Poor health care system forces Cambodians to turn to magic elephant cures

Cambodia's magic elephant cures villagers' ills

Zeenews.com

Kompong Cham, July 31: In rural Cambodia where doctors and hospitals are scarce, poor villagers are turning to a magic elephant which is believed to cure ills ranging from typhoid to high blood pressure.

A few times a month, Yey Proheu, a 70-year-old female elephant d s a round of villages to offer relief to the sick with mahout, Pang Hy, and his assistants.

Blowing a tune from a flute made of a water buffalo horn, Pang Hy, rides the magic elephant through the dusty, unpaved roads to houses of faithful customers.

At many of the houses, the elephant lays her trunk on the stairs or inside the room of the house which are built on stilts, to bless the building and its occupants.

For those with health problems, the elephant puts her trunk into a bucket of water or water tank, and those seeking to be cured, bathe themselves using the water or they walk under the elephant a couple of times.

The mahout's assistant lights incense during the "treatment" and sells herbal infusions which are believed to be a panacea.

"I believe in the medicine, because all the pain is gone after I take it. I sleep well, my appetite is better and so now I am buying more," said 40-year-old Se Vorn, who has a pain in her stomach.
"Now I see the elephant, I believe in her magic. I hope my daughter will be cured. She looks happy after bathing in the water," said 48-year-old Man Morn, who has a sick child.

Man Morn's daughter had had a mysterious fever which went away after an injection by doctors but left her unable to walk. She recovered slightly after bathing in water the elephant had touched and taking the herbal infusions.

The elephant was inherited by 52-year-old Pang Hy, from his father, who was also a mahout of magic elephants.

During the brutal Khmer Rouge regime in the 1970's when nearly 1.7 million Cambodians were killed in a genocide, the ultra-Maoists had confiscated the elephant.

Pang Hy was able to get his elephant back eventually, and in 1985, started to sell medicines for a living, which earns him about 50 U.S. dollars a trip and is a good supplement to his farm.

In addition to curing the sick, the elephant is also good at finding auspicious locations for building a house and her magic is effective in solving problems between husband and wives.

"I want a male elephant so that I can breed them, but I can't afford to buy one now," says Pang Hy. "I wish the government can give me some help, then we can have more of these elephants and the next generation of children can see them."

Suspicious VN companies development in Cambodia's Kratie-Mondolkiri

Vietnamese companies join development association in Cambodia
31/07/2006

VietNamNet - As many as 25 Cambodian and Vietnamese companies operating in northeastern Cambodia, have set up an association to promote economic development in Kratie and Mondolkiri provinces.

The "Kratie-Mondolkiri Development Association" made its first appearance at a ceremony in Phnom Penh on July 29.

The association plans to cooperate with Vietnamese businesses to carry out projects to plant industrial crops, including 50,000 ha of rubber trees and cashew, and to upgrade a road section linking Vietnam's southern Binh Phuoc province and Kratie province.

The association will also help to build a 110 kV electricity transmission line from the Viet Nam-Cambodia border to Kratie province with assistance from the Electricity of Viet Nam (EVN) Corporation and Binh Phuoc province.

(Source: VNA)

Catholics learn about troubled history of Church in Cambodia

July 31,2006

PHNOM PENH (UCAN) -- The Catholic Church that was reborn in Cambodia less than 20 years ago looks to history as a way to instruct Catholics in a country that until recently tried to eradicate all traces of the Church.

Appreciation for history as a valuable Church tool was evident recently during a synod focused on "The Word of God Guiding Church History." The special national meeting, held July 11-14 at St. Joseph's Church in Phnom Penh, brought together 130 priests, nuns and lay leaders.

One participant, Chiv Sok Noeun, a recently baptized 29-year-old Catholic, admitted to UCA News, "I thought the Catholic Church was built in the 1990s or maybe during the time Cambodia was a French protectorate (1887-1953)."

Sok Noeun and some participants came from Kompong Cham prefecture, based 75 kilometers northeast of Phnom Penh. The rest were from Cambodia's other two Church jurisdictions -- Phnom Penh vicariate, based in the capital, and Battambang prefecture, based 250 kilometers northwest of the capital.

Sok Noeun said it now is clear to him that the Church in Cambodia actually began 450 years ago. The synod also taught him that many people have died for their faith in Cambodia, and he promised to share what he learned with fellow Catholics back home in Kompong Cham.

Similarly, Y Yim, a 37-year-old catechist, told UCA News she did not realize that the local Church once had many Catholics. She learned at the synod that, during the time of persecution, Catholics continued to pray alone, or within their families or in small groups. The many who died for Christ are a good example, she said, and she will "remember the work done by those witnesses."

Bishop Yves Ramousse, the retired vicar apostolic of Phnom Penh, told the delegates that the local Church had been destroyed in the political strife of the 1970s, and few Catholics and no native clergy or Religious survived.

However, the 78-year-old bishop, a member of the Paris Foreign Mission Society, also pointed out that though Church buildings were destroyed, this did not mean "there was no Catholic community."

As many as 2 million Cambodians died from forced labor, starvation, lack of medical attention and extrajudicial killings during the rule of Pol Pot and his communist Khmer Rouge, from 1975 until Vietnamese troops forced it from power in 1979. The regime tried to wipe out all traces of the Church and to suppress other religions, including Buddhism, now Cambodia's state religion.

Church sources claim that Cambodia had 65,000 Catholics in 1970, but only 1,000 or so Cambodian Catholics were still alive when Pol Pot's regime collapsed. Cambodia restored religious freedom in 1991, and missioners began to return. Their first effort was to search marketplaces to see if any of the Catholics they knew had survived.

Father Tonlop Sophal Pierre, a Khmer priest, told synod participants that though people "suffered and were put to death," that agony has helped the Church in Cambodia become a truly Khmer community. In 1955, only 3,000 of 126,000 Catholics in the country were Khmer. Today, he said, there are 11,253 families in 84 Catholic communities across the country.

Today, according to Church statistics, 19,000 of Cambodia's 12 million people are Catholics. Only five of the 50 priests are native Khmer.

The synod also discussed Church history from its start in the 16th century. Dominican Father Gaspar da Cruz introduced the Gospel in Cambodia in 1555. After that, missioners from France, Goa (India), Philippines, Portugal and Spain visited Cambodia, but none of them successfully established bases.

In 1659, responsibility for Cambodia's Catholics was given to French missioners working from their base in Ayutthaya, capital of Siam, as Thailand was then known. Cambodia's first seminarians went to France in 1848, and the vicariate of Cambodia was formally established to years later.

In 1865, the vicariate was given jurisdiction over a large area, including what is now Vietnam. The Cambodian Catholic community grew mostly in the period 1902-1939, though still primarily among ethnic Vietnamese in Cambodia.

The vicariate was renamed vicariate of Phnom Penh in 1924, and Kompong Cham and Battambang prefectures were carved from it in 1968. By 1970, the country had 61 foreign and Cambodian priests, and about 250 sisters.

The synod delegates visited historical Catholic places, including ruins that had once been churches, and the grave of Paris Foreign Missions Society Bishop Guillaume Piguel, a developer of the local Catholic Church who died in 1771. His grave is in Bram Bey Choum, 30 kilometers north of Phnom Penh. The bishop was apostolic vicar of Cochin, now Quy Nhon diocese in southern Vietnam.

Sister Ang Sangvath told UCA News that visiting Bishop Piguel's grave and that of a founder of her congregation, Lovers of the Cross, helped her realize the importance of knowing local Church history, especially since so many of today's Catholics are totally new to the Church.

Them Thun, a 29-year-old youth leader who belongs to the St. Vincent de Paul Society, told UCA News he learned much from hearing about the early missioners. He said this would help his faith grow and motivate him to continue to love his fellow villagers.

Bishop Emile Destombes, the vicar apostolic of Phnom Penh, could not attend the synod due to illness. However, the bishop, who will turn 71 on Aug. 15, explained to UCA News that the synod brought together Church committee members to thank God for presenting the Good News to Cambodia and for giving them the many early missioners as models of good example.

In December, the Paris Foreign Missions Society prelate added, the Church will celebrate the 450th anniversary of the Catholic Church in Cambodia.

The local Church has conducted synods since 1991, two years after missioners began to return. Two synods were organized each year from 1992 to 1998, but just once a year from 1999. Each time, the synod has tried to generate new dynamism in a Church that virtually disappeared from 1975 until 1989.

The murder of trade unionist Chea Vichea: Still No Justice

31 July 2006 AI Index: ASA 23/008/2006 (Public)
Cambodia

The murder of trade unionist Chea Vichea: Still No Justice

"Impunity is a central human rights problem in Cambodia. It is not addressed by simply arresting persons for a high profile crime, regardless of the evidence. […] In the case of Chea Vichea, there are many indications that the accused men have been chosen to take the blame, regardless of what the evidence suggests. Few believe that they are responsible for the crime, further diminishing public confidence in the administration of justice".

Mr Peter Leuprecht,
the Special Representative of the
Secretary General for Human Rights
in Cambodia, 8 July 2004

One year ago today, on 1 August 2005, Born Samnang, 25, and Sok Sam Oeun, 38, were sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment after an unfair trial. The Phnom Penh Court convicted the two men of murdering prominent trade unionist Chea Vichea in January 2004, despite presenting no direct evidence linking them to the murder except a confession by one of them, obtained under duress. Both men had strong alibis.

In the light of the deeply flawed criminal investigation and trial, Amnesty International believes that the true perpetrators responsible for the murder of Chea Vichea have not been held to account.

At this time the organization repeats its calls on the Cambodian authorities to urgently initiate an impartial, independent and effective investigation into the killing so that those responsible are brought to justice. Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun should be released without delay and their names cleared, unless there is sufficient evidence to bring charges against them. If so, they should be given a prompt retrial which meets international fair trial standards.

Chea Vichea, President of Free Trade Union of Workers, was murdered on 22 January 2004 after receiving a series of death threats. He was shot dead at point blank range in a contract-style killing while reading a newspaper at a newsstand near the Lanka Pagoda in central Phnom Penh. Witnessed by several bystanders, the unmasked killer fled the scene on a motorbike driven by an accomplice.

Amnesty International has for many years reported and campaigned on the entrenched climate of impunity in Cambodia, including in connection with the murder of Chea Vichea,(1) which led to unprecedented domestic and international outrage.

Workers’ rights

At the time of his death, Chea Vichea, 36 years old, was a well-known and respected trade union leader who championed workers’ rights in Cambodia’s burgeoning garment industry. He was a founding members of the main opposition Khmer Nation Party (KNP) in 1995, renamed the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) in 1998.

Many garment factory workers took part in a peaceful opposition protest against perceived failings of the judicial system outside the National Assembly in Phnom Penh on 30 March 1997. Four grenades were thrown into the crowd resulting in at least 16 deaths and over 100 wounded, including Chea Vichea, who suffered a head injury. No one has yet been held to account for this attack.

Chea Vichea was elected President of the Free Trade Union of Workers, one of Cambodia’s largest trade unions, in 1999, when he resigned from official positions within the SRP. He successfully stood for re-election twice and served as the president for five years. He dedicated his presidency to advocating for workers’ rights, such as wage increases, reduced working hours, and protection for workers’ representatives.


The murder investigation

"We have found the killers who directly committed the killing of Chea Vichea," Phnom Penh police chief Suon Chheang Ly declared after arresting the two men, on the 27 and 28 of January 2004.(2)

However, when they were paraded by police in front of the media, Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun declared their innocence and said they were being made scapegoats. Investigations by human rights groups and journalists showed both suspects had strong alibis for the time around the shooting. Born Samnang claimed that the police initially had extracted a confession out of him under duress – beatings, threats and inducements.

The criminal investigation was marred by irregularities: instead of probing into the murder police officers focused on threatening and rounding up those who provided alibis for the suspects, while witnesses were intimidated. Eyewitnesses to Chea Vichea’s murder were not called by police to identify the arrested suspects. When shown photographs of the two suspects by journalists and human rights workers, they said the two men bore no similarities to the men at the scene of the crime. Nor were any eyewitnesses consulted in drawing a police sketch of the alleged gunman. This sketch bore a resemblance to Born Samnang and was issued the day before his arrest.

On 19 March 2004, Judge Heng Thirith decided to dismiss the case for lack of evidence against the suspects, admitting that he had been subject to political pressure and that Born Samnang’s confession was "irregular".(3) This move was hailed by the Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee (CHRAC), a coalition of human rights organisations, as a step towards an independent judiciary, The Judge’s decision was immediately appealed by the prosecutor. Within days, the Supreme Council of Magistracy, mandated to take disciplinary actions against judges and prosecutors, had Heng Thirith removed from the position of Investigation Judge at the Phnom Penh Court.

On 1 July 2004, the case was heard at the Appeals Court. Born Samnang maintained that police had beaten, coerced and bribed him into falsely confessing, while Sok Sam Oeun continued to plead his innocence.(4) Judge Thou Mony, now a Trial Chamber Judge in the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia(5), reversed Heng Thirith’s ruling and returned the case to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court for further investigation.

CHRAC issued a media statement criticizing the judge’s decision, and linking the lack of independence of the Court to the need for judicial reform.(6) The UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Human Rights in Cambodia expressed concern at the "numerous procedural irregularities" in the investigation and prosecution including arrests without a warrant; lack of evidence against the suspects; a confession allegedly made under duress after beatings and inducements, and indications of entrapment.(7)

Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun remained in pre-trial detention until the their trial in the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on 1 August 2005, a detention period exceeding by a full year the legal six-month maximum under Cambodian law.

Truth on trial

In the Phnom Penh Court, fundamental principles of international fair trials standards such as the presumption of innocence, the rights to cross examine witnesses and challenge evidence, and the impartiality of the judiciary were completely ignored.

Other serious irregularities were observed. According to international human rights law, Cambodia’s Constitution and its criminal law, confessions which are obtained under duress are not admissible as evidence in court. Furthermore, the Cambodian criminal law provides that confessions cannot be used to convict persons unless they are corroborated by other evidence. No such evidence was presented in support of Born Samnang’s initial confession, which was not only the central evidence against him, but also against Sok Sam Oeun. The same confession had been snubbed as "irregular" by the first Investigating Judge.

No witness testimony linked the two accused men to Chea Vichea’s murder and neither defendant was tied to the scene of the crime by prosecution witnesses. In contrast, multiple defence witnesses, prepared to testify before the panel but denied the opportunity, provided an alibi for Born Samnang, supporting his testimony to the Court that he had been in Neak Loeung, some 60 kilometres south of Phnom Penh at the time of the murder. Moreover, no evidence refuted the two men’s claims that they had never met before.

There has been no inquiry into the allegations of the police brutality reported by both men, not even in relation to Born Samnang’s controversial recanted confession. Instead it was presented as evidence against the alibi, as were written statements from witnesses who claimed he had spent the night before the murder not in Neak Loeung but at a Phnom Penh guesthouse. These statements could in no way be challenged during the criminal process.

Witnesses for the prosecution did not appear, aside from some police officers who denied Born Samnang had been beaten and coerced into confessing. Instead, written testimonies were presented, providing no room for challenge through cross-examination. The right of the accused to have prosecution witnesses examined is guaranteed in Article 14 (3) (e) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Cambodia is a state party.

The then Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Human Rights in Cambodia concluded that both the criminal investigations and court hearings lacked "any credibility" and "denounced" the outcome(8), while several non-governmental human rights groups labelled the process a parody of justice.

Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun were sentenced to 20 years in prison and ordered to pay 5,000 USD to the victim’s family. Chea Mony, the younger brother of Chea Vichea and his successor as the President of the Free Trade Union of Workers, rejected the compensation:

"I was at the court hearings, and there was no evidence against Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun. I would not want to accept any money; they were not the real killers," he concluded ahead of the first anniversary of the verdict, reiterating calls for the authorities to find the perpetrators of his brother’s murder(9).

Both men have appealed the verdict. The appeals have yet to be heard.


Amnesty International concerns

The case of the murder of Chea Vichea exposes a persistent lack of judicial independence in Cambodia. Chapter 11 of Cambodia’s 1993 Constitution states that the judiciary shall be an independent power, which shall guarantee and uphold impartiality and protect the rights and freedoms of the people. Article 130 states that "judicial power shall not be granted to the legislative or executive branches of government." Article 14(1) of the ICCPR, to which Cambodia is a state party, provides that:

"All persons shall be equal before the courts and tribunals. In the determination of any criminal charge against him, or of his rights and obligations in a suit at law, everyone shall be entitled to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent, and impartial tribunal established by law…"

In this regard, the UN Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary, endorsed by the General Assembly resolutions 40/32 of 29 November 1985 and 40/146 of 13 December 1985 state:

"2. The judiciary shall decide matters before them impartially, on the basis of facts and in accordance with the law, without any restrictions, improper influences, inducements, pressure, threats or interferences, direct or indirect, from any quarter or for any reason.
4. There shall not be any inappropriate or unwarranted interference with the judicial process, nor shall judicial decisions by the courts be subject to revision…"

Moreover, as discussed above, Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun did not receive a trial meeting international fair trial standards, including the presumption of innocence (ICCPR, Article 14(2)); the right to be tried without undue delay (ICCPR, Article 14 (3)(c); the right to cross examination (ICCPR Article 14 (3)(e).

This unsolved murder and the trials of Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun underline the lack of rule of law and the prevailing culture of impunity in Cambodia. Those responsible for hundreds of reported political killings – of politicians, journalists, women, children, ethnic Vietnamese, political activists and ordinary people during the past decade have enjoyed impunity from prosecution. The Cambodian judicial system, which lacks fairness and independence and is steeped in corruption, continues to impede any real improvements of the human rights situation. This climate of impunity will change only when justice becomes a reality for everyone in Cambodia – both victims and perpetrators.

Amnesty International again calls on the Cambodian Authorities to:

urgently initiate an impartial, independent and effective investigation into the murder of Chea Vichea so that those responsible are brought to justice;
release Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun without delay and clear their names, unless there is sufficient evidence to bring charges against them. If so, they should be given a prompt retrial which meets international fair trial standards;
conduct a thorough, independent investigation into the conduct of the case – including allegations of police brutality during their initial interrogation, intimidation of witnesses and political interference with the judicial process;
immediately, concretely and resolutely address the prevailing climate of impunity and continuing lack of justice for people in Cambodia, including by amending the law on The Supreme Council of Magistracy, established under the Constitution to guarantee the independence and effectiveness of the judiciary, to ensure that it is independent, non-partisan, and safeguarded against interference from the executive branch of government;
to ensure that the right to freedom of association, in particular the right to form trade unions and join them, is protected including through taking effective action against employers who deny this right.

(1) See e.g. Kingdom of Cambodia: The killing of trade unionist Chea Vichea, AI Index: ASA 23/008/2004, 3 December 2004

(2) Two Nabbed in Slaying of Cambodian Leader, Ker Munthit, Associated Press, 29 January 2004

(3) Continuing Patterns of Impunity in Cambodia, The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Human Rights in Cambodia, October 2005, Ax Hangs Over Judge Who Dropped Chea Vichea Charges, Phnom Penh Post, Issue 13/07, March 26 - April 8, 2004

(4) Appeals Court Heat on Chea Vichea Pair, Phnom Penh Post, 2-15 July 2004

(5) The Extraordinary Chambers is an internationalized court within the Cambodian court system mandated to investigate and prosecute "senior Khmer Rouge leaders" and those who were "most responsible for the crimes and serious violations of Cambodian penal law, international humanitarian law and custom and international conventions recognized by Cambodia" during the Khmer Rouge regime 17 April 1975-6 January 1979.

(6) Media Statement, 1 July 2004, Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee

(7) Statement by Mr. Peter Leuprecht, the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Human Rights in Cambodia, 8 July 2004

(8) The Special Representative calls for continued investigation into the murder of trade union leader Chea Vichea and for the immediate release of Cheam Channy, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Human Rights in Cambodia, 16 August 2005

(9) Interview with Amnesty International (by phone), 19 July 2006

********

Amnesty International demands the release of scapegoats for Chea Vichea's muder

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
PRESS RELEASE

AI Index: ASA 23/009/2006 (Public)
News Service No: 199
31 July 2006

Cambodia: Release scapegoats for Chea Vichea's murder

The Cambodian government must immediately open a fresh, independent investigation into the murder of trade unionist Chea Vichea, said Amnesty International one year after two men who had been falsely accused were convicted of the crime and sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment.

"Chea Vichea's killers are still on the loose and his family continue to be denied justice," said Brittis Edman, South East Asia researcher at Amnesty International.

"This case reeks of injustice and shows how a cycle of impunity in Cambodia is perpetuated by the justice system."

Trade union leader and human rights activist Chea Vichea was murdered in January 2004. Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun were found guilty for the crime on 1 August 2005 after an investigation marred by failures at every level of the justice system and a grossly unfair trial.

The Phnom Penh Court convicted the two men on the basis of an initial confession Born Samnand later recanted, saying the police had extracted it under torture.

Apart from this forced confession, no evidence was presented at the trial linking the two men to the murder. Born Samnang had an alibi placing him 60 km away from the crime scene. Witnesses were intimidated by police and a judge who dismissed the case for lack of evidence was removed from his post.

"Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun should be released without delay and a new investigation launched which is impartial,independent and effective,” said Brittis Edman.

Both men appealed the verdict and their appeals have yet to be heard. Amnesty International is calling for an investigation into the irregularities in Born and Sok's cases.

Chea Vichea's case is one of hundreds of political killings in Cambodia in the last decade that remain unsolved because the justice system fails to hold the perpetrators accountable. Amnesty International is gravely concerned that Cambodian courts remain weak, lack independence and are subject to political pressures.

For further information see: Cambodia:The murder of trade unionist Chea Vichea: Still No Justice, AI Index ASA 23/008/2006,
http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engasa230082006


Public Document
******************
For more information please call Amnesty International's press office in London, UK, on +44 20 7413 5566
Amnesty International, 1 Easton St., London WC1X 0DW. web: http://www.amnesty.org

For latest human rights news view http://news.amnesty.org

Was Nhiek Bun Chhay kept in the dark about Ranariddh's attempt to form an alliance with SRP?

Nhiek Bun Chhay claims that he did not know about Prince Ranariddh's recent attempt to form an alliance with SRP for the 2008 election, in spite of the fact that Nhiek Bun Chhay just returned from Malaysia where he met the prince there. (Photo: RFA)

Nhiek Bun Chhay denies news about “alliance”

30 July 2006
By Sam Borin
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by KI-Media

Funcinpec senior official has denied the news about Prince Norodom Ranariddh, Funcinpec president, calling his party members to hurry and seek an alliance with the Sam Rainsy Party and other democrats.

General Nhiek Bun Chhay, Funcinpec secretary-general, who just returned from Malaysia where Prince Ranariddh is currently residing, said that delegation members who went to meet Prince Ranariddh the day before yesterday, did not hear about this call.

Nhiek Bun Chhay said: “I did not [hear] at all about about this, I heard some reporters asking me about this issue also, I am stressing that the call for all democrats to unite [by Prince Ranariddh], I personally did not know about this issue because I went to meet [Samdech Krom Preah] and I do not know have any information about this issue at all.”

1,500 illegals nabbed in Malaysia including several Cambodians

IN THE NET: Some of the 1,500 illegal immigrants waiting at the Sepang District Council compound to have their particulars checked during Ops Tegas yesterday.

Monday July 31, 2006

1,500 illegals nabbed

By MERGAWATI ZULFAKAR
The Star Online (Malaysia)

SEPANG: Selangor Rela yesterday nabbed more than 1,500 illegal immigrants working at a factory here in their largest Ops Tegas swoop this year.

The 3am operation, involving 1,250 Rela members from Selangor and Negri Sembilan, was led by director Khairy Mohd Alwee and took place at the workers' hostel.

“This is our biggest swoop so far. We were tipped off by members of the public. The illegals are from Indonesia, India, Myanmar, Vietnam, Nepal and Cambodia,” Khairy said, when contacted.

“We are compiling their particulars. Most of them do not have proper travel documents. After this, we will send them to immigration depots all over the country because the ones in Selangor are already overcrowded with illegal immigrants.”

Ops Tegas was launched more than a year ago to flush out illegal immigrants, then estimated to be some 800,000 people.

With the large number of illegals, the government amended the Emergency (Essential Powers) Act 1964 Essential Rules (Amended) in February last year, authorising Rela officers to search, without a warrant, houses or premises believed to be the hideouts of illegal immigrants.

Khairy estimated that some 138,000 illegals were still in Selangor, adding that the state Rela would intensify its operations.

“Our problem is that not many people are aware that Rela now has the power to detain illegals. Investigation and prosecution would still done by the Immigration Department,” he said.

“We have shown that through our own operations in the last one year, we have been successful in nabbing quite a number of illegals.”

Khairy said those who have information on illegal immigrants in their area could contact 03-88886308.

Sam Rainsy Promises To Help Relocated People - [Kem Sokha criticizes Sam Rainsy's call for mass demonstration]

Sam Rainsy (Photo RFA)

Monday, July 31, 2006

By Yun Samean
THE CAMBODIA DAILY

SRP President Sam Rainsy promised on Sunday to provide assistance to the thousands of people forcibly evicted in recent weeks from Village 14 in Tonle Bassac commune and the Preah Monivong Hospital site.

"The people don't have a water supply, if they continue to face the water shortage they will die," he said after visits to two relocation sites in Dangkao district and Kandal province's Ang Snuol district.

Sam Rainsy promised a week's supply of water for both sites and said he had paid to have some people sent to hospitals. He also promised to provide temporary housing in Phnom Penh for at least 20 junior high school children who were relocated to Dangkao and Ang Snuol and have been unable to attend their schools.

"Poor people are increasing their anger," Sam Rainsy said, and reiterated his warning that the government should either suspend its policy of forced eviction or face mass demonstrations in the capital.

CPP lawmaker Cheam Yeap accused Sam Rainsy of political saber rattling and said the SRP leader was merely launching his political campaign for the commune elections in 2007 and general elections in 2008.

"He wants the people to blame the government" Cheam Yeap said.

Cheam Yeap said that City Hall provided adequate evidence to Prime Minister Hun Sen to justify the evictions and that the government had provided adequate relocation packages to those moved from their homes.

Cheam Yeap justified the evictions, saying they were aesthetically important for Phnom Penh.

"The squatters gave a bad image to the city," Cheam Yeap said.

Sam Rainsy denied that he visited the relocation sites because he wanted to reap political rewards.

"People are miserable, it is not about politics," he said.

Cambodian Center for Human Rights Director Kem Sokha also accused Sam Rainsy of bandwagoning on the land issue.

"Demonstrations are his career," Kem Sokha said. "He pushes people and when violence occurs he flees," he said. "It is very dangerous for the people. He should try to find the solution first."

Official Denies Report of Heng Pov Arrest Warrant

Monday, July 31, 2006

By Saing Soenthrith and Van Roeun
THE CAMBODIA DAILY

The director of Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Sunday denied a newspaper report that an arrest warrant has been issued for well-known former Phnom Penh municipal police chief Heng Pov.

Citing unnamed sources within the court, leading Khmer-language daily newspaper Rasmei Kampuchea on Sunday printed a front-page article claiming that a warrant for Heng Pov's arrest had been issued on July 26, and that the former police chief had left the country.

"We don't know about this," said court Director Chiv Keng. "It’s a rumor."

According to the newspaper, the warrant allegedly contained four accusations.

Heng Pov could not be reached for comment.

Pov Vanny, a daughter of Heng Pov, said she was unaware of any warrant for her father's arrest and that she knew nothing about such allegations.

"I learned of this case by reading the newspaper today," she said, adding that she was not sure whether her father was currently in the county.

Deputy National Police Commissioner Sok Phal and National Military Police Commander Sao Sokha also said they were unaware of any warrant for Heng Pov’s arrest.

Pen Samithy, editor-in-chief of Rasmei Kampuchea, said he could not formally confirm the information contained in the story, but he maintained that several senior government officials had told him on condition of anonymity that the story was correct.

Heng Pov was removed and replaced as the city's top police official by Touch Naruth on Jan 13. Following Heng Pov’s surprise removal, more than 10 Phnom Penh police officials were arrested on various charges, including torturing and killing a woman in police custody and killing a municipal court judge. On July 21, six of the officers were found guilty of beating the woman to death and were sentenced to 12 years in prison each.

(Additional reporting by Douglas Gillison)

Hun To denies making threat on Sralanh Khmer newspaper editor

Monday, July 31, 2006
No Threat Made to Editor, PM's Nephew Reiterates

By Pin Sisovann
THE CAMBODIA DAILY

Prime Minister Hun Sen's nephew Hun To said Sunday that he is unfazed by a Reporters Without Borders statement urging the arrest of those who allegedly threatened the life of the editor-in-chief of Sralanh Khmer newspaper. Hun To reiterated his denial that he has ever threatened editor You Saravuth, as You Saravuth has claimed. "I did not threaten anyone. I don't care [about the statement]," Hun To said. You Saravuth claims Hun To threatened him after the pro-Sam Rainsy Party newspaper accused Hun To of illegally grabbing land. In its Thursday statement, France-based Reporters Without Borders also called for the protection of You Saravuth's family. Hun To has filed a defamation lawsuit against You Saravuth, while You Saravuth is suing Hun To for his alleged death threat. Chhit Sarith, You Saravuth's lawyer, said he was concerned that the statement could scupper his plans to reach an out-of-court settlement with Hun To.

Anti-PM Leaflets Allege Plot To Kill KR's Former Leaders

Monday, July 31, 2006

By Kuch Naren and Elizabeth Tomei
THE CAMBODIA DAILY

Anti-govemment pamphleteers struck again on Thursday night. scattering leaflets blaming Prime Minister Hun Sen for the death of former Khmer Rouge military chief Ta Mok and accusing the government of plotting to kill other surviving regime leaders, police said on Sunday.

The anonymously authored leaflets, scattered around the streets of Phnom Penh's Meanchey district accused the government of attempting to destroy vital Khmer Rouge tribunal evidence with the untimely demise of Ta Mok on July 21, Phnom Penh Municipal Police Chief Touch Naruth said.

The leaflets also alleged that a plot was afoot to eliminate former Khmer Rouge Brother Number 2 Nuon Chea, the regime's former foreign minister Ieng Sary and former head of state Khieu Samphan.

Touch Naruth said that his officers were hunting those responsible for the incendiary material.

"The government is not involved with the death of Ta Mok or trying to kill other former Khmer Rouge leaders. Ta Mok died because of a disease," Touch Naruth said. "We have the doctor's determination over the death," he said.

"The government supports the Khmer Rouge tribunal," Touch Naruth added.

Chum Savuth, Meanchey district's Chak Angre Leu commune police chief, confirmed that the anti-Hun Sen leaflets were distributed in his commune on Thursday night, but declined further comment.

Similar anti-Hun Sen leaflets accusing the government of a myriad of unsavory practices were previously scattered in three Phnom Penh districts in May, and again in Dangkao district in June, and in Chamkar Mon district in early July.

Touch Naruth said the culprits were politically motivated and attempting to stir up trouble ahead of the coming elections.

When the suspected pamphleteers are apprehended they will be presented to the public at a press conference. Touch Naruth added.

Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak also denied the allegations in the pamphlets and said the distribution of such material was illegal.

Ranariddh Asks SRP To Join Forces in 2008 - [Thomico willing to join if F'pec divorce wife no. 1 (CPP) first]

Monday, July 31, 2006

By Yun Samean
THE CAMBODIA DAILY

Funcinpec President Prince Norodom Ranariddh has invited the Sam Rainsy Party to form an "Alliance of Nationalists" with his embattled party to compete together in the 2008 national elections, the prince's public affairs adviser Ok Socheat said Sunday.

SRP leader Sam Rainsy said he welcomed the proposal, which according to Ok Socheat is also open to other political parties, including Funcinpec's current coalition partner—Prime Minister Hun Sen's ruling CPP.

"It is Prince Norodom Ranariddh's initiative. He wants to have national reconciliation. It's in the nationalist spirit," Ok Socheat said. "It is an ultimate opportunity. If we don't unite there will be a disaster after the 2008 election," he said, without elaborating on what disaster might follow the poll

Prince Ranariddh, who has been overseas since March, announced his plan in Malaysia last week, Ok Socheat said.

He added that the alliance would not break the coalition agreement with the CPP, as that agreement only relates to the mandate following the 2003 election.

Sam Rainsy, who has previously enjoyed a rocky relationship with Prince Ranariddh and previously joined two short-lived election-time coalitions with Funcinpec in 1998 and 2003, said that provided rank-and-file SRP members support the proposal, the party would join again.

"We want to have national reconciliation regardless of previous mistakes," Sam Rainsy said.

But he added that he would adopt caution in dealing with Funcinpec, given the failure of the 2003 post-election "Alliance of Democrats" between the two parties.

That alliance was launched in August 2003 to jointly bargain with the CPP for a place in the coalition government. It crumbled acrimoniously nearly a year later, when Funcinpec made a surprise agreement to join the CPP as its sole coalition partner, leaving an embittered SRP out in the cold.

Sam Rainsy subsequently accused the prince of taking millions of dollars in bribes to form the government. The prince denied the allegation and filed a defamation lawsuit that in February 2005 helped prompt Sam Rainsy to flee Cambodia and remain outside the country for a year.

CPP lawmaker Cheam Yeap said that his party would distance itself from the royalists if they allied themselves with the SRP.

"The CPP is mature," he said. "The CPP will not join the alliance."

Cheam Yeap added that he was not surprised by Prince Ranariddh's proposal. But said the prince ought to remember the blistering criticism that Sam Rainsy has heaped on Funcinpec in the past.

Prince Sisowath Thomico—who on Friday formed his own alliance with four little-known political groups aimed at replacing the current government—said he the Alliance of Nationalists, would be happy to joinprovided Funcinpec breaks off its relationship with the CPP.

"Funcinpec has to divorce one wife. Funcinpec cannot have two wives at the same time," he said.

Nhiek Bun Chhay, Funcinpec secretary-general, said he was unaware of Prince Ranariddh's proposal.

Koul Panha, director of the Committee for Free and Fair Elections, said the SRP and Funcinpec could potentially win more votes than the CPP if they combine forces.

Prior to the election, an alliance could serve as a check on the CPP’s power, and two parties are stronger when they stand together, he said.

Sam Rainsy met with evicted families and threatened to demonstrate against the eviction of poor people

Sam Rainsy, opposition leader (Photo: RFA)

Sam Rainsy threatens to demonstrate against the eviction of poor people

30 July 2006
By Sok Serey
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by KI-Media

In the morning of 30 July, the opposition leader met with several thousands of Cambodian families in Ang Snuol district, Kandal province, and in Dankao district, in the suburb of Phnom Penh, and he promised to lead a mass demonstration at the beginning of August to oppose the expulsion and eviction of poor families who are dumped outside of the city where there is no water, electricity, school, or health center.

Sam Rainsy met with 168 families that the authorities removed from their homes near Monivong Hospital in Phnom Penh. They are currently living in Sre Ampil village, Ang Snuol district, Kandal province, and he also met with more than one thousand families who were evicted from Sambok Chab village in Phnom Penh, and are currently living in Andaung village, Dangkao district. Sam Rainsy also met with several thousands other families who live nearby.

Sam Rainsy accused the government authority of evicting only poor families, and of giving hardship to the poor, whereas the same authority are providing benefits only to a small group of rich people.

Sam Rainsy has threatened to hold a demonstration in the near future: “to demand for justice, to demand for land, to demand for homes in order to sustain a living condition similar to what the evicted people had before.”

He promised that he will search for funding from generous donors from overseas to help build schools for children, to provide clean water and medicines for children and mothers of newborn who lack care and milk for their infants.

Vorn Sokha, a woman whose was displaced from the Monivong Hospital, talked and complained about the difficulties at her new place in Sre Ampil village while crying: “It’s extremely difficult, my children are still at school age, and they are still small. What can I depend on now? What can I do? Where do I go? After coming here, there is no job.”

Nong Bun, a new resident in Andaung village displaced from Sambok Chap, declared that he will participate in the protest demonstration organized (by Sam Rainsy): “Everybody suffered from the land resolution which goes nowhere, furthermore, there is a lot of difficulties to provide for food.”

Mrs. Ieng Nhor said: “There, they told me to move out everyday, tomorrow they said they would evict me for real, if I did not move, they would burn my house…”

Sam Rainsy said that he did not fix the date of the mass demonstration yet, he is waiting for an answer from prime minister Hun Sen to his letter requesting Hun Sen to stop the eviction of poor people from the city and the expropriation of land belonging to poor people.

The municipality of Phnom Penh cannot be contacted to provide an explanation if the authority is planning to evict more people or not, the officials were busy with a meeting held on Sunday 30 July. General Khieu Sopheak, sposkeman of the ministry of Interior, warned that demonstration cannot be held unless there is an authorization first.

F'pec delegation returns back without their leader

Prince Norodom Ranariddh met with the F'pec delegation from Cambodia but there is still no words on his return back to Cambodia. (Photo: RFA)

29 July 2006
By Mayarith
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by KI-Media

Prince Norodom Ranariddh did not return home yet even though senior Funcinpec party officials who went to meet him in Malaysia have all returned back on Saturday 29 July already.

One Funcinpec source told RFA from Malaysia that Prince Ranariddh told the delegation led by General Nhiek Bun Chhay, that he will be returning back to Cambodia in the near future, but that he did not indicate the exact date yet.

The same source indicated that the prince gave a new 3-point strategy to apply by Funcinpec officials, and that he is pushing for the additional reform in the party. The prince did not elaborate on the recent defection of 172 Funcinpec party members to the CPP.

Unlike the Hun Sen administration, VN's new administration team is pushing for corruption fight

Thanh Nien Chief Editor on fighting corruption

Sunday, July 30, 2006
Thanh Nien News

Reviewing the success of the ‘Is Vietnam small country or not?’ Forum, Thanh Nien’s Editor-in-Chief Nguyen Cong Khe shared some of his insights on corruption fight, the prerequisite for a “not small Vietnam.”

Speaking to local VietnamNet online news, Khe said “There are good signs indicating that a stronger fight against corruption has commenced since the tenth Party Congress”, citing Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh’s speech considering anti-corruption the most important task of the party.

The following are excerpts of an interview with Khe after the forum, which in the last three months has heard thousands of comments from all corners of the society: from elite scholars and senior officials to ordinary laymen.

Reporter: The bulky bureaucratic system leads to the non-transparency which allows for corruption. Some also say that officials’ low salaries force them into corruption scams. Can we solve the matter?

Nguyen Cong Khe: I believe that we have capacity to renew the salary system. If Cambodia, albeit having to receive financial aid from international donors, can still pay its parliament members US$500-1,000 a month, then why a nation such as Vietnam with a GDP of $50 billion cannot? As far as I know, if we measure the underground economy, the nation’s GDP may reach $95 billion. Why don’t we pay officials a more satisfactory salary so that they can cover their daily needs?

We should also drop incompetent officials to make way for a more capable system. A simplified system with diligent officials can surely operate more smoothly while at the same time ensuring a higher salary.

On the other hand, we should also speed up the socialization of education and health care. We should create favorable conditions for all individuals and organizations, both inside and outside the nation, to join these activities so and develop better model private schools and hospitals for the nation to improve upon.

Many families in Vietnam can afford their children’s study overseas for tens of thousands US dollars a year. Thus, they can surely accept more costly but better quality health care.

As well, a lay-off of incompetent government officials may trigger more private enterprise activity as many currently working in the state-owned sector will move to the private sector.

Reporter: There are many complaints of overloaded administrative agencies. What is to be done?

Nguyen Cong Khe: Even in my newspaper, we lack competent staff though we have many average quality employees.

I once spent 1-2 hours watching the working of several wards’ administrative bureaus. The officials spent hours smoking and drinking coffee rather than working while the citizens who came there for administrative procedures still encountered annoying delays and interference.

I even know a Deputy Minister of Public Security Ministry who had troubles acquiring his birth certificate as he deliberately did not reveal his position.

I believe that a competent officer could handle the works of 5-7 of the incompetent ones.

Reporter: The slow deployment of informatics technology in administrative management often adds to bureaucratic red-tape. What do you think?

Nguyen Cong Khe: The advanced technologies are necessary, but we can only exploit these devices if we have competent people.

Reporter: How will Thanh Nien materialize ideas on corruption fighting that were contributed to the forum?

Nguyen Cong Khe: We are going to publish a book gathering the ideas contributed to the forum and send them to agencies and libraries as present.

Solving corruption problems is a math puzzle for the whole party and the people as the epidemic threatens the state’s existence.

Source: VietnamNet – Translated by Thanh Tuan

Cambodian authorities support Castro's Cuban spies caught and jailed in the US

Cambodians Demand to Free the Five

Prensa Latina (Cuba)

Phnom Penh, Jul 30 (Prensa Latina) Solidarity with Cuba groups in Cambodia and local authorities created a committee to demand the release of the Five Cuban Heroes unjustly held in US prisons for fighting terrorism.

The creation of the committee was announced at an event held in the Cambodian capital to commemorate the 53rd anniversary of Cuba´s National Rebellion Day and attended by Prince Principe Sisowath Chivannariddh, secretary of State at the Foreign Ministry.

Participants in the ceremony condemned the illegal and arbitrary incarceration of Antonio Guerrero, Fernando Gonzalez, Gerardo Hernandez, Ramon Labañino and Rene Gonzalez, who are internationally known as The Cuban Five.

Waldo Reyes, political advisor of the Cuban Embassy in Phnom Penh, highlighted the historic importance of the attack on the Moncada Garrison by Fidel Castro and a group of young Cubans on July 26, 1953.

Also present at the ceremony were officials from several public Cambodian institutions, friends of Cuba´s and members of the Association of Cambodian Students who Graduated in Cuba, as well as representatives of the local media.

Other's fault is huge like a mountain, oneself's fault cannot be seen - Khmer proverb

By requesting his party members to move away from land grabbing and deforestation corruption involvements, Hun Sen is de facto admitting that CPP members are involved in these crimes. However, a Khmer proverb says: "Other's fault is huge like a mountain, oneself's fault cannot be seen", Mr. Hun Sen should reflect hard on this old saying. (Photo: RFA)

Request for CPP members to move away from corruption

29 July 2006
By Mayarith
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by KI-Media

Hun Sen, Cambodia prime minister, is asking one more time on Saturday 29 July, in front of CPP members assembled in Takhmao (Kandal province), for CPP government officials to pull themselves out of corruption involvement in land [grabbing] and deforestation issues.

According to a CPP official who participated this Saturday, in front of several thousands of CPP members assembled, Hun Sen warned that he will punish his party officials if they are found to be involved in these [corruption] cases.

ASEAN visa pact hailed as a boon to tourism

Sunday July 30, 2006

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - A Southeast Asian pact to allow visa-free travel for citizens within the grouping has been hailed as a boon for the tourism industry as well as for dreams of regional unity.

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) ministers took a respite from tense discussions on rogue member state Myanmar to sign the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Visa Exemption at their annual talks here last week.

Combined with growing affluence in many of the 10 member states, as well as an era of cheap air travel, the pact which will allow two-week visa-free entry for ASEAN nationals travelling within the bloc is expected to have a real impact.

"This move should result in greater ease of travel within the region and stimulate more social and commercial interaction within ASEAN," said Tiger Airways chief executive Tony Davis.

"Tiger Airways is well positioned to facilitate this increase in travel demand and is ready to expand its services to make air travel within the region easily available and affordable," said the boss of the Singapore-based carrier.

AirAsia, the Malaysia-based budget airline which pioneered the low-cost sector in the region and which flies to all ASEAN nations except Laos, was also encouraged by the decision.

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"It is a step in the right direction. We are excited about it. For sure it will encourage intra-ASEAN travel," said chief executive Tony Fernandes.

"When travel is made easy and cheap, it will spur people to travel and AirAsia will benefit," he told AFP. "We are best placed to take advantage of it."

Fernandes said he hopes governments will now reduce airport taxes and other travel-related levies "to make ASEAN a common market for travel".

The agreement will take effect once it is ratified by all 10 member countries. ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Bilateral agreements between some ASEAN countries requiring their nationals to obtain visas currently limit intra-regional travel.

Myanmar, for example, requires a visa for all visitors into the military-ruled nation, including those from ASEAN countries.

Southeast Asian governments have long promoted closer integration of the region of 500 million people as a vital initiative to remain economically relevant as the long shadow of regional power China looms.

But while dry debate over tariff reductions and free-trade deals may pass people by, the visa pact has been seized on as a concrete example of how closer relations can provide real benefits to ordinary people.

ASEAN spokesman M.C. Abad said the agreement would help integrate the region -- a motley collection of democracies and dictatorships, and economies both developed and dysfunctional.

"This agreement should contribute to promoting people-to-people contact in Southeast Asia. It could increase tourism in the ASEAN region," he said.

ASEAN countries recorded 51.39 million visitor arrivals in 2005, 45 percent of whom were from other nations within the bloc, Abad told AFP.

Former ASEAN secretary general Rodolfo Severino also hailed the multilateral pact.

"It's good because everybody is committed to it and it's harder to get out of the agreement," Severino said. "If it's on a bilateral basis, it's easier to get rid of it."

Severino also said that Myanmar's move to become part of the agreement indicated a change in policy in that country, which tightly controls the movements of its citizens as well as incoming foreigners.

"That's a political decision on their part. If indeed they are in the same status as the rest of ASEAN, then it is a policy change that they have undertaken."

Difficulties met by those removed from their homes near Monivong Hospital

29 July 2006
By Ouk Sav Bory
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by KI-Media

Government workers and ordinary people who were forced to move out of their homes located near the Monivong Hospital to a place near Sre Ampil village, Snor commune, Ang Snuol district, Kandal province, are facing with lack of drinking water and need immediate help.

Several small huts covered with plywoods and some wood, and tin roofs are built on a small mound surrounded by a barbed wire fence. The place, located in the middle of nowhere in the village of Sre Ampil, Snor commune, is divided into small plots.

When asked, the inhabitants said that the authority forced them out of their home near Preah Monivong Hospital (in Phnom Penh) at the end of June and early July so that the government can rent the land to a private company. The government reimbursed some families US$500, some others $1,000 and they were provided a 7-by-14-meter plot of land.

They blame the government for removing them out by force and move them without care to the middle of rice fields without water, electricity, bathrooms, health centers, schools, sewer system. They also lost a lot of money and time to go to work from their new far away homes. It cost them 20,000 riels ($5) each day to go to work (in Phnom Penh). If they use their own motorcycle, they need to spend between 1 to 2 liters of gas each day.

Phou Simao, a police officer, said that after the authority removed him out of his home near Monivong Hospital, even though he received the plot of land in Sre Ampil village, he did not receive the land ownership title. In the future, the government may decide to develop the area and could move him from his new home again. He said: “Since I came to live here, there is no authority, no organization that came to visit us to ask whether the land I am allotted is my property, or if it is only a borrowed land. If they rob us of our homes near Monivong Hospital and bring us here, and it turns out to be a borrowed land, what will the government do? …”

You Sith is a woman who worked for the Monivong Hospital, she complained that she is busy to go to work, when she gets back home, she has no water to use: “There is nothing here, there is no job, we are always waiting for the water trucks. They bring us water, but it is never sufficient, those at the end of the line or the beginning of the line always lack water…”

Sorn, a widowed woman who lived by herself, said that when she lived near the Monivong Hospital, she has a room left to rent out which provides her with some income in addition to her sales of merchandizes, she had a decent living then. However, after the authority moved her by force to this new place, she has no work: “After they moved me here, I had a lot of difficulties. Over there (her old home), I can do some sales … Here, there is no work, there is no sewer, no bathroom, I have no money to start a business, and I am too old. They gave me $500, but up to now, I spent it all to build a house and to eat…”

Sar Sokhan, the wife of a police officer, said that when she lived near Monivong Hospital for 19 years, she could save enough to build a concrete house costing almost $20,000. The government reimbursed her only $500 and it moved her by force to live in the middle of rice fields. Her daughter who is in 12th grade, should take the high school exit exam this year, but she decided not to take the exam, and went to work in a factory instead. Her 3 sons who are studying in grade 10 and 11 in Sisowath and Chaktokmouk high schools are very deceived and they now misbehave.

Sokhan said: “At the end, they moved me here by force, all my children are distraught. My daughter said: ‘Mom, I am so deceived, since I was born, I lived in Phnom Penh, you had a house for us to live in, how could you fall down and have to come and live here…’ Therefore, even if my children will become thieves and go rob people, I won’t blame them, it is the government who turned my children to be that way…”

San Phostra, a 10th grade student at Sisowath high school, told us in tears that he lost hope. When school starts, he will enter grade 11, but he is not sure if he can continue his study or not. He has no motorcycle and bicycle to go to school which is located 30 kilometers from his new home.

Phostra added also that his older brother and his younger sister, as well as numerous other students who were forced to move here, did not continue their schooling, they can no longer meet their friends, and are no longer in contact with their schools. They are very deceived by life because in this new place, there is no water to take a shower, there is no electricity, there are a lot of mosquitoes, there is nothing. Furthermore, the parents are constantly fighting each other here, they always curse the children and send them to fetch water for their needs. The children do not know where to find water because they are not use to carry water home, so they end up taking a bath in the rice fields, in ponds which give them rashes.

Those who were forced to move to live here, said that they have a roof on their head but they do not have work, they cannot do business, small and older children cannot continue with their schooling, in their everyday life, they lack water, electricity, rice, school, health center, transportation. One of the main need is drinking water.

The villagers said that up to 2 weeks ago, each day, two trucks would bring in two truck load of water to distribute to the 168 families. Now, it’s only every 3 or 4 days that the water trucks come, and after distributing to 10 homes, there is no water left. Some people are busy going with work in Phnom Penh city, they do not have time to wait for the water trucks so they don’t have water to use. This creates a lot of fighting.

They also said that currently, there is no group leader at all, there is a police office in Tuol Leap, some police officers are sent to patrol the area in the daytime, but at nighttime, there is nobody to protect them. Some of the villagers had to keep their young children with relatives (in Phnom Penh) so that they can finish their school year.

They said that they face more difficulties than those who were removed from Sambok Chap village. At least those in Sambok Chap already knew what it is to lose a house, but for them and their children, they are not use to this situation at all, they never face the danger of being evicted to make place for the city development.

Chuon Chamrong, An Adhoc human rights NGO representative of Phnom Penh, said that based on her investigation, the moving are affecting significantly all aspects of life: “We should rethink again on the development plan. A development which pushes people towards more poverty must be stopped. The development should think about the people also…”

Un Seng, Sre Ampil village chief, said that the higher authority did not hand over the administration of the displaced people to him. He visited the area to survey the living of the people. He observed that they lack drinking water as well as cleaning water.

He said that people who used to live in that area before, had to buy water to use everyday because in Sre Ampil, wells do not produce water.

Khieu San, the Kandal province MP, said that he contacted the Kandal province governor to help solve this problem based on the governor’s ability.

Up to now, there is nobody from the Ministry of Interior who are sent to help solve the work problems of the displaced police officers, nor the land ownership title for the 168 displaced families.

With rats jumping off F'pec ship in droves, Serey Kosal desperately tries to shore up the credibility of the F'pec-CPP alliance

Serey Kosal, F'pec senior official (Photo: RFA)

F’pec Serey Kosal confirms the alliance with the CPP

29 July 2006
By Sok Serey
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by KI-Media

Serey Kosal, the special advisor to Funcinpec President Norodom Ranariddh, declared that the alliance tie between Funcinpec and the CPP will not have any rift or discord even though almost 200 Funcinpec members have decided to defect to join the CPP recently.

In the afternoon of Friday 28 July, 172 members and former members of the Funcinpec party who are employed at the National Assembly have declared their new allegiance to the CPP and they were received by Chumteav Mem Sam An, a member of the CPP central committee, at the CPP headquarter.

Serey Kosal told RFA on Saturday that this defection can be compared to a small rain which will not bring any wind of change to the eternal alliance between Funcinpec and the CPP.

He explained: “We must preserve the partnership in order to preserve the security of the society, it is necessary. We must behave ourselves as a valuable partner to them also …”

RFA was not able to contact Khieu Kanharith, the CPP spokesman, this Saturday to find out who among the senior Funcinpec officials have defected their party. However, according to a quote by Khieu Kanhariuth published by the Wat Phnom newspaper on Friday, a number of MPs and ministers of the Funcinpec quota had contacted the CPP leaders to defect from Funcinpec and join the CPP.

In reaction to this issue, Serey Kosal said that he wants those who defect to write a letter to Funcinpec to confirm their leaving of the party to join the CPP, in this manner they would clarify their situation rather than straddling between two parties.

Wat Phnom also quoted Khieu Kanharith saying that in the province of Kompong Cham, more than 1,000 SRP members have joined the CPP.

Sam Rainsy, the opposition party president, said on Saturday that this information is not true: “I am refuting this declaration and the rumors. There was no defection, not even a single one. To the contrary, former CPP supporters who lost their lands are now counting on the SRP to obtain justice for them.”

Kul Panha, Comfrel NGO president, commented that the defection from a weak party to the party in power represents a political pressure and it also allows those who defect to find some degree of stability in their work [for the government].

He added that the commune election at the beginning of 2007 is approaching, each political party are preparing themselves to compete in this election.

Cult of personality growing for dead Khmer Rouge leader

By Bronwyn Sloan
Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Jul 28, 2006

Phnom Penh - A series of coincidences, conspiracy theories and traditional superstitions were combining to create a flourishing cult of personality around former Khmer Rouge commander Ta Mok just a week after his death, officials said Friday.

In the remote northern district of Anlong Veng, one of the final Khmer Rouge strongholds and now Ta Mok's final resting place, villagers are crediting his spirit with a freakish catch of fish.

'Many locals here love him,' Anlong Veng police chief Keo Thun said by telephone. 'They don't think about politics. A few days ago, people began catching huge amounts of fish in a dam Ta Mok built ... a place there were no fish before. Simple Khmer people say this is a gift from Ta Mok.'

Some are also thanking him for the ceaseless monsoon rains which have poured down in areas loyal to him since his death last Friday.

But even in the capital, Phnom Penh, worst hit by the ultra-Maoist Khmer Rouge reign, thanks are being offered to the spirit of Ta Mok after two lotteries in one week paid out big for those who gambled on the number 82 - his age at death.

'A lot of people won the lottery betting on his age when he died. They said they were betting for that reason, and they have won,' lottery agent Chan Dara at Phnom Penh's Psar Moeun Ang market said. 'They often bet on the death age of the powerful.'

Even in the capital's coffee shops, traditional hotbeds of political gossip, debate rages over Ta Mok's powers in death. Some local newspapers are lapping up the conjecture as front page news.

The hubbub has prompted former king, Norodom Sihanouk, to post a reminder on his website that Ta Mok, nicknamed The Butcher, was no saint. Sihanouk sarcastically compared him to Joan of Arc.

Ta Mok was widely held to be responsible for much of the bloodiest purges of the Khmer Rouge's Democratic Kampuchea regime - a reign of terror under which up to 2 million Cambodians perished between 1975 to 1979.

He was the only prominent Khmer Rouge leader never to surrender, but was instead captured on the Thai border by Cambodian government troops in 1999 and spent the next seven years in virtual isolation in a military prison in the capital awaiting trial.

Even the movement's infamous former leader, Pol Pot, died in 1998 while in Ta Mok's custody, but his bloody past has not detered loyal supporters, who remember him instead as a generous man who brought public works such as dams, and therefore water and fish, to places otherwise bereft of development.

As thousands of ordinary Cambodians greeted news of his death with dismay and anger that he had, in effect, cheated justice, thousands more - mainly from still-impoverished former Khmer Rouge strongholds - went to pay their respects at his three-day Buddhist funeral ceremony in Anlong Veng.

Ta Mok's death came just days after the long-awaited joint UN-Cambodian government 56.3 million dollar Extraordinary Chambers to indict and try the aging and ailing remaining leaders began its preliminary prosecution stage.

With his death many secrets of the shadowy Khmer Rouge leadership also went to the grave, frustrating trial advocates who had long urged haste in bringing leaders such as Ta Mok to justice.

Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia and a survivor of the regime, has spent the past decade of his life compiling hundreds of thousands of documents to tender to the trial of former leaders.

The cult of personality growing around a man widely believed to be one of the most systematic and prolific killers of the last century frustrates Chhang, but makes him even more determined that the trial must go ahead.

'I am not surprised. It is hard to explain to ordinary people,' Youk Chhang said by telephone. 'Ordinary Cambodians are brought up to believe in the strong. They do not think about how they became strong. This is why a trial is very important and we are still progressing towards that. A trial will help people to understand Ta Mok's mistakes. It just hasn't come yet.'

Until then, Ta Mok, once the most feared warrior of one of the most brutal movements in recent history, has already become in death, for some, a demigod of fishermen and winning lottery numbers.

Cambodian Government Bans Swimsuits In Beauty Pageant [Another order from top prudish CPP wives again?]

July 28, 2006
Shaveta Bansal - All Headline News Staff Writer

Phnom Penh, Cambodia (AHN) - Cambodian government might have allowed the native damsels to compete for their beauty at Miss Cambodia Contest, provided that wear proper attire. The government has banned the beauties to wear swimming suits during the contest to "preserve Cambodian culture."

The country, which is holding its first Miss Cambodia competition after more than a decade, has ruled out skimpy attire in contests, organizers said Friday.

Sim Sarak, a director-general of Cambodia's Culture Ministry said that contestants of the beauty pageant starting September must be properly attired at all times "to preserve Cambodian culture."

As a condition of holding the event, the government said contestants cannot take to the stage in swimsuits.

The final of the contest will be held in December, said Kem Tola, marketing manager for Planet Communication Ltd., a Cambodian events management company.

The winner will receive a $969 prize and will likely be nominated to take part in next year's Miss Universe contest, Tola said. Because of the swimsuit ban at home, Miss Cambodia may need to learn how to pose in a swimsuit before going abroad, he said.

Miss Cambodia competitions were held in 1993 and 1995, but not in the intervening period, because the government thought it was a waste of money, Sim Sarak said. Swimsuits were also banned from the earlier contests, he added.

Cambodia is predominantly Buddhist and socially conservative country.

World Bank praises Cambodia's punishment for illegal logging [How about the punishment of the higher ups? Where is it?]

The World Bank on Friday praised the Cambodian government for its prosecutions of 11 people in illegal logging case.

"The World Bank is encouraged that the government of Cambodia has successfully prosecuted the illegal logging cases recently presented in the Phnom Penh municipal court," the statement of the World Bank Cambodia said.

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court handed out sentences of between five and seven years Thursday to 11 policemen and forestry officials for their involvement in a massive illegal logging operation in Ratanakiri province's Virachey National Park in 2004.

Presiding judge Ke Sokhan delivered the verdict, sentencing former park ranger Yim Sath, local police officials Proek Kateap, Nhay Lumbak and In Ratha to five years in prison. Seven other officials who are currently at large received sentences in absentia from six to seven years in prison.

The Ministry of Environment filed the lawsuit against the defendants in November 2004 after the ministry itself and World Bank representatives uncovered a massive logging operation in the Dragon's Tail and O'Yoeul region. It is estimated that the deforestation of 5,016 hectares of forest land could cost Cambodia over 15 million U.S. dollars.

"The undeniable evidence proves they really were accomplices and received bribes when they were on duty," Ke Sokhan told the courtroom.

Yin Kim Sean, the Environment Ministry's secretary of state, said that the ministry will continue to work with the court to punish those thought most responsible for the logging operation.

Source: Xinhua

Cambodia hopes to strengthen financial cooperation with China [to promote further corruption??]

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Friday that he hopes to strengthen financial cooperation with China to further promote Cambodia's social and economic development.

Hun Sen made the remarks during his meeting with visiting China Development Bank President Chen Yuan, who arrived here on Thursday for a four-day visit.

During the meeting, Hun and Chen exchanged views on financial issues of common concern. The premier also briefed Chen of six priorities in his country's development, which include irrigation system, infrastructure, electricity, human resources, export processing and tourism.

Chen Yuan said that his visit is to seek and promote more cooperation with Cambodia's financial institutes, adding that his bank is willing to cooperate with Cambodia on some large projects and to support investment on above priorities.

Chen also said China will be glad to support Cambodia on the project of construction of the railway linking Cambodia to some ASEAN member countries as well as China, and to offer more human resources training to promote Cambodia's economic development and reduce poverty.

Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni received Chen and his delegation Friday morning. The King hopes that the Chinese government would promote Cambodia's development of agriculture.

A Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation of agriculture was signed on Friday between China Development Bank and Cambodian Agricultural Development Bank.

Source: Xinhua

Examining the worth of Cambodia's war crimes trials

With the death of Ta Mok, also known as 'The Butcher', some wonder if reopening the wounds of Cambodia's 'killing fields' during a war crimes tribunal is worth the cost.

By J Eli Margolis for IDSS (28/07/06)
Posted at International Relations and Security Network - ISN (Switzerland)

Almost two decades after the December 1978 Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia which ended the brutal four-year rule of the Khmer Rouge, the Phnom Penh government is putting some of the former leaders on trial. The dark days of the “Killing Fields” by the Khmer Rouge had been a blot on Cambodian history. Some 20 percent of the country’s people had died from exhaustion, starvation or murder.

Today, the United Nations and the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen are preparing to put the surviving Khmer Rouge figures through a recently-established war crimes tribunal. The trials of the ageing former leaders are expected to begin in mid 2007. On 16 July, however, one of the most notorious Khmer Rouge leaders, Ta Mok, known as “The Butcher,” slipped into a coma. The age of the handful of likely defendants like Ta Mok and the US$56.3 million price tag, however, have many asking: Are the trials worth it?

Indeed, the questions are really two. First, will the tribunal bring the guilty to justice? And second, will it bring closure to a nation still nursing severe psychological wounds? In answering these questions, one should not assume that convictions alone will bring closure. Just the opposite, the state of memory in Cambodia suggests they will not. If the trials are to help heal Cambodia, they will need an added element - the stories of the victims.

The past in Cambodia’s present

The story of memory in Cambodia exhibits two trends - the construction of a politicized official history and the use of that history to repress individual memories.

The Cambodian past changed when Vietnam invaded. Soon after forming, the new Hanoi backed government began to propagate an official version of the Khmer Rouge years. To a large extent, this history still frames Cambodian understanding of that period.

Correspondent Margaret Scott describes this orthodoxy as “Pol Pot time.” Pitting the few against the many - a familiar theme of the Cambodian past - this account maintains that Pol Pot and a coterie of senior staff tricked and oppressed the Cambodian people, creating a second Holocaust. “Pol Pot time” is about as nuanced as a primary-school history text.

Why push a history that ignores international influences, latent Cambodian enmity towards Vietnamese, the role of ideology and the body of Khmer Rouge supporters among other things? Simply, the “Pol Pot clique” thesis gave needed legitimacy to the new communist government. It demonized Pol Pot and his deputies, who remained threats even in hiding. It gave a communist-friendly, exploitation-based reading of events. Importantly, it implicitly discredited Khmer Rouge ideology, which, in its later years, had become virulently anti-Vietnamese. Reports from journalists reinforced the new government’s preferred image as liberator, thus increasing international legitimacy.

That history provides legitimacy, however, is an old lesson. What is important is that, in Cambodia, officials kept the official history in the public sphere, where it would not have to contend with private memories. The new government made a museum out of the S-21 prison camp in Phnom Penh; tried Pol Pot and his deputy Ieng Sary in absentia; exhumed mass graves; erected monuments at several “killing fields”; and created a holiday called the Day of Anger, when people were to stew in resentment at what had been done to them (not, notably, what they had done to one another). Until 2001, schools did not teach anything about the period. Many schools still don’t.

Why go so far to keep history in a public realm of spectacle and rhetoric? The new government did this to limit the power of individual memories. A great number of former Khmer Rouge officials continued on in government. Blaming them instead of Pol Pot - as memories would - could have undermined social order and possibly the government itself.

This repression of private memories continues to take a terrible psychological toll. USAID estimates that two out of five Cambodians suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (shocking when one considers that over half of the current population was not yet born when the Khmer Rouge ruled).

The trials

Many hope that the tribunal will ease such psychological burdens. This understanding seems to be founded on the assumption that the trials will function as what the French historian and memory theorist Pierre Nora terms a "lieu de mémoire," or site of memory. Sites of memory, Nora theorizes, are objects, places,or events to which people attach a memory, removing that memory’s immediacy, and aiding it in its journey toward resolution and a detached history. Funerals and gravesites are an everyday example.

Assuming that the trials will automatically bring a mystical “healing,” however, is wrong. The tribunal is distant; it provides no way for individuals to attach or share their memories. Indeed, far from being a lieu de mémoire that helps release memories, the tribunal may actually support the official history and further repress them. By prosecuting just a few leaders, the tribunal implies that just a few were guilty. While prosecuting many more is impractical, charging these few is not much better. It looks like “Pol Pot time” all over again.

Moreover, the tribunal will further the official history’s legitimization project. Blaming a few implicitly clears the many former Khmer Rouge officials still in government - no doubt a concern near the heart of Prime Minister Hun Sen, himself an old Khmer Rouge official. Similarly, cooperation with the UN lends the government international legitimacy.

Which is not to say the tribunal is bad. These criminals oversaw despicable acts and must be brought to justice. But, if undertaken alone, the trials will be counterproductive. Without some added element, they will not only legitimize a questionable regime, but they will further strangle private memories with politicized public history.

New element?

But what should this “added element” be? The experience of other post-conflict societies such as Rwanda and South Africa suggests that it might be something as simple as sharing. A recognized, legitimate forum in which survivors can share their memories would be a true lieu de mémoire. Individual memories would re-enter - and re-define - the public space.

Thankfully, some groups have already taken steps in this direction. The Documentation Center of Cambodia has spent most of the past decade collecting oral histories, individual stories and Khmer Rouge paperwork. It publishes these accounts in a journal, Searching for the Truth. Yale University’s Cambodia Genocide Project, with a large presence in-country, operates in much the same way. Together with other non-governmental organizations, these two groups could become the forum Cambodia needs. Through the sharing of individual memories, a new history could be built, a more open and democratic public space created, and survivors slowly freed from the burdens of strangled memory.

As they pursue a war crimes tribunal, Cambodia and the UN should also organize these groups, give them the authority of a government or UN name, and encourage them to expand their work. Certainly, it would cost a fraction of the US$56.3 million already secured. After having devoted so much attention to the question of justice, Cambodia and the UN should not neglect that of memory.

Is the tribunal worth it? With an added element, it will be.

Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Blk S4, Level B4, Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798.

Cambodia predicts 7.2 pct growth for 2006 [and most likely double digit corruption increase rate as well]

Cambodian Finance Minister Keat Chhon predicted a healthy 7.2 percent GDP growth rate for this year, local media reported on Friday.

"We are trying hard. We can say that the current economy can reach the target," Keat Chhon was quoted by The Cambodia Daily as saying.

The estimate is up from earlier predictions of 6.1 percent by the Finance Ministry, as well as the International Monetary Fund's prediction of 5 percent and an estimate of 6.7 percent by the Statistics Institute at the Ministry of Planning.

Keat Chhon said that the growth would mainly come from agriculture, garment and tourism sectors.

Agriculture, however, was the key reason for the increased growth forecast, Keat Chhon said, adding that due to good rain, government irrigation systems and new forms of farming, the yield of rice has increased on average between 2 to 3 tons per hectare.

Touch Seng Tana of the Council of Ministers Economic, Social and Cultural Observation Unit said that agro-industry was the most crucial factor to help GDP growth.

Cambodian farmers along the borders now have better access to Thai and Vietnamese markets, which is improving trade, Touch Seng Tana said.

He said that the price of rubber has increased sharply this year, along with the amount of land being used to cultivate rubber.

Source: Xinhua