Cambodia High on List for US Anti-Trafficking ProjectsVOA Khmer, Brian Calvert,
Original report from Washington
24/04/2007
In a $74-million US State Department effort to curb human trafficking across 70 countries, Cambodia has the fifth-most number of projects and remains a "major source" of human trafficking, according to State Department documents.
Officials have said, though, that Cambodia's efforts to stop trafficking in recent years have been improving and that those improvements were one reason weighing in favor of granting Cambodian National Police Chief Hok Lundy permission to visit Washington this week.
Hok Lundy met with authorities from the Federal Bureau of Investigation Monday, a Bureau spokesman said. He was scheduled to meet State Department officials Tuesday. His visit comes despite an outcry from human rights organizations that he himself is involved in human trafficking and other crimes.
A State Department official told VOA Khmer last week that officials would deliver a "tough, direct message" to Hok Lundy on Cambodia's human trafficking problem.
Cambodia had five anti-trafficking projects supported by US funds in 2006, putting the country behind Bulgaria, Mexico, Russia and India in number, according to the State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons.
India, Mexico and Cambodia are part of President George W. Bush's $50-million Anti-Trafficking in Persons Initiative, "and are major source and destination countries for trafficking victims," according to the anti-trafficking office.
New-York based Human Rights Watch said in a statement last week that the State Department denied Hok Lundy a visa in 2006 because of his involvement in human trafficking.
"That decision was linked to a brothel raid in December 2004, following which Lundy reportedly ordered the release within hours of several traffickers before an investigation could be conducted," Human Rights Watch said.
Hok Lundy has denied those allegations.
State Department officials declined last week to speak specifically about the claims made against Hok Lundy, saying only that Cambodia had made strides in improving its human trafficking problem.
The US considers Cambodia a country that is "making significant efforts" to meet minimum standards of a US anti-trafficking law.
"The Government of Cambodia made significant progress in combating trafficking in persons" in 2006, according to the State Department's anti-trafficking office. "The National Police reported that as of September 2006, 58 traffickers and pimps had been turned over to the judiciary for prosecution."
The courts made at least 34 convictions, with up to 24-year sentences, according to the anti-trafficking office.
"Cambodia has modestly increased efforts to combat trafficking-related corruption, although punishment of offenders with appropriate prison sentences remains uneven," according to the anti-trafficking office. "In August 2006, three police officers of the Ministry of Interior's Anti-Trafficking in Persons Department were convicted of trafficking-related corruption. However, only one of the three was imprisoned, one officer remains at large, and the other remains in his position. The National Police reported three additional arrests of low-ranking military officers for trafficking-related crimes during 2006."
Officials have said, though, that Cambodia's efforts to stop trafficking in recent years have been improving and that those improvements were one reason weighing in favor of granting Cambodian National Police Chief Hok Lundy permission to visit Washington this week.
Hok Lundy met with authorities from the Federal Bureau of Investigation Monday, a Bureau spokesman said. He was scheduled to meet State Department officials Tuesday. His visit comes despite an outcry from human rights organizations that he himself is involved in human trafficking and other crimes.
A State Department official told VOA Khmer last week that officials would deliver a "tough, direct message" to Hok Lundy on Cambodia's human trafficking problem.
Cambodia had five anti-trafficking projects supported by US funds in 2006, putting the country behind Bulgaria, Mexico, Russia and India in number, according to the State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons.
India, Mexico and Cambodia are part of President George W. Bush's $50-million Anti-Trafficking in Persons Initiative, "and are major source and destination countries for trafficking victims," according to the anti-trafficking office.
New-York based Human Rights Watch said in a statement last week that the State Department denied Hok Lundy a visa in 2006 because of his involvement in human trafficking.
"That decision was linked to a brothel raid in December 2004, following which Lundy reportedly ordered the release within hours of several traffickers before an investigation could be conducted," Human Rights Watch said.
Hok Lundy has denied those allegations.
State Department officials declined last week to speak specifically about the claims made against Hok Lundy, saying only that Cambodia had made strides in improving its human trafficking problem.
The US considers Cambodia a country that is "making significant efforts" to meet minimum standards of a US anti-trafficking law.
"The Government of Cambodia made significant progress in combating trafficking in persons" in 2006, according to the State Department's anti-trafficking office. "The National Police reported that as of September 2006, 58 traffickers and pimps had been turned over to the judiciary for prosecution."
The courts made at least 34 convictions, with up to 24-year sentences, according to the anti-trafficking office.
"Cambodia has modestly increased efforts to combat trafficking-related corruption, although punishment of offenders with appropriate prison sentences remains uneven," according to the anti-trafficking office. "In August 2006, three police officers of the Ministry of Interior's Anti-Trafficking in Persons Department were convicted of trafficking-related corruption. However, only one of the three was imprisoned, one officer remains at large, and the other remains in his position. The National Police reported three additional arrests of low-ranking military officers for trafficking-related crimes during 2006."
6 comments:
We should entrust Lon Nol and South Vietnamese governments to stand up and stop communists triumpets. April 1975 then the sounds of AH SEA-Stallion and Chinook Hellicopters wre clearly heard in Phnom Penh and Saigon.
Everything was black.
We are going to stand up with IRAQI people to find terrorists.
We entrust Al MALAKI government to stand up and then we stand down. Today 9 servicemen are dead. How many more to come.
We are going to entrust Mr. Hok Lundy and his team to do his job professionally. We have been fighting drug war from South American countries in 1950s. No winning in sight in 2007. So you see partnering with someone who is famous-well known to be dirty hands is not going to work. Perhaps we dream and expect to have Leopard changes its spots or a horse to have horns by cleaning fostering and cleaning with Clorox solution and George Washington in green papers
It just like to have a bad partner in your business, then you will get net negative result.
Don't forget US supported Marco, Suharto, and Chili's dictatorships. All boiled down to democracy for money.
Here is the secret: the US want Hok Lundy to secure the oil resource for US reserve and terrorist are nothing but US creation to stir up actual ambitions. US drink oil like water remember that.
Are you guys saying this is a
form of corruption or something,
or just plain hypocrite?
Use a maffiosi Hok Lundy to combat the Maffia! It 's good tactic. This guy has to pay for his crimes.
It doesn't matter. Even what you
say is true, I still preferred to
have just one maffia instead of
one hundred. Okay, Lok Lundy, let
us know if anyone intrudes on your
turf, and we'll take care of it
for you, okay buddy?
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