Tuol Sleng for two months, during which they were forced to confess to being CIA agents. They were then killed.

Earlier Monday, Frenchwoman Martine Lefeuvre wept as she told the tribunal how her Cambodian husband was tricked into returning from overseas to die at Tuol Sleng.

She said her French-educated spouse, Ouk Ket, was asked to return home in 1977 from his job as a diplomat in Senegal, Dakar, to help the reconstruction of Cambodia.

But she said that on arrival Ouk Ket was "kidnapped with his hands tied behind his back, blindfolded, and brought in a truck" and went to "hell" at the jail.

Lefeuvre said that in 1991 she and her family came to see Tuol Sleng, which was turned into a genocide museum after the fall of the Khmer Rouge, and found his name on a list of the dead.

"I came before this chamber in order to ask for justice to be done for this barbaric crime," the 56-year-old nurse told the court, demanding the "maximum sentence" for Duch.

Duch, a 66-year-old former maths teacher whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav, said he felt remorse for their suffering.

"I was such a coward at that time. I did not dare to assist anybody," Duch told Hamill.

Duch has previously accepted responsibility for running the jail and begged forgiveness, but insists that he did not have a central role in the Khmer Rouge hierarchy.

Led by Pol Pot, who died in 1998, the Khmer Rouge emptied Cambodia's cities in a bid to forge an agrarian utopia, resulting in the deaths of up to two million people from starvation, overwork and torture.

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Brother of NZ victim rages at Khmer Rouge trial

A Cambodian man watches television at a restaurant in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Monday, Aug. 17, 2009 as it shows Rob Hamill from New Zealand whose brother was killed by the Khmer Rouge during its 1975-1979 rule in Cambodia. The TV program is broadcast during the trial of Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Duch, who is tried for war crimes and crimes against humanity at the U.N.-backed tribunal. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Tuesday, August 18, 2009
By SOPHENG CHEANG
AP

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — The brother of a New Zealander tortured and killed by the Khmer Rouge three decades ago told the man who ordered the execution on Monday that he wished him a similarly gruesome fate.

Kerry Hamill was 28 when his yacht was blown off course into Cambodian waters in 1978, and he was captured by the radical communist regime. He and a shipmate, Briton John Dewhirst, were taken to Phnom Penh's S-21 prison and later killed.

Kerry's brother, Rob, wept as he testified at the trial of S-21's commander, Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Duch — the first of five senior Khmer Rouge defendants to be tried by a U.N.-assisted tribunal and the only one to acknowledge responsibility for his actions.

"Duch, at times I have wanted to smash you, to use your words. The same way that you smashed so many others," Rob Hamill said, sitting in a suit and tie, his hands folded before him. "Smash" was the euphemism the Khmer Rouge used when ordering executions.

"At times, I have imagined you shackled, starved, whipped and clubbed, viciously. I have imagined your scrotum electrified, being forced to eat your own feces, being nearly drowned and having your throat cut," said Hamill, referring to some of the horrors faced by prisoners.

Duch sat behind him, expressionless.

"I have wanted that to be your experience, your reality. I have wanted you to suffer the way you made Kerry and so many others (suffer)," Hamill said.

About a dozen Westerners were among the estimated 16,000 people held at the prison before being killed. The communist regime's radical policies while in power from 1975-79 caused the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million people nationwide by execution, overwork, disease and malnutrition.

Rob Hamill, 45, a rower who represented New Zealand at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, said his family learned of his brother's death 16 months after he disappeared. Their parents read in a newspaper that he was executed after two months at S-21.

"Death not by shipwreck, not by drowning or freak accident, but death by torture. Death by torture not over a few seconds or minutes or hours or days or weeks even," said Hamill.

Asked by judges for his response, Duch (pronounced DOIK) repeated his earlier testimony that he received orders to kill the Westerners and burn their bodies.

He asked for forgiveness from the victims' families, acknowledging that they had suffered miserably.

He said he was not offended by being blamed.

"Even if the people threw stones at me and caused my death, I would not say anything," he told the court.

Duch is charged with crimes against humanity, war crimes, torture and murder, and could face a maximum penalty of life in prison. Cambodia has no death penalty.

His trial is expected to wrap up by the end of the year.

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Cambodian monks save remote forests, tree by tree

August 13, 2009
WorldFocus.org

In Cambodia, there is an unusual effort underway by Buddhist monks to replant forests devastated by war and clearing by loggers.

This is important to them for both religious and environmental reasons. The monks, like others, believe that trees may help counter the effects of climate change.

Worldfocus partner IRIN travels to the remote forests of Cambodia.

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