When corruption begets cheating: Fake police colonel dupes real police

The arrested cheater

The confiscated fake uniform (Photo: Ratanak, Koh Santepheap newspaper)

Thursday, May 31, 2007
Fake police colonel dupes real police

Koh Santepheap newspaper

Phnom Penh City – A man was arrested by the Tuol Kok district police working in cooperation with the Phsar Depot 2 police force, on 29 May at midnight. The arrest was made in front of the Long Huor guest house, and the man is accused of pretending to be a police colonel and deputy-director of the personnel office of the Ministry of Interior. He is also accused of cheating police officers by asking them money in exchange for his help to obtain promotion and (police) position. During the arrest, the police confiscated a uniform and insignia, as well as a number of documents and name tag used by the suspect to cheat. The name tag bears the name of Men Chandara, a colonel working as the deputy-director of the personnel office of the Ministry of Interior.

The police said that the name of the accused man is Ung Chandara, aka Khin Chandara, aka Men Chandara, he is 37-year-old and came from Kompong Chhnang province. He currently lives at the Long Huor guest house where he is conducting his cheating activities against police officers. After confirming that he is a fake police officer, the Tuol Kok police, in cooperation with the local police, waited for the suspect in front of Long Huor guest house until he arrived from a banquet.

A source indicated that the suspect wore a police uniform with a colonel insignia. He pretended to be the deputy-director of the personnel office of the Ministry of Interior and cheated on many police officers, each of the police officers lost between $200 to $300, when the suspect claimed that he would help facilitate their promotion, or would get them a police position, whereas in reality, he is a fake police officer. The suspect used to be a monk at a pagoda in Kompong Chhnang, and after leaving the order, he came up with this cheating scheme. After the arrest, a police officer came forward to complaint that he was cheated of $220 by the suspect who promised to help him be promoted from master sergeant to lieutenant. Several other police officers also fell for this cheating scheme, as well as a number of people who wanted to become a police officer. The suspect is currently being questioned by the police regarding this cheating scheme.

Prayer Day for World Peace celebration in Choeung Ek

Cambodian Buddhists monks and Japanese monks of Catuddisa Sangha march during a Prayer Day for World Peace, a Buddhist ceremony organized by Japanese Buddhist monks of Catuddisa Sangha, at Choeung Ek, 17 km (11 miles) south of Phnom Penh, May 31, 2007. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

Freedom more than just a name for Cambodian refugee

Thursday, May 31, 2007
By Frederic Pierce Staff writer
The Post-Standard (Syracuse, New York, USA)

When Jeffrey Tep's fellow Nottingham High School students nicknamed him "Free" 25 years ago, they had no idea how fitting it was.

Tep, a refugee from communist Cambodia, spent most of his teenage years in brutal Khmer Rouge labor camps, digging reservoirs with homemade shovels and catching frogs and snails he could eat to survive.

He didn't go to school. He was separated from his family. Work was a matter of survival, and someone complaining too loudly could be punished with death.

Tep wasn't a dissenter or a criminal. He wasn't a member of the professional class that Cambodia's harsh brand of communism persecuted. He was simply living in the "rural utopia" created by Pol Pot, the dictator blamed for the deaths of 1.5 million of his country's people.

"It was a nightmare," Tep recalled. "At one point, I don't want to live anymore. To die would be better. There's no food to eat. You cannot see your family. What kind of life is that?"

So, at the age of 18, Tep and a friend stole across the border into Thailand. After more than a year in a refugee camp, he was brought to Syracuse, a national relocation center for refugees. Now, at 43, Tep teaches computer skills to refugees just beginning journeys similar to his own. He is married to a woman whose family escaped Cambodia and came to Syracuse before the Khmer Rouge took over. He owns a house in Cicero and has a 13-year-old daughter who is an honors student and a competitive figure skater. “She’s American,” Tep said with a chuckle. “They don’t have anything like skating (in Cambodia). That was something we had to learn from scratch.” Tep was raised in a small village with seven sisters and three brothers. His father was a farmer, and his mother sold items in the family’s market stall. For years, the country’s civil war was mostly explosions they’d hear in the distance. Then the blasts got closer. The soldiers arrived and burned his home. The government flipped to the control of radical communists. Family didn’t belong in Pol Pot’s vision for a utopian society, Tep said. Married couples were allowed to stay together with children younger than 6. Everyone else — including kids 6 and older — were divided into single-gender groups and put to work on projects miles away from their homes, he said. One of Tep’s brothers died in a Khmer Rouge labor camp. His father died while Tep was working at a camp far away from home. During this time, youths like Tep worked seven days a week, using primitive tools made from scrap metal and junk. Often, a small bowl of rice was the only nourishment available, forcing them to forage for whatever they could find, including small animals. “People were getting sick. They were starving,” Tep said. “I remember one boy, he was so sick and thin and hungry that he was trying to eat everything: the grass, the leaves.” Getting into the Thai refugee camp was easy, Tep said. Becoming one of the few to get out and actually come to America, however, took nearly two years. Tep had no money. He said he wore the same shirt for a year and a half inside the camp. He couldn’t get into any of the English classes, so he watched and listened outside the tent door, trying to learn the language spoken in his dream destination: the United States. It was in the camp that Tep learned from older Cambodian men that his birth name, Sereivath, meant “freedom” in the Khmer language. “I thought ‘This is perfect,’” Tep said. “I love freedom. That’s why I’m here.” In Syracuse, refugee resettlement programs helped him deal with unknown challenges — such as snow — and enrolled him at Nottingham. He took the name “Jeffrey,” and his classmates shortened it to the last syllable, “free,” without knowing about his Cambodian name. Tep worked hard, then found other programs and grants to help him through Le Moyne College and Syracuse University, where he earned an engineering degree and learned he had a knack for computers. That led to a job with the Syracuse School District, working with adult refugees like himself.

Tep was interviewed as part of The Post-Standard profile series celebrating National Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. Here are excerpts:

As a father, how do you keep your heritage alive in your child? It’s very hard. It’s something, in fact, I have to fight with every day, every time I get up. I think communicating is the most important; to be able to give them the message when they are young, to influence them. ... Sometime, we have to find the right place and the right time to talk about it, otherwise she has no interest. That’s something that scares me. The longer time that I wait, (the) more it will be rejected.

You’re taking your daughter to Cambodia this summer to visit your family. What do you hope she learns? Hopefully, she will learn how people live in Cambodia. She’ll see how people are suffering. They have few clothes; they have to wash them the next day. Sometimes you have to find your own food. Sometimes you have to work even though you’re young because your parents are poor. Maybe she’ll see how lucky we are here in the United States.

What advice do you have for new refugees trying to build a life in America? Never stop trying. At Nottingham when I was learning how to speak English — learning how to have voice like America, an accent, so my friends aren’t making fun of me — I have to dream speaking in English. Even though I sleep, I keep speaking English, because I know I must. I want my tongue to be flexible. I know I must never give up.

Why is education so important to you? My father was a farmer, but he also used to be a monk, so he was educated. And when my father had to raise a family of 12, he knew that education was important. So he had to suffer in order to support the family so he could send us to school. So I have that in my mind: Education is primary. My parents were strict about that. And because of that, that’s how I got here, where I am today. Because of that, that’s how my daughter is able to do what she’s doing.

Frederic Pierce can be reached at fpierce@syracuse.com or 470-6062.

U.N. envoy warns again of human rights violations in Cambodia

Thursday May 31, 2007

(Kyodo) - The special representative of the U.N. secretary general for human rights in Cambodia said Thursday that human rights violations, attacks and intimidation still continue in the country.

"Impunity for human rights violations continue to pose a threat to the rule of law in Cambodia," Yash Ghai said in a statement released by the Cambodia Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

"The special representative notes with alarm the continuation of attacks and intimidation against members of the workers' movement...Serious restrictions have been placed, illegally, on their right to assemble and carry out their responsibilities," said the statement which was released a few hours before Ghai concluded his third official visit to the country.

Ghai visited Cambodia on Tuesday for a three-day visit to update himself on the latest developments in the country before he presents his final report to the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva next month.

Upon arrival in the country, Ghai said he hoped to meet with Prime Minister Hun Sen and senior government officials to discuss human rights issues among others, but he was not allowed to meet with Hun Sen.

"He very much appreciated the opportunity to meet and discuss with H.E. Deputy Prime Minister Sar Kheng during his visit. However, he regrets that none of the other senior government officials he had hoped to meet were available to see him," the statement said.

Ghai has not been allowed to meet with Hun Sen since he was appointed as special envoy in November 2005.

Hun Sen has attacked Ghai several times over comments and critical reports about Cambodia.

In the latest statement, Ghai also expressed his grave concern over land issues, claiming that the livelihoods of rural communities have been destroyed.

"The report shows that economic land concessions, as presently granted, have compromised and destroyed the livelihoods of rural communities in favor of the enrichment of a few connected to the political establishment," he said in the statement.

"He is deeply concerned about the continuing alienation of indigenous land through land grabbing, illegal or coercive sales, and the grant of concessions, including mining licenses," the statement added.

Ghai welcomed the progress made by the government with regard to the less violent atmosphere in recent communal elections, the adoption of the Code of Penal Procedure and the country's economic growth.

UN human rights envoy shunned by most Cambodian government officials

Thursday, May 31, 2007
The Associated Press

"Economic land concessions, as presently granted, have compromised and destroyed the livelihoods of rural communities in favor of the enrichment of a few connected to the political establishment"

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: A senior U.N. envoy got a cold shoulder from all but one government official during his visit to discuss human rights in Cambodia, his office said Thursday.

Yash Ghai, the U.N. secretary-general's special representative for human rights in Cambodia, met with Sar Kheng, a deputy prime minister, during his three-day visit ending Thursday, the Cambodian office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a statement.

The statement said Ghai regretted that "none of the other senior government officials he had hoped to meet were available to see him."

Ghai was in Cambodia to try to elicit official comments on a report he will be presenting to the Human Rights Commission next month.

He had asked for a meeting with Prime Minister Hun Sen — who last year angrily described him as "totally deranged."

Hun Sen lambasted Ghai after the U.N. envoy criticized the prime minister for concentrating too much power in his own hands, and the government for its poor human rights record.

Om Yentieng, a senior Hun Sen adviser and the head of the government's Human Rights Committee, said he was too busy to meet Ghai.

Om Yentieng also accused Ghai of being "irrational," and said his human rights reports often "trample" on his government's reputation.

"How can we reach out to shake his hand when he uses one hand to invite us in and the other to punch us?" Om Yentieng said.

The statement said that in his report Ghai will express deep concerns about land-grabbing by the powerful, and the government's land concessions given to business interests that have negatively affected many Cambodians, including ethnic minority groups.

"While welcoming Cambodia's economic growth, he warns that human rights and equity must not be sacrificed in the pursuit of growth," the statement said.

"Economic land concessions, as presently granted, have compromised and destroyed the livelihoods of rural communities in favor of the enrichment of a few connected to the political establishment," it said.

Judges meet to keep ball rolling on Cambodian genocide trials

2007-05-31

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) - Cambodian and foreign judges met Thursday to narrow their differences on holding a much-delayed U.N.-backed genocide tribunal for former leaders of the Khmer Rouge, a brutal regime blamed for the deaths of 1.7 million people.

The judges' task over the next two weeks will be to adopt procedural rules necessary for convening the trials for crimes against humanity and genocide, hopefully by early next year.

Many fear that unless agreement is reached quickly, the aging defendants could die before being brought to justice.

Tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath said the meeting «is a very important and historical chance to bring the tribunal forward.»

With the likely defendants ailing and frail, and almost three decades having passed without their victims seeing justice done, the tribunal has no more time to lose, said Marcel Lemonde, a co-investigating judge.

«We know that some of the possible defendants are elderly people. They might die, so that's precisely the reason why we have to be very diligent and try and organize proceedings as soon as possible,» Lemonde told The Associated Press.

Once the rules are adopted, the investigation phase should begin within weeks.

The radical polices of the communist Khmer Rouge caused the deaths of about 1.7 million people through hunger, disease, overwork and execution during their horrific 1975-79 rule.

The tribunal, officially known as Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, was created last year after seven years of contentious negotiations between the United Nations and Cambodia. The government of Prime Minister Hun Sen _ a former Khmer Rouge soldier _ constantly bullied the world body for control of the joint venture.

With a US$56.3 million (¤42 million) budget limited to three years, trials had been expected to start this year. But Cambodian and foreign judges spent the last six months bickering about the rules. The setting of expensive legal fees for foreign lawyers wanting to take part in the tribunal was the latest obstacle, resolved only in April.

The tribunal is an unprecedented hybrid, with Cambodian judges holding the majority in decision-making matters but needing one supportive vote from a foreign counterpart to reach a super-majority to prevail.

It is operated under the Cambodian judicial system, often described by critics as weak, corrupt and susceptible to political manipulation.

Lemonde himself never worked at an international tribunal before but was a judge in France for 30 years. Cambodian law, which guides the proceedings, is based on the French model.

«The whole system is a very complicated one,» he said, pointing out that every decision has to be made jointly. Even language is a huge headache, he said, because everything has to be translated into Cambodian, English and French.

The rules have «only been one tiny issue that has taken a lot of energy and time from everybody,» said Theary Seng, executive director of Center for Social Development, a non-governmental Cambodian group that monitors the country's courts.

Their adoption, she cautioned, will remove «only one hurdle among countless potential hurdles» ahead.

She said the larger concern is that the quality and determination of the tribunal and its personnel, both Cambodian and foreign, have yet to be tested, and they will have to show both mettle and flexibility.

Cambodian officials will be thinking in the context of their future careers, taking into account the country's political pressures, which will remain long after their foreign counterparts have gone, she said.

The U.N.-appointed officials are also facing a heavy responsibility because «they have to balance their role as international judges and prosecutors with integrity and a known name already, and they have to balance that with their concerns and their suspicions that the process may not be up to a level that they feel comfortable with,» she said.

«This court has been organized probably not in an ideal way,» said Lemonde, «but this was the only one acceptable to everybody.»

Khmer Rouge court meets to determine rules

31/05/2007
Australian Broadcasting Corporation

A plenary session of judicial officers of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia has begun talks to adopt internal rules for the hybrid court to bring former Khmer Rouge leaders to justice.

The ECCC's spokesman, Reach Sambath, says the main objective of the session is to adopt the internal rules for the ECCC.

'The final draft has been prepared over previous months by the Rules Review Committee,'' Reach Sambath said.

The 113-article rules are needed for the planned three-year trial.

The officers have two weeks to decide on the rules.

The plenary was originally planned for April but was boycotted by the foreign judges after a row over fees imposed by the Cambodian Bar Association.

The fee question was finally resolved by the Cambodian Bar reducing it.

The ECCC is a hybrid court being put together by the United Nations and the Cambodian government to try surviving Khmer Rouge leaders over atrocities committed during the Khmer Rouge reign.

Discussions on the special court have dragged on since 1997.

Divorce ruling favors wife

Judge decides Cambodian union genuine

May 31, 2007
By Scott Smith
Record Staff Writer
The Record (Stockton, Calif., USA)

STOCKTON - A Stockton woman from Cambodia won spousal support and payments totaling $250,000 from her former husband, despite his claim that the marriage was forced upon him by the brutal dictator Pol Pot.

San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge Robin Appel in the decision handed down Friday found that Sokhanary Ouch's marriage to her husband, Saroeun Sok, was genuine because the couple had three children and lived as a couple for 26 years.

The Record on April 10 chronicled how the couple endured a dark period of world history and ventured around the globe together in their escape.

Ouch and Sok married in 1978 under Pol Pot's communist regime, which forced couples to marry in a systematic effort to undermine family power structures. Shortly thereafter, they moved to the United States and settled in Stockton.

Appel wrote that Sok's attempt to invalidate the long marriage was "almost incomprehensible." After their life together, Sok sought to "deny the validity of their marriage and leave (Ouch) literally destitute," Appel said.

Referring to testimony from their divorce, Appel said the pair met in a Cambodian village and had a romantic courtship during a turbulent time in their native country.

"She states he wrote her love letters," Appel said. "Other girls were interested in him, but he chose her."

They filed joint taxes in the United States, and their friends threw them a huge 20th-anniversary party, which was videotaped, Appel said. She added that Ouch, who speaks broken English, was a homemaker who raised the couple's children for much of their marriage.

Ouch, who is still raising one of the couple's minor children, earns $8.50 per hour as a housekeeper. Her husband quit his job as a physician at San Joaquin General Hospital, where he earned $190,000 annually, and moved back to Cambodia, Appel's decision said.

Ouch's Stockton attorney Albert Ellis said the judgment also covered Sok's retirement plan to ensure Ouch receives payment.

"The good news is, it should be there," Ellis said.

Contact reporter Scott Smith at (209) 546-8296 or ssmith@recordnet.com.

Cambodian prince appeals guilty verdict in breach-of-trust case

Thursday, May 31, 2007
The Associated Press

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: A former Cambodian prime minister, Prince Norodom Ranariddh, has appealed his conviction of breach of trust against the Cambodian royalist party he once led, the prince's lawyer said Thursday.

In March, a muncipal court judge sentenced Ranariddh, son of former King Norodom Sihanouk, in absentia to 18 months in jail for breach of trust against the royalist Funcinpec party in a sale of a party property. The party had ousted Ranariddh as its leader in October.

Ranariddh's lawyer, Muong Arun, called the ruling "unacceptable" on Thursday, adding that he had filed the appeal two days before.

Ranariddh was also ordered to pay US$150,000 (€110,000) in compensation to the party in his sentence, which was in connection with the sale of the Funcinpec party headquarters.

The judge in the trial said Ranariddh had intentionally registered the property in his own name, rather than in the party's name, but said there was insufficient evidence to prove the party's allegations that the prince had embezzled US$3.6 million (€2.7 million) in the sale.

Funcinpec rejected him as its leader on Oct. 18, citing his alleged incompetence and frequent absences from the country.

Ranariddh is now president of the party he formed after his ouster, the Norodom Ranariddh Party.

His spokesman, Muth Chantha, originally said of the March ruling that seeking an appeal would amount to recognizing the guilty verdict, but on Thursday he said that Ranariddh "wants to show to the world whether the Appeals Court can guarantee him a justice or not."

Ranariddh is currently living in France.

If the verdict is not reversed, Ranariddh will be barred from running for public office in Cambodia unless he serves at least two-thirds of his jail term or receives a pardon from King Norodom Sihamoni, his half brother.

Criticisms over beer smuggling report

Thursday, May 31, 2007
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

Prime Minister Hun Sen criticized a report indicating that Cambodia lost about $20 million in revenue from imported beer. During a ceremony for the distribution of student diploma on Wednesday, Hun Sen called this report an exaggeration of the truth. Hun Sen said: “so each of the 14 million people must drink 12 liters (of beer) from young children, women, monks, if we count all 14 million people, each one must drink 12 liters. We recognize that beer is smuggled in, but it is limited, this limit (as reported) is way overrated. This type of study is a money-wasted study, and it cannot correct the activities of the Custom Department, nor can it correct any measures.” Hun Sen’s criticism does not seem to point to any organization in particular, however, the Economic Institute of Cambodia (EIC) recently reported that Cambodia lost about $22 million last year because of beer smuggling from abroad without paying tax, beer is mainly smuggled in from Singapore and Thailand.

Aussie Ambassador to Cambodia: Cambodia can be considered as an example in terms of religion

Example of the Phnom Penh regime's respect for religion (Photo: Khmer Krom Network)

Thursday, May 31, 2007
Cambodia to host religious meeting

Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

Cambodian plans to host the Fourth Interfaith Dialogue meeting in 2008. Cambodia made this decision to host the meeting after Australian Ambassador Margaret Adamson made the request to Uch Borith, the secretary of state at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and international cooperation, during a meeting held last week. Cambodia then agrees to host this event. Ambassador Adamson said that Cambodia can be considered as an example in terms of religion that is why Australia wants it to host this Interfaith Dialogue meeting. The 3rd Interfaith Dialogue meeting was held in New Zealand on 29 May 2007.

Hun Sen: He fled because he wants to live abroad

Thursday, May 31, 2007
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

RFA reporter Keo Nimol – whose real name is Um Sarin – whom Hun Sen labeled as an ‘insolent reporter,’ is reported to have fled out of the country to Bangkok, Thailand, where he is asking the UNHCR for help. During a ceremony for the distribution of student diploma on Wednesday, Hun Sen raised the issue of Keo Nimol by saying: “There are some people who want to benefit, he really want to go (live) abroad, so the other day he was still asking me questions in front of the National Assembly, but he now fled to Bangkok already because he is afraid for his personal safety, and he went to ask for help from the UNHCR. If there are many of this type of person, it’s also good, this one guy fled all the way to Bangkok because he is afraid for his personal safety just because Mr. Hun Sen scolded him. I talk frankly to him, like real brothers, that he should know how to ask question, but he was sacred for his safety because he wants to go live abroad. If he wants to go live abroad, there is only one way (for him to use as excuse): political threat, and in this manner he can ask for political refugee status. If he is allowed to, let him go, it is better this way, it would be less heavier for Cambodia soil.”

Hun Sen: Prime Minister position cannot be begged for, nor can the king have the right to offer it [- Hun Sen forgot what he did in 1993]

Thursday, May 31, 2007
Rasmei Kampuchea newspaper
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

Prime Minister Hun Sen said that the prime minister position cannot be begged for, and the king does not have the right to offer it either if the population does not vote for it.

Hun Sen raised this issue during a diploma distribution ceremony to Norton University students on 30 May 2007, held at the National Institute of Education.

The issue raised by Hun Sen seems to be related to his desire to reveal a story invented by a political party to defame him. Hun Sen said that it was just too much: last 12 May, the day when Hun Sen visited King-Father and Queen-Mother, the date coincided also with a group of people [NRP officials] who visited King Sihamoni to ask the latter to pardon a person who was sentenced by the court [Ranariddh].

Hun Sen added that this is merely a coincidence, but they (NRP officials?) created a problem by saying: ‘Samdech (Hun Sen) went to ask King-Father and Queen-Mother to help him preserve his prime minister position.’ Hun Sen also said: ‘The east interferes and the west pressures,’ later on, they said it directly: ‘The US pressures Vietnam, Vietnam pressures Hun Sen to leave his position,’ and another guy said: ‘when in need, he knows how to seek help from the king.’

Hun Sen told King-Father that: “I don’t ask for anything, if the CPP does not win, I cannot be the prime minister either, because the prime minister position cannot be begged for, and the king has no right to offer it either.”

Hun Sen criticized those who organized such strategy, those who made such comments, and he wondered how can this type of individuals be selected as political party leaders. Hun Sen added that the constitution clearly stipulates that the king shall appoint a person issued from the wining party as the prime minister, but if there is no winning, how could one become a prime minister? Hun Sen said that the Vietnamese pressures to have Sok An installed as the prime minister, and for Hun Sen to become the president of the National Assembly, but Hun Sen refused this imposed condition, that was why he (allegedly) went to ask King-Father for help.

Political Cartoon: Election 2008

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

Sam Rainsy proposes to the UN to organize the 2008 general election

30 May 2007
By Sophorn
Radio Free Asia (a station labeled insolent by Hun Sen)
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

The SRP President proposes to the UN Special Envoy in charge of Human Rights in Cambodia to organize the upcoming 2008 legislative election as the UNTAC did in 1993.

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy met with Yash Ghai, the UN Special Envoy in charge of Human Rigths in Cambodia, in the afternoon of 30 May at the office of the UN Human Rights in Cambodia, located in Phnom Penh. Sam Rainsy said that he and the Cambodian people want to see the same type of election as the one supervised by UNTAC (in 1993), because following that UNTAC election, Cambodian people encountered numerous difficulties, especially, the bias towards the ruling party. Sam Rainsy said that this call is the wish of the Cambodian people, as well as those of a number of political parties.

Sam Rainsy said: “Since 1993 on, the election became more difficult and more complicated, and they are more biased towards the ruling party, these types (of election) only benefit the ruling party. Those who want to express their unhappiness, their pains, in particular those who lost their lands, who saw their homes being confiscated, they not only lost their lands and their homes, but they also lost their rights to vote.”

On Wednesday afternoon, RFA could not obtain any reaction from CPP officials on this issue.

Tep Nytha, the secretary-general of the National Election Committee (NEC), said that the proposal for the UN to hold the election is the right of each political party, but the election must abide by the election law which is approved by the National Assembly.

Kul Panha, Comfrel’s executive director, said that, regarding the upcoming 2008 general election, the UN should provide a large number of experts to participate in the upcoming general election, in order to improve the election process.

However, Kul Panha said that the proposal to hold 1993-type election may not work because of the large expenses involved.

Kul Panha said: “Nevertheless, I think that we probably need a lot of participation from the UN, (in particular) for staff members who have good expertise in organizing the election, they can come to help so that our election can be better. However, it all depends on the size (of help provided by the UN), for the ’93 size (of staff provided by the UN), most likely this proposal will not work. (But) the election in Cambodia must be improved.”

Cambodia will hold its fourth general election in 2008, the first general election was organized in 1993 under the supervision of UNTAC. Subsequent elections always saw the winning of the current ruling party (CPP), and after each election, several parties have accused the winning party (CPP) of cheating the votes, and there were always threats pronounced against the voters (by the CPP).

Land dispute between villagers and Oknha (rich businessman) in Kandal province

29 May 2007
By Kim Pov Sottan
Radio Free Asia (a station labeled insolent by Hun Sen)
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

6 representatives of villagers had expressed their concerns over the (potential) arrest (to be made) stemming from a land dispute with Okhna Kaing You Mean in Cheung Keub commune, Kandal Stung district, Kandal province. The provincial court summoned the villagers to come to court to clarify this issue on Tuesday morning.

Em Sitha, a representative for the villagers, said that the villagers have been accused of destroying the properties belonging to a private company, and of money extortion, when in fact, the villagers were preventing the company from clearing lands.

Em Sitha said: “We are being summoned, they say that we destroy and extort money from Oknha Kaing You Meng’s company. We did not destroy the company’s properties, we only prevented the company and asking it to provide a peaceful and sensible resolution for the people who did the upkeep of these lands.”

Sun Sim, another representative for the villagers, added that the villagers are very concerned about this severe accusation made by Kaing You Meng’s company: “The villagers are concerned, we don’t know what else will happen because they are summoning us one after another. Those who have not been summoned yet are also worried because in the court summon, we are accused of criminal activities.”

This is the second summon from the provincial court, and on each occasion, villagers accompanied their representatives by the hundreds because they fear that their representatives would be arrested.

This land dispute started after Kaing You Meng bought several hundred hectares of land in Chueng Keub commune, he subsequently allowed the villagers to farm the lands during the past 10 years. Recently, the company started to clear the lands according to its plan, but the villagers prevented them to do so by asking for a fee for the 10 years of land upkeep.

The villagers accused the company of buying the lands from them, but it did not pay the full price of the lands yet, and now the company wants to transfer the ownership of the lands to someone else.

Sieng Sophal, a representative of Kaing You Meng’s company, claimed that his company is the third owner of the lands. Kaing You Meng left the lands to the villagers to farm after he purchased them, and at the end, the villagers are extorting money from his company instead. “I have [my property markers] installed between theirs (the villagers), they destroyed (all my markers), I had to install them twice. They said that they do not ask for their lands back, they only ask for a fee for the upkeep of the land. At first, they asked for $20,000 per hectare as the upkeep fee. But they are troublemakers, they create troubles nonstop, my company complained to the authority saying that they (the villagers) bother our business.”

Huot Vuthy, the Kandal province prosecutor, declined to provide comment over the phone on this case to RFA, even if the case is now sent to the court for a resolution.

On the villagers’ side, they are looking for help from human rights organizations after they received court summons one after another.

Hun Sen: No way to pardon Prince Ranariddh

30 May 2007
By Kim Pov Sottan
Radio Free Asia (a station labeled insolent by Hun Sen)
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Hun Sen confirmed again that there is no way for Prince Ranariddh to be pardoned, even if hundred of thousands of thumbprints asking for the pardon for the prince have been collected recently.

Hun Sen said: “I am saying this today for you to know: your chief will not be free, if you know how to use this type of person, your chief will not be free. Furthermore, he is sentenced on a criminal case, this is not my affair, the plaintiff will agree or will not agree. And, you never accept your sentence, so there is nothing to pardon for. How could you ask for pardon with 120,000 thumbprints, can these thumbprints have the rights to pardon a person? Is it more valuable than [the court] … why not abolish the court altogether?”

During a diploma distribution ceremony at the National Institute of Education, Hun Sen talked angrily about a rumor in which it was said that his audience with the king in mid-May was to ask the king to help him preserve his (PM) position during the next legislative mandate. Hun Sen also advanced that they (CPP? Funcinpec?) will gather million of thumbprints to condemn Prince Ranariddh if the latter is pardoned because of the 120,000 thumbprints.

On this issue, opposition leader Sam Rainsy said that there should be some arrangement made, otherwise the problem of Prince Ranariddh will surely affect the 2008 general election.

Sam Rainsy said: “There should be some arrangement so that all party leaders can compete, and can work to serve the country and the nation altogether. Therefore, I hope that there will be a resolution (to this issue) in the near future.”

Kul Panha, Comfrel’s executive director, still insists that the sentence handed down on Prince Ranariddh is a political issue. He added that there should be a push to pardon the prince so he can compete in the upcoming general election, and also to confirm that the election is free and fair.

Kul Panha said: “Not all politicians can avoid the justice system, but some cases only involve internal disputes within a political party, therefore, using the court to decide on such cases is wrong, [it is wrong] to turn the case into a criminal case to prevent the participation in the election competition.”

Prince Ranaridhh, former Funcinpec president, was kicked out of his position last year. Later on, he was sued by Nhiek Bun Chhay who accused him of corruption in the sale of the Funcinpec party headquarters. Out of this lawsuit, the prince was sentenced to 18-month of jail, and the sentence drew criticisms from both the national and international opinions.

King Sihamoni at the Circus in Switzerland

Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni greets the audience during the benefit gala evening of the Swiss national circus 'Knie' in Zurich, Switzerland, Wednesday, May 30, 2007. The event took place to raise money for doctor Beat Richner's hospitals for children in Cambodia. (AP Photo/KEYSTONE/Steffen Schmidt)

Prince denies acquaintances with alleged gang members arrested by police

Prince Charachak (seen in black polo shirt) was displayed by the police during a press conference (Photo: Bun Nak, Koh Santepheap newspaper)

Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy

On Tuesday, 7 Makara district police put on display a group of youngsters – among whom was a prince – the group is charged with illegal use of weapons (swords), and was arrested on Monday afternoon. In the group of 9 suspects on display, one of them is Prince Norodom Charachak, the son of Prince Norodom Chakrapong, NRP party vice-president. Major Yim Simony, the 7 Makara police inspector said that the police will build a case for the 9 arrested – 8 males and 1 female – and will send them to Phnom Penh municipal court for illegal use of weapons (sword), and for assembly of gang members (Bang Thom and Bang Tauch). Prince Charachak who also works as a bodyguard at the Ministry of Interior, said that he is not involved with the young hoodlums and the swords, because he does not know where they came from when they were arrested by the police while the group was sleeping in a rented home in Boeng Prolit.

Sam Rainsy: OK to the demolition of monument for the victims of the grenade attack if the monument commemorating dead VN soldiers is also demolished

Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Opposition to the demolition of monument for victims of grenade attack

Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy declared in Tuesday that his party will strongly oppose any plan to demolish a monument commemorating the victims of the 30 March 1997 grenade attack, located in a public park in front of the National Assembly. Sam Rainsy’s warning was made following a rumor indicating that the municipality of Phnom Penh plans to demolish the monument to make way for the construction of a new park, in order to improve the view in front of the National Assembly. Sam Rainsy told a group of reporters in front of the National Assembly that he will be willing to the demolition of this monument, if [the city] is willing to demolish the monument built to thank to the Vietnamese soldiers who died in Cambodia [during Vietnam’s invasion in the 80s], which is located nearby the monument for the victims of the grenade attack also. Kep Chuktema, the governor of Phnom Penh, could not be contacted regarding this issue.

Korean group to build US$2b Cambodia city

Thursday, May 31, 2007
Reuters, Bloomberg

A group of South Korean companies said it would spend US$2 billion (HK$15.6 billion) on building a new city in Cambodia, the biggest single investment in the impoverished country still recovering from decades of war.

The residential, commercial, cultural and business complex would be built on 119 hectares on the northern edge of Phnom Penh, the group said Wednesday.

The group, which includes Busan Mutual Savings Bank and property development company Landmark Worldwide, had been wary of Cambodia because of the country's violent recent history, marketing director Lee Yunyoung said.

"But actually when we came here we realized that it is really safe," he said at the ground-breaking ceremony.

"So we want to start our project before others start."

Deputy Prime Minister Sok An said the project would help attract more investors.

"Our population continues to increase sharply, so we need to expand our old city to meet the needs of the people," he said. "Foreign investors also need good infrastructure to run their businesses."

Cambodia's growth has been remarkably high in recent years. Its economy grew 10.4 percent last year, when foreign direct investment hit a record US$4 billion.

In another development, Samsung Engineering, South Korea's biggest engineering company, signed a preliminary agreement to build an ammonia plant in Saudi Arabia for US$946 million, the company's largest single contract.

The factory is for Saudi Arabian Mining and will be completed by December 2010, Samsung Engineering said. The company now expects to exceed a previous target for US$3.5 billion in orders this year.

Samsung Engineering and South Korea's other contractors are more than half way to matching a record set in 1981 for orders from the Middle East. Saudi Arabia has awarded the most contracts.

"It will only get better as a number of major projects are expected to be awarded this year in the Middle East," said Byun Sung Jin, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities in Seoul.

"This contract will put Samsung Engineering in a better position to win some of those orders."

Saudi Arabia - the world's largest oil producer - is the biggest single source of overseas revenue for South Korean contractors, who have received US$58.1 billion in orders in the 34 years they have been doing business in the Arab kingdom, according to the International Contractors Association of Korea.

Shares of Samsung Engineering gained 7.6 percent to a record close of 85,000 won (HK$714) in Seoul. The stock has almost doubled this year, compared with a 16 percent climb in South Korea's KOSPI index.

Saudi Arabia is expected to invest about US$76 billion until 2010 for refineries and other chemical plants, according to Samsung Engineering. The ammonia plant will have the capacity to produce 3,300 tonnes of the chemical a day, making it the largest in the country.

South Korean contractors have received a combined US$7.45 billion in new orders from the Middle East this year, with almost half of that coming from the United Arab Emirates, the contractors' association said.

Hun Sen Quells Rumors That the US Pressured Vietnam to Push for His Ouster

Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
30/05/2007

Prime Minister Hun Sen said Wednesday there was no truth to rumors the US had pressured the Vietnamese government to remove him as prime minister, while members of the Norodom Ranariddh Party sought to quell suspicion it was behind the hearsay.

At a ceremony in Phnom Penh, Hun Sen publicly decried rumors he was to be replaced by his deputy, Sok An, and would become president of the National Assembly.

"It is said that the East interferes, and the West puts pressure," Hun Sen said. "After that, it is said clearly that the US puts pressure on Vietnam, and Vietnam puts pressure to have Hun Sen step down. It is said that the pressure is to have deputy prime minister, that is Sok An, to be prime minister. As for me, I will be National Assembly's president."

This was untrue, Hun Sen said.

Cambodia officials said the prime minister was likely referring to rumors in local newspapers that Hun Sen was facing outside pressure to step down after an absence due to illness.

Hun Sen said Wednesday he paid a visit on King Norodom Sihamoni and the Queen "asking about their wellness," not to ask for help remaining in power, which was another rumor.

A delegation of the Norodom Ranariddh Party also paid a call on King Sihamoni, officials said, but this had nothing to do with the rumors of Hun Sen's ouster.

NRP spokesman Muth Chantha said officials met with the king to present a petition asking for a pardon for their party president, Norodom Ranariddh, following his sentencing in absentia to 18 months in prison on charges related to embezzlement.

Prince Ranariddh has filed an appeal to his case as well, Muth Chantha said.

"The main reason that Prince Ranariddh decided to file a suit to the Court of Appeals is that there is no evidence, and no witnesses in the charges," Muth Chantha said. "Furthermore, it seems that the Phnom Penh court judges and prosecutors show a biased position in the implementation of the law in the past."

Poipet AIDS Clinic Seeing Results, Health Officials Say

Nuch Sarita, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
30/05/2007

A recent AIDS clinic in the border town of Poipet has enrolled 666 HIV patients in the last 16 months, treating more than 300 with anti-retroviral therapy, officials said last week.

The clinic serves a critical function in a town whose economy is fueled by prostitution and border casinos that serve Thais on retreat. The town, which sits on the Thai border in Bantey Meanchey province, is regarded by many health officials as the center of Cambodia's AIDS epidemic.

Provincial Health Director Dr. Chhum Vannarith said HIV peaked in the province in 1998, but had declined by 2005.

Of those infected, 10 percent died in 1998, he said, but new therapies meant that in 2005, the latest figures available, 5 percent perished.

Much of that had to do with the clinic, which opened in December 2005, with assistance for USAID and the US Centers for Disease Control, officials said.

Cambodia Celebrates Midwife World Day

Seng Ratana, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
30/05/2007

Health experts said over the weekend that many pregnant women benefit from the knowledge of midwives for the safe delivery of their children, as the country celebrated World Midwife Day.

Midwives occupy a critical stratus in Cambodian society, where hospitals are few and far between and child birth often takes place in remote areas. Other experts cautioned, however, that birth through midwifery could be dangerous.

"As midwives united to solidify our own career expertise for a safe and clean delivery, today we are making people aware that when they go into labor, they must seek help at the hospital or look for an educated midwife," Dr. Ou Saroeum, president of the Cambodian Midwives Association, said.

Chun Chanthach, president of the Mothers and Enfants National Support Center, said babies delivered by traditional midwife faced high risks, as did their mothers. The center worked to ensure midwives were sending complicated cases to health centers immediately.

South Korean group to build $2 billion city in Cambodia in spite of land-grabbing, land-eviction, land-confiscation

31-May-07
Group to build US$2b city in Cambodia

The Brunei Times

PHNOM PENH: A group of South Korean companies said yesterday it would spend US$2 billion on building a new city in Cambodia, the biggest single investment in the impoverished country still recovering from decades of war. The residential, commercial, cultural and business complex would be built on 119 hectares on the northern edge of Phnom Penh, the group said in a statement. The group, which includes Busan Mutual Savings Bank and property development company Landmark Worldwide Co, had been wary of Cambodia because of the country's violent recent history, marketing director Lee Yunyoung said. "But actually when we came here we realised that it is really safe," he told reporters at the ground-breaking ceremony. "So we want to start our project before others start."

CAMBODIA: Code of ethics for judges will not be effective without compliance mechanisms

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AS-108-2007
May 28, 2007

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission

CAMBODIA: Code of ethics for judges will not be effective without compliance mechanisms

The Supreme Council of the Magistracy (SCM) of Cambodia, the supreme judicial body governing the judiciary, should be commended for having recently adopted a code of ethics for judges. The adoption of this code is a significant development in the protracted legal and judicial reform programme undertaken by the Cambodian government. If effectively enforced and well complied with, this code could become a remedy to the pandemic corruption within the judiciary and other branches of government. It will strengthen the independence of the judiciary, inspire more public confidence in it, and lay a solid foundation for the rule of law in the country.

The code begins with the objective of reinforcing the dignity and independence of all judges. It then successively announces the principles of independence, impartiality, honesty, dignity and diligence, and the application of each of these principles. The Cambodian code reflects much of the Bangalore Principles of Judicial Conduct and similar codes in countries endowed with a well functioning, independent judiciary, although it does not contain much detailed and elaborated application of or commentary on each of those principles.

Due to these shortcomings, the principles and their respective application are very open to various interpretations that may render their enforcement less effective. For instance, regarding judges' attitudes towards political activities and issues, the Cambodian code says, under the principle of independence, that judges “shall remain neutral in political activities”; and under the principle of impartiality, that they “shall not make and prejudgment relating to ...political tendency...” when making judgments, and that they “should avoid making any statement ...relating to political controversies; involving political parties; ..” It does not specify, as some other codes do, that judges should refrain from membership in or association with political organisations or activities. A clear recommendation in this regard would put an end to the political control of judges through their affiliation to the ruling party since the communist days, or their more recent politically-encouraged affiliation. The issue of party affiliation, political control and the effectiveness of the enforcement of the code will be looked at in more detail below.

Alongside these shortcomings, the Cambodian code, however, confirms the independence of the prosecution as stipulated in the country's constitution, in which it is recognised that prosecutors belong to the same body of judges. It further incorporates the inadmissibility in court of evidence obtained through the use of illegal means and the prosecution of those who have resorted to those means, which is a novelty under the Cambodian legal system and which is left to the law of evidence and the law on the crime of torture in other countries. Section 9 of the Cambodian code says that “when a judge receives evidence against a suspect, and that evidence is known or believed to derive from illegal means which seriously violate the rights of the suspect, especially when it relates to torture or inhuman treatment, or any human rights violation, that evidence shall not be permitted to be used against the suspect, and the judge shall take necessary measures to ensure that the persons responsible for the above acts are immediately brought before the court.”

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is very much concerned that this code will encounter the same fate as that of other laws in Cambodia, whose implementation is weak and depends on the erratic “political will” of the country's leadership, instead of depending on the institutions of the rule of law, which, in the country, are primarily dysfunctional. This code will not be effective without the SCM recognising the need for it to reorganise in order to become an independent body, which is free of political control, and in which a set of transparent and fair enforcement mechanisms are put in place.

Under the Cambodian constitution, the SCM provides assistance to the king, who is also its chairman, to guarantee the independence of the judiciary. Under the law on its organization and functioning, the SCM is responsible for the discipline of judges and the effective functioning of all courts of law. It has a disciplinary council specifically for this purpose, and is therefore the body that is responsible for the implementation and enforcement of the code.

However, as seven of its nine members are themselves judges and prosecutors, the SCM is unlikely to be effective in the enforcement of the code. As a result, these members may not be very forthright in disciplining their peers, especially as almost all of these seven members and their peers belong to the same ruling party, the Cambodian People's Party or CPP. Three of the seven members are openly known to be active members of the CPP. One member is the president of the Supreme Court and a member of the standing committee and central committee of the CPP. Another member is the president of the Court of Appeals and is also member of the CPP, known to be actively participating in the party's activities. It is very difficult for these two leading judges to maintain and proclaim their neutrality in political activities. Another SCM member is the minister of justice who runs and controls the SCM secretariat. He is also an active member of the party.

Because of its composition, its members' political affiliation and the control of its secretariat by the minister of justice, a politician, the SCM is not itself free from political control and is not in a good position to ensure judges' neutrality with regard to political activities, as the code has stipulated. In the past, it has not proved itself as being effective in disciplining judges for misconduct. For instance, in 2004, it did not act upon a request by the Ministry of the Interior to investigate the corruption of certain judges. This inaction created a confrontation with the ministry in question. Prime Minister Hun Sen stepped in then with his “iron fist” policy which was allegedly aimed at stamping out corruption from the judiciary, but which instead had the effect of consolidating his control of the judiciary. The SCM then brought to justice a number of judges only to allow them to resume their normal judicial functions when the “iron fist” policy had lost its thrust and petered out.

The SCM now has a code that can serve as the basis for the enforcement of discipline upon judges and ensure their independence, impartiality, honesty, dignity and diligence. However, it does not as yet have any transparent and fair complaint procedures in place. Its decisions on discipline have, so far, not been known to be free of bias, and judges that have been disciplined, have not been able to challenge decisions, which cannot be the subject of an appeal. Furthermore, it is widely known that members of its discipline council are not themselves free from corruption, as accused judges can bribe them to have the charges against them dropped.

The first step would be for the SCM to reorganise itself to become a body that is independent and free from political control. Its members should have no affiliation to any political party, and at least half of them should be non-members of the judiciary. It should run and control its own secretariat. Its members should comply with the code - especially, its principles of independence, impartiality and honesty - and serve as models for all members of the judiciary.

The SCM should now widely disseminate the code and encourage the public to report any misconduct by judges. It should enact by-laws on the complaint procedure, clearly distinguishing complaints against judges' decisions, which are under the jurisdiction of the Courts of Appeals or the Supreme Court, and complaints against judges' conduct, which fall under its jurisdiction. These by-laws should set out in detail who can make complaints against judges, how such complaints can be made, where they should be sent, and when they can be acknowledged and their outcome notified to the complainant. They should detail the process by which complaints are dealt with, how they will be examined, how inquiries are conducted, how accused judges can defend themselves, and how sanctions are decided. They also need to determine the range of sanctions available, which should be proportionate to the seriousness of the proven misconduct. All of these complaint procedures should be transparent and fair, and made known to all members of the judiciary, the legal profession and the wider public. The SCM should assign a leading judge in each court to act as ethics officer for other judges to consult on ethical issues they may be encountering in and out of court.

The implementation of the code would be greatly facilitated and made more effective if judicial ethics is made an important course in the training programme for judges and lawyers at both the Royal Academy of Judicial Profession and the Centre for Lawyers Training and Professional Improvement in Phnom Penh. The Ministry of Justice and the SCM should also include judicial ethics as an important topic in all refreshment training seminars for judges that they are organising.

The AHRC urges the SCM and the Ministry of Justice of Cambodia to effectively enforce the newly adopted code of ethics for judges through the reorganisation of the SCM so that it can become a truly independent body, free of political control and corruption. It is vital for them to ensure the setting up of transparent and fair complaint mechanisms, the wide dissemination of the code, the training in judicial ethics for judges and lawyers, and encouragement for members of the public to make complaints, as proposed above. The AHRC also urges donors and expert organisations, especially countries sponsoring the legal and judicial reform programme in Cambodia, to work with these two Cambodian institutions for the effective enforcement of and compliance with this code of ethics.

# # #

About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights issues in Asia. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.

Hun Sen on report of revenue loss over beer smuggling: Deny! Deny! Deny!

May 30, 2007
Cambodian PM refuses report of revenue loss over beer smuggling

The government can't accept a recent report saying it lost over 20 million U.S. dollars annually for tax revenues over beer smuggling from Thailand and Singapore, said Prime Minister Hun Sen on Wednesday.

"The study is a waste of money. It is an unacceptable report," said Hun Sen, while referring to the Economic Institute of Cambodia (EIC), an independent economic think tank, who said that Cambodia lost 22 million U.S. dollars for tax revenues over beer smuggling last year.

"Their report aims at blaming the government," he said.

With the lost money, Cambodia can buy enough beer for its people to drink and even have shower with it, he quipped.

The report has been widely published on local media, saying that the smuggled brew accounted for 29 percent of the country's total beer market, far outstripping the legal imports at six percent.

It blamed the boom of contraband beer on weak government and law enforcement.

Source: Xinhua

Date for 2008 general election set on July 27, 2008

May 30, 2007
Cambodian PM sets election date on July 27 next year

Cambodia will conduct its general election of the kingdom's fourth government on July 27, 2008, Prime Minister Hun Sen said in Phnom Penh on Wednesday.

"We have decided to vote for members of the parliament (the National Assembly) and the premiership on July 27, 2008, because this day is a holiday and it is the same date as the previous general election," he said.

The current government of Cambodia is co-ruled by Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party (CPP) and the Funcinpec Party.

However, after the commune councils election held on April 1, Funcinpec has been degraded to the fourth largest party of the kingdom, trailing two major opposition parties. CPP still remains dominant.

The commune councils election used to lay the groundwork for the general election.

Local analysts have predicted continued prevalence of CPP during the upcoming general election, but appeared cautious over the fates of Funcinpec and the opposition parties.

Source: Xinhua

Cambodian force raids illegal overseas phone call businesses [-Many gov't officials were involved in the crimes]

May 30, 2007

The government carried out a joint raid here on Tuesday on two houses allegedly operating illegal overseas phone gateways and detained around 10 suspects, local media said on Wednesday.

The team seized many traffic tools used to steal international phone services, reported Cambodian daily newspaper the Kampuchea Thmey.

The inspectors asked the government to take firm measures against such illegal companies, as they cost the country more than 40,000 U.S. dollars a month in revenues, it said.

Many government officials were involved in the crimes, as they possessed the skills or relations, the inspectors said.

The raid was conducted by a joint force including inspectors and officials from the Posts and Telecommunications Ministry and the municipal court, the paper added.

Source: Xinhua

The perpetrator of land-grabbings, land-evictions, land-confiscations, land-concessions calls for a seminar to help solve land disputes

May 30, 2007
Cambodian PM calls for seminar to help solve land disputes

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen here on Wednesday urged for a seminar to find solutions for land disputes that have made a lot of trouble for the kingdom for the past years.

"I want to open a seminar on land issues which are happening every day," he said while addressing a graduation ceremony of a local college.

Early in 1989, the government demarcated the land for all the people across the country, but in the coming years, part of them sold their land for treating illness, paying debts of gambling and some other reasons, he said.

Land disputes surged especially in recent years, as some people seized others' land illegally, thus planting instability within the society, he added.

In March, Hun Sen ordered to arrest several government officials for illegal land grabbing. He called this a war, which must be waged to root out factors of social riots and instability.

Source: Xinhua

Tobacco control policy to receive enormous support in Cambodia

May 30, 2007

A recent survey by the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) showed that a tobacco control policy will receive enormous support in Cambodia, local media said on Wednesday.

Over 90 percent interviewers supported the government's adoption of a law on tobacco control, according to the survey of a sample of 144 staff members from the ministries of Education, Youth and Sport, Women's Affairs, and Defense across the country.

It also found that more than 96 percent of the respondents wanted a ban on cigarette advertising, reported Cambodian daily newspaper the Koh Santepheap.

The survey aimed to encourage the government to push for an immediate adoption of such a law, reported another Cambodian daily newspaper the Kampuchea Thmey.

According to official statistics, more than 70 percent of the Cambodian families spend over 10 percent of their incomes on cigarettes and a pack of locally produced cigarettes costs as much as one kilogram of husked rice.

The World Health Organization (WHO) once stated that each year about 5 million people die of tobacco-related diseases worldwide and the figure could increase to 10 million by 2020.

Source: Xinhua

Cambodia holds international conference on globalization and regional integration

May 30, 2007

The International Relations Institute of Cambodia (IRIC) held an international conference on globalization and regional integration in Phnom Penh on Wednesday.

Although the European Union (EU) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) were born in a different setting, they pursue a common goal, that's the establishment of an economic community through the integration of countries within their geographical region to reinforce their strong competitiveness, Cambodian Senate President Chea Sim said while addressing the opening ceremony of the conference.

ASEAN has made tremendous achievements by stimulating economic growth, however, it is facing many challenges such as globalization, economic disparity among members, political stability, democratization, the respect for human rights, poverty, the increased global warming, terrorism and transnational crimes, he said.

ASEAN members should establish a firm regional economic integration, broaden regional economic and financial market, and to establish linkages among ASEAN members to bridge the gap within ASEAN, he said, adding that the strengthened democracy and the drafting of ASEAN Charter should also be considered to reflect the genuine interests of both ASEAN and the international community.

In order to commemorate the 50th anniversary of EU, the 40th anniversary of the ASEAN and the first anniversary of the IRIC, the IRIC initiated the organization of this international conference under the theme "Globalization and Regional Integration ", a press release said.

The main objective of this conference is to highlight the importance, endeavors and achievement of EU, ASEAN and IRIC, as well as the relation between Cambodia and EU, Cambodia and ASEAN in accordance with the Cambodian government's policy of regional and international integration, it added.

Source: Xinhua

UN-backed project to help rural poor in Cambodia

UN News Centre

30 May 2007 – The United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has announced that it will support a new $11.5 million development project in Cambodia aimed at helping the rural poor.

“The project will not only boost incomes, it will also lay foundations for sustainable social and economic development in the future,” said Youqiong Wang, IFAD's country programme manager for Cambodia, noting that it is the agency's first to target the poor, ethnic population living in remote areas of the country.

Decades of war and internal strife have made Cambodia one of the world's poorer countries. The three provinces that the project is targeting – Kratie, Preah Vihear and Ratanakiri – are among the poorest in the country, IFAD said in a news release.

The Rural Livelihoods Improvement Project, set to involve 22,600 rural households in the border provinces, will be financed partly by a grant of $9.5 million from IFAD. It will also receive funding from the Government of Cambodia and the UN Development Programme (UNDP).

Illegal logging problem in Ratanakiri province

28 May 2007
By Ratha Visal
Radio Free Asia (a station labeled insolent by Hun Sen)
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

A local official reported that illegally harvested woods stockpiled in Kaun Mom district, Ratanakiri province, is currently being moved during nighttime. Request made to the authority to prevent such activities fell on deaf ears as no actions are being taken.

An anonymous district official indicated that the stockpiled woods consists of about 20-cubic-meter of 1st and 2nd grades precious woods. The woods were moved to the home of Phauk Bun Thoeun, a district police official, and to the home of Yet, a neighbor of Phauk Bun Thoeun.

A source indicated that 3-ton of woods was removed during the night of 26 May 2007, and they were transported by a Korean truck along National Road 78. On Monday, another Korean truck was waiting to move the remaining woods.

Loeung Chan Theang, the Kaun Mom district governor, said that he did not receive any report about this illegal cache of wood stockpile. He also said that nobody can illegally move woods out of his area: “How could they transport (the woods) out when the inspectors came over in drove.”

Nevertheless, Phup Borith, the Kaum Mom district police chief, told RFA that the stockpiled woods came from illegal woods harvested by the villagers, and they were planned to be sold to a company which will use them for the construction of a bridge only. “The youngsters there, after they cut the trees, they only said that the woods will be used for a bridge, so I told them to cut it, what can we do when there is an official request (to harvest the woods) for building a bridge,” Phup Borith said.

Bou Lam, the deputy-district governor and chairman of the committee for fighting and preventing illegal forestry activities, said that he was not aware of this problem because he is currently involved in a meeting in Phnom Penh. He said that he will provide the information of the forestry department so that they will go to investigate this case.

Youkan Vimean, the deputy-director of the forestry administration claimed on Monday that he already sent his officials to investigate this case, however, his officials did not find the stockpile location as reported.

Pen Bonar, the Adhoc representative in Ratanakiri province, said that Adhoc officials waited for several hours to meet officials from the forestry administration as set, so that they can show the officials the location of the wood stockpile, however no officials ever came. Pen Bonar said that he already took pictures of the wood stockpile, in order to be used as evidence.

According to local communities, in Ratanakiri, precious and valuable woods in the province have been harvested. Even though directives were issued to prevent such activities, powerful local government officials are still working with the perpetrators to transport the woods to the market without any fear of the law.

Construction of the foundation for the Kratie border marker

Ceremony marking the installation of the foundation for the border marker at the Trapeang Sre International gate, Snuol District, Kratie province, on 28 May 2007. (Photo: Or Phearith, RFA)

28 May 2007
By Or Phearith
Radio Free Asia (a station labeled insolent by Hun Sen)
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

“SRP never recognizes the treaties concluded in 1982, 1983, 1985, during the 80s. And we believe that these treaties are illegal because they were concluded by a government which was not recognized by the International community at the time. Secondly, these treaties affect the interest of the country and the nation, they affect the territorial integrity of Cambodia, and it made Cambodia lose territories, both land and maritime territories” - Opposition Leader Sam Rainsy

On 28 may, the Kratie provincial authority organized a ceremony to install the foundation for border marker no. 69 at the Trapeang Sre International gate, Snuol district, and the Bonue gate in Vietnam.

In a speech given by Kham Phoeun, the Kratie provincial governor, said that the border marker foundation installation was performed according to the Supplemental border treaty between Cambodia and Vietnam.

In this speech, Kham Phoeun stresses the importance of the building of border marker no. 69, because it is done with the aim of creating a borderline which, in the past, was not clear and not certain, but that is now turned into a clear borderline filled with peace.

Kham Phoeun claimed at the end of the ceremony that, in the past, people living on both sides of the border never had any problem. “The first installation is at the international gate directly, next, other border markers will be installed, it will not follow a corridor but it will depend on the decisions made by both sides. The Royal Government determined that no matter what, in May, border markers will be installed at all international gates. The borderline in Kratie has no problem between the two countries.”

The installation of the foundation for the border marker in Snuol district takes place after the installation of the border marker at Trapeang Phlong border gate in Kompong Cham province on 24 May. The installation of this latter border marker is also based on the Supplemental border treaty between Cambodia and Vietnam. This Supplemental border treaty fixed 2008 as the year in which the installation of all border markers along 1,270 kilometers borderline will be completed.

However, opposition leader Sam Rainsy commented that SRP does not recognize the treaties concluded in the 80s. Sam Rainsy accuses these treaties of being illegal.

Sam Rainsy said: “SRP never recognizes the treaties concluded in 1982, 1983, 1985, during the 80s. And we believe that these treaties are illegal because they were concluded by a government which was not recognized by the International community at the time. Secondly, these treaties affect the interest of the country and the nation, they affect the territorial integrity of Cambodia, and it made Cambodia lose territories, both land and maritime territories.”

In the report detailing the installation of border maker no. 69 at the International gate in Trapeang Sre-Bonue, the marker weighs 990 kilograms, is 2.2-meter high, and has the same design as the one installed in Bavet (Svay Rieng province). The cost of each marker is 293,249,000 dongs (~$18,300). The installation of this marker starts today and will be completed in 27 days.

Switzerland and Cambodia cement ties further

29. May 2007
Swissinfo (Switzerland)

Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey has held talks near Bern with King Norodom Sihamoni of Cambodia in efforts to strengthen ties between the two countries.

The discussions, also attended by Swiss Economics Minister Doris Leuthard, covered a wide range of bilateral relations as well as the issue of reforms at the United Nations.

The official visit follows one by Calmy-Rey to Cambodia in February, with the reciprocal trips marking 50 years of diplomatic ties between Bern and Phnom Penh.

Calmy-Rey told the Cambodian monarch that she hoped that the court set up to try serious crimes committed during the Khmer Rouge regime (1975-1979) would be able to start the first cases in the near future.

Switzerland supports the efforts to prosecute those responsible for atrocities and is to finance the work of an expert at the court - called the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia - at its Office of Information and Awareness-Raising.

Gesture

Bern is making the gesture because it believes there is a need to make the objectives and activities of the court better understood by the people of Cambodia.

Tuesdays' talks at a government residence near Bern also reviewed bilateral relations in the areas of cultural, economic and political affairs.

A Swiss foreign ministry statement noted that Switzerland supports development in Cambodia through several regional projects carried out by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco).

The discussions also focused on the new United Nations Human Rights Council and the working methods of the UN Security Council.

Although King Sihamoni's visit to Bern was official, the remainder of his trip is private.

Children's hospitals

He is to attend celebrations marking the 15th anniversary of the Kantha Bopha Foundation of Swiss doctor Beat Richner, who has built up children's hospitals in Cambodia.

The hospitals, which are now a mainstay of the Cambodian health system, were founded by Richner mainly from public and private donations from Switzerland. The Swiss government gives about SFr3 million ($2.45 million) annually.

During her February visit, Calmy-Rey visited the newest medical centre, which was inaugurated in December 2005. "My presence and our financial support are the proof of the esteem in which we hold you," she told a group of assembled medical staff.

Political Cartoon: Democracy a la 3 Dictators

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)