Khmer Rouge Brother Number 2 Nuon Chea Said Very Sick, 'Would Not Last Long'

18 Jun 07
By Chey Sachak
Moneakseka Khmer
Translated from Khmer and posted online

Nuon Chea, former Brother Number Two after Khmer Rouge genocide ringleader Pol Pot, is said to be seriously ill in Pailin City and totally incapable of making any comments about the process of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Court of Cambodia [ECCC].

As for Ka Savuth, defense lawyer working for Kaing Khek-iev alias Duch, former security chief of the Kampuchea Communist Party attached to Prison S-21 or Tuol Sleng, he also has called for a speedy trial of his client.

A report said that Nuon Chea is very sick. He probably would not last long while the process to try the former Khmer Rouge leaders continues to drag its feet.

This claim coming directly from Nuon Chea's mouth that he is very sick has rekindled the fear that the former top leader of the Democratic Kampuchea [DK] or Maoist Khmer Rouge regime would all die before any of them could be tried.

Nuon Chea stressed that he was sick after the ECCC Co-Judges unanimously approved the very important 113-article Internal Rules on Wednesday last week in order to open the door to the prosecution of the former Khmer Rouge leaders that the national and international communities have been waiting to see happen for more than 3 decades on charges of involvement in the massacre of nearly 2 million Cambodians between 1975 and 1979.

Nuon Chea, former chairman of the National Assembly of the DK regime and its Brother Number Two, has been presumed by most circles that although he did not say anything in detail about the Khmer Rouge tribunal it still means that his serious illness would not let him live until the opening of the court hearing.

It should be noted that Nuon Chea is now about 81 years old and is generally known to be ill from all sorts of ailment, including high blood pressure, heart conditions, fatigue and fragility from old age that have made it very difficult for him to travel.

A separate report said that Nuon Chea's neighbors in Pailin City have noted that he can move around only with the help of a cane and he is always escorted by several followers when he makes his rare public appearances. This means that Nuon Chea is becoming extremely frail.

The other former Khmer Rouge leaders, such as Khieu Samphan and Ieng Sary, too, are getting very old with fragile health.

It should be noted that Pol Pot alias Saloth Sar, top architect of the Khmer Rouge regime of genocide, died in the Anlung Veng region in 1998 and a number of other Khmer Rouge leaders also had died one after another, such as former Khmer Rouge military commander Ta Mok, former Interior Minister Son Sen, and DK regional commander Ke Pok.

Chhang Yuk, director of the Document Center of Cambodia, stated that the court for trying the former Khmer Rouge leaders should know how to save time, avoid making waste, and see to it that its proceedings conform to the advanced ages of the former Khmer Rouge leaders before they are dead.

However, ECCC spokesman Reach Sambat smugly claimed, "The stance of the jurists, both local and international, concerning the trial of the former Kh mer Rouge leaders since the beginning has been to be committed to doing everything to push this tribunal forward in response to the wishes of the Cambodian people."

Moreover, the opening of the hearing of the former Khmer Rouge leaders' trial, Reach Sambat explained, could begin at the beginning of 2008.

He went on to say, "Everybody has about the same understanding, for old age is not a problem that is confined to the Khmer Rouge leaders alone; even the witnesses are getting very old too."

Cambodia and the United Nations are spending US $56.3 million to set up a multinational tribunal to try the former Khmer Rouge leaders. However, so far not a single Khmer Rouge chieftain has been seen brought to the trial on charges of the genocidal massacre in Cambodia.

Nevertheless, the defense lawyer of Kaing Khek-iev alias Duch, former warden of Tuol Sleng Prison, has urged this tribunal to try his client as soon as possible.

Kaing Khek-iev's defense lawyer Ka Savuth strong reacted to the fact that his client has been imprisoned for years without trial.

Kaing Khek-iev alias Duch, now nearly 70 years old, was arrested in 1999. He has since been detained by the Military Tribunal on charge of crime against humanity. Later, he was also charged with war crime. But Kaing Khek-iev alias Duch has not yet been indicted by the ECCC.

In this context, according to some jurists in Cambodia, this prolonged detention of Kaing Khek-iev alias Duch is in violation of the legal procedure. Kaing Khek-iev alias Duch ran Prison S-21 or Tuol Sleng under the Khmer Rouge regime. He is also the only former Pol Pot cadre who is kept in prison by the current rulers.

At the same time, there is speculation that Duch could be the first man to be brought to the court hearing. Robert Petit, Co-Prosecutor of the Khmer Rouge tribunal, said that the Co-Prosecutors' Office is examining the summons for initial interrogations to be handed over to the Co-Investigating Judges before indictment is to be made.

UNHCR saves 15 Montagnard out of the forest

29 June 2007
By Ratha Visal
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy

A UN Official indicated that a group of people was saved from the forest located in the east of Cambodia. The group claimed that they fled from Vietnam to look for refuge in a third country.

Chuong Ravuth, a UNHCR official, said that the 15 Montagnard people from Vietnam were saved on Thursday after they hid in the forest of O’Yadaw district, Ratanakiri province in the past one month while waiting for help to get out.

Chuong ravuth said: “Based on the information, we had to cooperate with the authority and several departments to get help. When we arrived at their (hiding) location, they all came about according to the number we were told: 15 of them.”

The group of Montagnard people is believed to be part of a group of 27 people whom the UNHCR learnt that they fled from their villages in Vietnam last May.

The 15 Montagnard people will be sent to the UNHCR headquarters in Phnom Penh next week.

Chams Gather for International Conference in California

Young Cambodian Cham Muslim women stare at a pile of sculls in a stupa at Choeung Ek memorial on the outskirts of Phnom Penh.

Neou Sarem, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
29/06/2007

Scholars of the Champa people, who are descended from a kingdom representing the farthest reach of the Indian-Hindu civilization, will meet in California next month in an effort to improve the relationship of the descendants of the culture in their respective home countries.

The conference, "Socio-cultural Issues of Champa 175 Years After Its Disappearance," was organized by Champa Communities in America with support from the International Office of Champa and the Champaka Journal. It will be held in San Jose July 7 and July 8.

"The goal and purpose of this conference is to assess the sociocultural issues of the people of Champa, in terms of education, economic and social standing in their host countries," said Nhuong Tu, a conference organizer.

The kingdom of Champa, which covered much of modern-day southern Vietnam, flourished from the 7th Century through 1832. Descendants include the Cambodian Chams, the only Muslim group to emerge from the empire.

So Farina, head of the Documentation Center of Cambodia's Cham Muslim Oral History Project, said in an interview at VOA Khmer this week she would attend the conference to search for ways to help Cambodian Chams improve their lot and to mitigate negative perceptions toward their community.

Chams were targeted for persecution and execution by the Khmer Rouge for their religious beliefs.

About 400,000 Cham remain in Cambodia, 150,000 in Vietnam and 20,000 in Malaysia, in a diaspora fueled by the spread of communism in Indochina.

There cannot be any demonstration against Thailand as previously

Saturday, June 30, 2007
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

After the UNESCO delayed the listing of Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage site, Thai newspapers reported that the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh is making preparations for evacuating Thai nationals in case of riot attack against the Thai embassy like it was done in 2003. Regarding this issue, Khieu Kanharith, Minister of Information and government spokesman, told the Rasmei Kampuchea newspaper that the UNESCO delay will not create a riot against the Thai by Cambodian people as it was in 2003. Khieu Kanharith added that the 2003 event cannot take place again because Cambodian youth no longer believe false information anymore, and that the Cambodian police now has the necessary experience (to handle such situation). Furthermore, he said that Thailand does not oppose the UNESCO listing of Preah Vihear.

Court release three generals

Saturday, June 30, 2007
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

Judge Phan Vannarath of the Battambang provincial court issued a court decree releasing 3 generals and 7 other people from the accusation made against them for being a group of armed men and for receiving stolen goods. The 3 generals are: 48-year-old 2-star General Uth Sakhan, the former commander of Prince Ranariddh’s body guards unit, 46-year-old Brigadier General Khieng Savorn, a member of the SRP steering committee and who was in charge of joint RCAF intervention, and 49-year-old Brigadier General Men Saran, the Funcinpec commander of the army region 2. Judge Phan Vannarath said that his decision to drop the charges against the 10 men was because there was not enough proof to charge any of them. Koy Kan Ya, the prosecutor in the case, said that he does not agree with this decision, and that he will bring the case the appeal court because the decision is out of the ordinary.

The intrepid eater

Saturday June 30, 2007
By CHRISTINA CHIN
The Star (Malaysia)

Eat as the locals do, some would say.

My mother calls me a cannibal. My best friends think I’m sick, and most of my colleagues shake their heads at me in disgust.

You see, I love travelling and want to learn about the many different cultures of the countries I’ve visited. And I subscribe to the Anthony Bourdain school of thought: for one to truly understand and experience a new culture, one must be prepared for one heck of a culinary adventure!

So, no matter how disgusting I may find a particular dish, I would try it at least once.

In the last few years, my travels to Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, have been somewhat of a Fear Factor challenge, for I dined on deep-fried spiders, worms and insects, and steamed dog meat and snails – all washed down with a shot of snake wine!

If like me, you are curious about how some of the most exotic Asian dishes taste like, please read on.

Deep-fried spiders in Cambodia

OK, before we go on, let me tell you that the spider I am referring to is nothing like the tiny radioactive critter that gave Spider-Man his powers. And I assure you, they do not look like your harmless garden spider either. These babies are more like hairy tarantulas (above, left)!

I stumbled upon these crunchy delicacies by chance when I was travelling along the road north from Phnom Penh to Angkor Wat in Siem Reap. The tour bus stopped at a little town called Skuon, and we hopped off to do some shopping.

In a labyrinth of shops and hawker stalls, my best friend Su Yin and I stumbled upon a stack of palm-sized spiders all neatly stacked up beside a large wok filled with hot, bubbling oil. I remembered feeling queasy but decided to buy one – just to have a taste.

I don’t remember exactly how much it cost, but I am sure it was quite cheap (probably about US$2 a critter) because we thought we could always throw it away later if we chickened out. Unfortunately, you can’t just buy one spider; you have to buy a bagful!

Apparently, Skuon is famous for its delicious spider delights. The spiders are bred in holes in the ground near the town. The locals have long used the tarantulas in traditional medicine but only started eating the critters during the Khmer Rouge reign of terror. Starvation was rife then and people ate anything they could get their hands on, including insects.

My heart was racing when I opened the bag. The deep-fried spiders looked anything but dead! I swallowed hard and had my first mouthful. They were surprisingly quite good and reminded me of soft shell crabs (the texture, at least). The legs were crunchy with bits of flesh in them.

The spiders were a tad salty but quite fragrant if you ate it hot. The head and body tasted a bit like chicken. But the large, globular abdomen – filled with dark greyish-brown paste – proved to be quite a challenge. Its tastes of boiled liver still lingers in my mouth.

Steamed snails in Cambodia

In Greece, snails are popular in the island of Crete and are normally boiled with some vinegar, cooked in a casserole with tomato, potatoes and squashes, or fried in olive oil with lemon. These creatures are equally popular in Spain, Portugal, Italy and Malta (though most people associate escargot with the French).

In France, snails are usually served in the shell with a sauce of melted butter and garlic – simply exquisite!

However, in Phnom Penh, the snails are not quite as appetising. I was walking in a park one breezy night when I saw an elderly woman stacking plastic plates on the pavement, right next to a small steamer. She laid out two huge straw mats and brought out an ice box, bottles of chilli sauce and a bag of leafy vegetables.

My adventure buddy, Su Yin, and I plopped ourselves down and ordered a plate of whatever she was selling. When the dish arrived, the snails we got were no escargot. These snails were smaller and not as “meaty”. They came with toothpicks (to dig the meat out of the shells), a dash of sweet chilli sauce, and a generous helping of leafy greens.

The smell of mud was overwhelming. I suspect they were picked from the muddy banks and rivers. Dismissing fears of diarrhoea, we dug in. Soaked in the tasty homemade sauce and washed down with a can of Cambodian beer, the smell did not bother us as much.

So what do Cambodian snails taste like? Siput remis!

Dog meat in Vietnam

Before we go any further, let me say this: I consider myself an animal lover and am the proud owner of an adorable black poodle. So what possessed me to eat the meat of an animal many consider to be man’s best friend?

A sick sense of curiosity, I suppose. Luckily, my two travelling companions were non-judgmental, though they clearly disapproved of dog-eating. They willingly tagged along as I pestered the tour guide to take me to Hanoi’s most famous dog restaurant.

There, we saw groups of male customers seated on little rattan stools and plastic chairs, sharing plates of dog meat and guzzling beer (dog meat is supposed to boost the libido). Our guide ordered a plate of steamed dog meat, which came with bitter leafy vegetables and condiments like salt, lime and sliced red chillies.

In modern Vietnam, dog meat is a rather expensive delicacy. The dish I ordered cost US$4 (about RM14) and included servings of dog meat sausages. The meat was tough – very tough actually. Since it was steamed, the dish was rather bland. I only had a couple of pieces but the guilt stayed with me throughout the trip.

Every stray that passed me in the dusty street of Hanoi gnawed at my conscience. I would never judge someone who chooses to eat it but would I have it again? Never!

Snake wine in Vietnam

In a cosy inn high up in the hills of Sapa, I had my first (and possibly last) sip of snake wine i.e. King Cobra fermented in rice wine. While having dinner at the inn’s restaurant, my friends caught sight of a huge glass jar placed in an inconspicuous corner of the bar counter.

Knowing that snake wine was on my “must try” list, my friends duly alerted me. For at least 15 minutes, I stood there staring at the venomous serpent. Noting my interest, the cute Vietnamese bartender offered to let me have a shot of the wine – on the house!

As he carefully proffered my glass of snake wine, he casually told me that snakes are widely believed to possess medicinal qualities and can cure anything from farsightedness and hair loss to impotence.

He said there were two types of snake wines – one involved the fermenting of snakes, turtles, insects, or birds, in rice wine; and the other was made from a mixture of snake blood and rice wine or grain alcohol (the snake’s gall bladder is normally served together with the latter).

I flashed a nervous smile, thanked him and made my way back to the table. I grabbed my friend’s hand, closed my eyes and swallowed. What was over in a matter of seconds felt like an eternity. My throat was on fire and the strong smell of the wine (which to me, was like vinegar) seemed to linger on forever.

One thing is for sure, snake wine is not for the faint-hearted, and is unlikely to make it into my “top 10 beverage of choice”.

Insects in Thailand

Of all the things I’ve tried, creepy crawlies have got to be the most nutritious, tasty and cheap! Full of protein, fried caterpillars, worms, crickets and bugs sold all over Bangkok are popular local snacks.

Crunchy and salty, the caterpillars and worms rank highly on my list of “healthy snacks” (OK, maybe deep-frying isn’t the healthiest method of cooking). They taste amazingly like French fries (if not for the eyes), with a nice creamy texture to boot!

Bodies of S. Korean victims of Cambodian jet crash return home

SEOUL, June 30 (Yonhap) -- The bodies of 13 South Korean tourists killed in a Cambodian plane crash arrived here on Saturday.

Aluminum coffins containing the bodies were accompanied by 23 relatives of the victims as they arrived at the Incheon International Airport at around 7:50 a.m. on a chartered plane flown from the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh.

An elderly woman who lost her daughter, son-in-law, and two grandchildren sobbed uncontrollably and fainted as the bodies were carried by ambulances to a mortuary at a hospital in eastern Seoul.

The dead South Koreans were among 22 passengers killed when a small plane crashed earlier this week in a jungle area in southern Cambodia.

Remains of South Korean plane crash victims return home

South Korean bereaved relatives holding a portrait of Cambodia's plane crash victim walk upon her arrival at the Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, on Saturday June 30, 2007. The bodies of 13 South Koreans killed when their chartered plane crashed earlier this week in Cambodia arrived here. (AP Photo/JUNG Yeon-je, POOL)

ASouth Korean bereaved relatives holding a portrait of Cambodia's plane crash victim walk upon her arrival at the Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, on Saturday June 30, 2007. The bodies of 13 South Koreans killed when their chartered plane crashed earlier this week in Cambodia arrived here. (AP Photo/JUNG Yeon-je, POOL)

A South Korean bereaved relative holding a portrait of Cambodia's plane crash victim walks upon her arrival at the Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, on Saturday June 30, 2007. The bodies of 13 South Koreans killed when their chartered plane crashed earlier this week in Cambodia arrived here. (AP Photo/JUNG Yeon-je, POOL)

SRP-USA announces the visit of MP Sam Rainsy in Long Beach

SRP-USA announces the visit of opposition leader Sam Rainsy to Long Beach, California, USA on Friday 29 June 2007, where he will discuss about the current affairs in Cambodia, in particular regarding illegal logging, corruption, land-grabbing perpetrated by the rich and powerful and by government officials. A reception in his honor will be held at:

When:
Friday, June 29, 2007, in the evening

Where:
Hak Heang Restaurant
2041 E. Anaheim St.
Long Beach, CA
(562) 434-0296

For additional information about the reception and Mr. Sam Rainsy’s visit, please contact:

Richard Kem 562-422-2445
Prasoeur Van 562-492-1320
Sovanndy Than 562-715-9976

Japan provides aid for Cambodian mine clearance

06/30/07

Phnom Penh (ANTARA News) - Japan's JIMAS organisation has provided nearly 300,000 USD in aid to help the Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) carry out de-mining programmes in the country.

The finance package will predominantly be used for mine clearance in the in northern Cambodia's Kom Rieng districtBattambang province.

The aid marks the second time that JIMAS has supported ordnance clearance activities near the Cambodia-Thailand border.

JIMAS has doled out over 400,000 USD annually for similar programmes in the impoverished provinces of Kampot, Kandal, Pray Veng and Kampong Speu, VNA reported.

Three Czechs who died in the plane crash are siblings

Cambodian crematorium workers carry a coffin containing the body of a Czech tourist who died in a recent plane crash, at a pagoda in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Thursday, June 28, 2007. Mourning ceremonies took place in Phnom Penh Thursday for some of the 22 people, including South Korean and Czech tourists, who died when a plane crashed in a Cambodian jungle this week. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Friday, June 29, 2007
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

Among the 16 foreigners who died during the plane crash, 3 of them are Czech tourists who came to enjoy the beauty of Cambodia, but it turned out that they were not able to return back home. What is more touching is the fact that the 3 tourists (including 2 women) are all direct siblings, and that a pair of them are twins (the male tourist and one of the female). According to the list of passenger’s names, the three are: Usala Simona, the oldest sister who was born in 1986, and Usala Zdenek and Usala Katerna, both born in 1988 and are twins. The remains of the three were all cremated at the Preah Puth pagoda in the afternoon of 28 June, as requested by the family of the victims since they have difficulties bringing the bodies back home to Europe. The three have no other siblings. Koh Santepheap reported that the body of the Uzbek pilot is preserved at the hospital morgue pending his family’s decision.

Heng Samrin’s nephew died in PMT Air plane crash

A portrait Hean Chandara, a Cambodian pilot who died in a plane crash in Kamport province, southern Cambodia, is seen during his funeral ceremony at a pagoda in Phnom Penh June 28, 2007. Rescue teams found the wreckage of the Antonov AN-24 that was carrying 22 people, including 13 Korean and three Czech tourists, high on a jungle-clad Cambodian mountain on Wednesday. There were no survivors. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

Two pilots with same first name died during PMT Air plane crash

Friday, June 29, 2007
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

Two of the Cambodian pilots among the other 5 Cambodian airline employees who died during the plane crash, carry the same first name with a slight difference in spelling, and both are captain: the first pilot name is Ut Chan Tara, and the second pilot’s name is Hean Chan Dara. The two men died at the same time on the same flight in an unbelievable coincidence. The remains of the two men are on display at Wat Langka pagoda, and will be cremated today. Among the two, Hean Chan Dara is the nephew of Heng Samrin, president of the National Assembly. Hean Chan Dara is 42-year-old, and was born in Svay Rieng province. In 1982, he went to study in the former Soviet Union to become an airplane mechanics, and in 1996 he learned to fly AN-24-type airplanes. He pursued additional flight training in China in 1997. He is survived by his wife and two children. 46-year-old Ut Chan Tara went to pursue pilot training in the Soviet Union in 1985. He was born in Sa’ang district, Kandal province. He is survived by his wife and 3 children.

Keo Remy will become HRP vice-president

Friday, June 29, 2007
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

A report indicated that Keo Remy, who left the SRP a few days ago and went on to join Kem Sokha’s HRP, was nominated by the fledgling party as its party vice-president. Kem Sokha, the interim president of HRP, told The Cambodia Daily that Keo Remy is a person who deserves to occupy this position. Mrs. Mu Sochua, SRP Secretary-general, said that SRP proposed to the National Assembly (NA) to replace Keo Remy with Nou Sovath, the current party vice-president for Phnom Penh city. However, Nguon Nhel, first NA vice-president, said that this proposal to replace Keo Remy cannot take place immediately as the NA is going into a 3-month recess.

New Report Finds Critical Needs At Khmer Rouge Tribunal

Open Society for Justice Initiative (OSJI)

For immediate release
Contact: David Berry: +1 212 548 0385 (New York)

NEW REPORT FINDS CRITICAL NEEDS AT KHMER ROUGE TRIBUNAL

~ Call for Immediate Action as Investigations Begin ~

New York, June 27, 2007—The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) must take urgent action to address serious challenges confronting the court, according to a report released today by the Open Society Justice Initiative.

As the ECCC moves into its investigations phase, immediate steps must be taken on an array of issues, including:

• getting the courtrooms ready for pre-trial hearings, which are expected to start in a few months;
• providing protection and support to potential witnesses;
• making the court’s operations more accessible to the Cambodian public through enhanced outreach; and
• instituting more transparent reporting on the court’s financial and administrative operations.

Without prompt attention to these and other needs, further delays will likely plague the court and erode public confidence, the report warns.

“The ECCC has achieved a great deal in its first 18 months,” said James A. Goldston, executive director of the Open Society Justice Initiative. “The adoption of internal rules last week marked a significant milestone for the court. But the Extraordinary Chambers still has much to do if it is to fulfill its mandate.”

The 24-page report recognizes the court’s achievements since it officially opened its doors, and also highlights the key tasks the court needs to tackle in coming months so the ECCC can be fully prepared for trials in early 2008.

The report highlights four key areas for action: enhancing the court’s independence and impartiality; securing compliance with due process and fair trial standards; fostering transparency and public engagement; and further developing the capacity and effectiveness of court operations. The report provides recommendations to the ECCC, the United Nations, donor States, and Cambodian NGOs on steps they can take to improve the court’s performance.

The report is available at: http://www.justiceinitiative.org/db/resource2?res_id=103799.

Since 2003, the Justice Initiative has assisted the ECCC through technical assistance, advocacy efforts and court monitoring. Last week, the ECCC’s judges adopted a set of internal rules which will govern the work of the tribunal. The passage of these rules paves the way for the formal investigative phase to start. The Justice Initiative’s report looks ahead to see how the court can meet the challenges before it.

The URL for this document is:
http://www.justiceinitiative.org/db/resource2?res_id=103799.

___________________
The Open Society Justice Initiative, an operational program of the Open Society Institute (OSI), pursues law reform activities grounded in the protection of human rights, and contributes to the development of legal capacity for open societies worldwide. The Justice Initiative combines litigation, legal advocacy, technical assistance, and the dissemination of knowledge to secure advances in the following priority areas: national criminal justice, international justice, freedom of information and expression, and equality and citizenship. Its offices are in Abuja, Budapest, and New York.

www.justiceinitiative.org.

OSJI urges further ECCC kickback investigation

Justice Watchdog Urges Further Kickback Investigation

Mean Veasna, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
29/06/2007

A tribunal watchdog has called on the UN to further investigate charges that Cambodian judges pay kickbacks to high-ranking officials in order to sit on the courts, while outlining a bevy of weaknesses that remain in the process to try former top Khmer Rouge leaders.

The Open Society Justice Initiative praised agreement on internal rules for the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, but said the UNDP must ensure a recent audit of the courts' human resource management unit is acted upon.

OSJI's Cambodia Justice Initiative Director Long Panhavuth said the UNDP audit should be made public to quell doubts over kickbacks.

"If the report is not made public, then the people are still in doubt about the problem which has not been solved," he said. "So we believe that there should be an investigation to ensure the whole tribunal is just."

The courts have so far declined to release the audit.

In a June report, OSJI cited the courts failure to address "persistent allegations" of kickbacks as a threat to the credibility of the tribunal. It further cited "flaws in the Cambodian judicial selection process" and "delays and fractures between the national and international judges" as impediments to justice.

"Challenges" to the tribunal, OSJI said, included "maintaining the reality and appearance of independence and impartiality of the judiciary and other organs of the court; ensuring compliance with due process and fair trial standards; fostering transparency and public engagement; and improving overall capacity and effectiveness of operations."

"As the ECCC moves into its investigations phase, immediate steps must be taken on an array of issues," OSJI said, "including: getting the courtrooms ready for pre-trial hearings, which are expected to start in a few months; providing protection and support to potential witnesses; making the court's operations more accessible to the Cambodian public through enhanced outreach; and instituting more transparent reporting on the court's financial and administrative operations."

"Without prompt attention to these and other needs," OSJI said, "further delays will likely plague the court and erode public confidence."

OSJI has been involved in a row with the courts since it pointed out allegations of kickbacks in February. Government and court officials strongly denied the allegations, and a spokesman said the government had considered severing ties with the group or ejecting some of its members.

The OSJI report and statement Wednesday received little credence at the courts, ECCC spokesman Reach Sambath said Friday.

"Everyday, we do not work based on this report," he said. "We understand what we have to do. Some of the points [in the report] are unreasonable and are not being used. So, our goal is to have a good tribunal, and it will take a long time."

Bodies of South Korean Crash Victims Flown Home

Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Original report form Phnom Penh
29/06/2007

The bodies of 13 South Korean tourists who died in a plane crash Monday were flown back to Korea Friday night.

Family members of the South Koreans arrived earlier this week on flights from Seoul and attended memorial services for the dead on Thursday. The remains were put on a flight late Friday.

The bodies of all five Cambodian crew have been cremated, along with the remains of three Czech travelers, officials said.

The body of a Uzbek crew chief was being stored in a morgue, awaiting the arrival or relatives, the Associated Press reported.

The operator of Flight U4 241, Progress Multitrade, continued running its domestic routes, following the worst air disaster in Cambodia since a Vietnam Airlines flight crashed at Phnom Penh's airport in 1997, killing more than 60.

Flight U4 241 crashed in Cambodia's coastal mountains in heavy rain Monday, on a newly opened domestic route between Siem Reap and Sihanoukville.

An international airport opened in the coastal town in January, and officials hoped the new route would bring more tourists to the beach.

Political Cartoon: 56th Anniversary of CPP

The sign under the CPP birds read:
Bravo! Cambodia-Vietnam
Solidarity (sa-ma-ki) = Eating rice husks (si-ang-kam)

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

Cambodia: Logging abuse

Activists and journalists who exposed eco-scandal under threat.

29.06.2007
By Andrew Wasley
Index on Censorship for free expression

Journalists and campaigners working to expose an environmental scandal in Cambodia are under threat from the political and business interests with most to lose from their investigations. Andrew Wasley reports.

Journalists and environmental activists investigating deforestation in Cambodia are facing harassment, death threats and censorship after a report accused senior officials within the country's government of involvement in illegal logging, kidnapping and attempted murder.

In Cambodia's Family Trees UK-based campaign group Global Witness claims that leading figures in Cambodia's government - including relatives of Prime Minster Hun Sen - are complicit in destroying large swathes of the country's remaining forests and is calling for international donors to conduct a thorough inquiry into the activities of this 'forest mafiosi' before pledging future development money.

The Cambodian authorities responded to the report's allegations by banning its publication inside the country, threatening Global Witness campaigners and harassing journalists reporting on the story.

The prime minister's brother directly threatened Global Witness earlier this month, stating, ‘if they … come to Cambodia I will hit them until their heads are broken’. Copies of the investigative report have subsequently been confiscated in Phnom Penh and several journalists targeted for covering the story.

Lem Piseth, a reporter with Radio Free Asia, received an anonymous death threat by mobile telephone after producing a piece looking at deforestation in the Kompong Thom province in central Cambodia. The caller accused Piseth of being insolent and asked if he ‘wanted to die’ before stating that there ‘will not be enough land to bury you in’.

The journalist also claimed that whilst researching the story, he was followed by police and the military and was unexpectedly forced to leave a hotel by its owners, who provided no explanation. Piseth, fearing for his life following the death threat, has now fled to Thailand.

Soren Seelow, news editor with the French language daily Cambodge Soir, also suffered after publishing extracts of the Global Witness report in an article highlighting the pressure group's findings. Seelow was summarily dismissed by the paper's owners who claimed the article would upset the authorities and put them in a difficult position.

Employees on the newspaper subsequently went on strike in protest at Seelow's removal, and have now been told the newspaper faces closure.

The worldwide press freedom organisation Reporters sans Frontières commented: ‘It is obvious that the Global Witness report on the over-exploitation of the Cambodian forests is upsetting some people. Since this report was released, all media have been subjected to unjustified state censorship... and we urge the authorities to identify those who made threats (to Lem Piseth) so he can safely resume his work.’

The report alleges that one of the most powerful logging syndicates in the country is the Seng Keang Company, allegedly controlled by the prime minister’s cousin Dy Chouch; his ex-wife Seng Keang; her brother Seng Kok Keang; the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Chan Sarun; and, director-general of the Forest Administration, Ty Sokhun.

Under the guise of a rubber plantation scheme, the syndicate is accused of logging timber from the Prey Long forest. The targeting of resin trees has also destroyed the livelihoods of hundreds, if not thousands, of families living in the area, states the report .

Global Witness also claims that the company attempted to kill two community forest activists who had protested against illegal logging in Prey Long. It is alleged that the elite army unit, known as the Brigade 70, which reportedly has close connections to senior politicians, including the prime minister, has transported illegally logged timber and other smuggled goods.

Environmentalists and human rights pressure groups are now calling on a ‘complacent’ international donor community to launch their own inquiry into the allegations - and support the prosecution of those involved. Failure to do so, argue campaigners, will effectively mean that international money will continue to be fed into a corrupt regime and ultimately offer little benefit to Cambodia's impoverished people.

It is not the first time the Cambodian authorities have attempted to stifle the findings of Global Witness. In 2005, copies of a previous report Taking A Cut were confiscated by customs officials at Pochentong Airport; in 2002 a senior Global Witness campaigner was beaten by a gang of masked men armed with sticks in Phnom Penh. Prior to this, activists had received threats by email from forest concession security staff.

Illegal logging, in Cambodia and across the world, is big business and frequently linked to organised crime and corrupt government officials.

Index on Censorship previously revealed the dangers facing journalists and activists reporting on environmental abuses (‘Dangers lurking in the forests’, 2002) following a brutal attack on an Indonesian reporter, Arbi Kusno, investigating logging issues. Kusno was attacked by thugs armed with machetes and was so badly injured he was presumed dead, only waking up en-route to the morgue.

Thailand threatens to oppose Preah Vihear listing again next year if border and management issues not resolved

Thailand supports World Heritage status for Cambodian Hindu temple

Bangkok, June 29 (DPA) - Thailand has welcomed 'in principle' a decision by the World Heritage Committee this week to consider Preah Vihear, a famed Hindu temple perched on the Thai-Cambodian border, as a World Heritage Site next year.

'In principle, Thailand totally agrees that Preah Vihear should be listed on as a World Heritage Site next year, but there are some issues that should be settled first between Thailand and Cambodia,' said Thai foreign ministry spokesman Tharit Charungvat Friday.

The World Heritage Committee at its 31st session in Christchurch, New Zealand, recognized Phrea Vihear as a temple of great international significance that deserves to be inscribed as a heritage site but postponed its decision on the temple until next year.

Thailand reportedly blocked a Cambodian request that the site be inscribed this year, citing unresolved issues over the joint management of the temple and an ongoing border dispute in the area.

Former Cambodian king Norodom Sihanouk took Thailand to the World Court in 1962 over the two countries' claim to Phrea Vihear and won.

The Hindu temple sits on a cliff marking the Thai-Cambodian border, making access from the Cambodian side difficult.

'Thailand and her people stand ready seriously and promptly to extend cooperation and support to Cambodia and the international community in order to develop Preah Vihear Temple to become an archaeological site with world heritage value as well as a symbol of lasting friendship and relations between Thailand and Cambodia and their people,' said a statement issued Friday by the Thai foreign ministry.

But Tharit said he could not predict if Thailand would actually support Cambodia's bid to make Phrea Vihear a World Heritage Site next year if the differences over the site's management and related demarcation issues were not resolved.

Cambodia: The Silk Grandmothers

Weaving a new life from a lost art

June 28, 2007
By Emily Taguchi
PBS Frontline World

Click here to view the PBS video

Growing up in Tokyo, Cambodia was never far from my conscience. At train stations, volunteers would ask commuters to empty their change to help one of the poorest countries in Asia. Public-service announcements on television encouraged donations and showed the wide eyes and gaunt faces of Cambodian children. Whenever I left food on my plate at the table, my mother would say, "Think about all of the hungry children in the world!"

Still, I was surprised when I read about Kikuo Morimoto, a well-known textile craftsman from Kyoto, Japan, who had moved to Cambodia to help revive the country's ancient practice of silk-making. Many Japanese people are well intentioned but feel more comfortable staying on the entrenched road before them than taking a different, sometimes extraordinary, path. There is even an old saying in Japan that says, "A nail that sticks out will be hammered down."

Morimoto used to hand paint kimonos, and ran his own successful studio with apprentices in tow. But he began to question what that success meant to his life. In the early 1980s, it drew him to the Thai-Cambodian border, where he volunteered at refugee camps. It was there he discovered the beauty of Cambodian silk. "The red of the fabric burned a fierce impression on my eyes," he told me.

Cambodian silk-making is a traditional art that has been passed down through generations from mother to daughter. But Morimoto found the craft in danger of disappearing after decades of violence. When a United Nations mission in the 1990s led Morimoto to Cambodia, he met a few of the weavers. Many of the women were in their 70s and 80s and living in remote villages across the country -- they were the only ones left who knew the secrets of the craft.

During his initial research in Cambodia, Morimoto also found that those who still practiced the silk-making were paid just pennies for their painstaking work. As a fellow craftsman, Morimoto found that infuriating. "These grandmothers were so highly skilled, they should be given the chance to do work that matched their skills and be paid for it," he said.

When I arrived in Cambodia to report this story, I felt some of those same frustrations. Tourists swarm Angkor Wat before dawn -- nearly one million people visit the ancient temples every year, each paying at least $20 to enter and some as much as $60. But minutes away, people live alongside dirt roads, tending to their children and living in poverty. Many of the main streets are dotted with signs that clearly target tourists with warnings in multiple languages. The message? Paying minors for sex is a crime.

In 1996, starting with seven "silk grandmothers," as the women came to be known, Morimoto set up a silk production studio in the town of Siem Reap, which lies on the main tourist route to Angkor Wat. Today, more than 400 people work there, earning anywhere from $80 to $200 a month. It's a modest sum, but far more than the average Cambodian wage of $300 a year.

For the elderly women I met, silk weaving also offered a way of life that didn't violate their beliefs. Chan Sot, who joined Morimoto more than 10 years ago, has lived through great turmoil -- from the French colonial occupation, to U.S. bombardment, to the Khmer Rouge's reign of terror (a time when one in four Cambodians were killed). "Be a merchant, and cheat the customer by cheating the scales" -- as a Buddhist, that was not a value she wanted to live by. "With silk, there is no sacrilege," Chan Sot explained. "I always warned my children not to work where they have to commit sacrilege to make profit."

Today, with the help of Morimoto, a man with an appreciation of beauty and a sense of justice, Chan Sot says she has rediscovered the honorable work she wanted for herself and her daughter.

-----
Emily Taguchi is a journalist and filmmaker from Tokyo. She is currently working as a field producer and videographer for KQED public television in San Francisco. This is Taguchi's second story for FRONTLINE/World's Rough Cut series; her previous film, The Unforgotten War, about antagonism between Chinese and Japanese youth over the memories of World War II was completed in 2006. She is a graduate of the U.C. Berkeley School of Journalism.

Bodies of South Korean victims of Cambodian plane crash to be sent home

Friday, June 29, 2007
The Associated Press

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: The bodies of 13 South Korean tourists killed in a Cambodian plane crash were to be flown home Friday, officials said.

The South Koreans were among 22 people who died when the Russian-made An-24 plane crashed Monday in mountainous jungle in southern Cambodia. The others were three Czech tourists, five Cambodian airline employees and an Uzbek crew chief.

A plane carrying the bodies of the Koreans, including 2-year-old and 9-month-old boys, was to leave Cambodia at about 11 p.m. (1600 GMT), said a South Korean Embassy official who asked not to be named because she was not authorized to speak to the media.

The bodies were to be accompanied by 18 relatives who flew to Phnom Penh after hearing of the crash, said Ly Thuch, a senior official at Cambodia's National Committee for Disaster Management.

Nhim Vanda, the committee's vice chairman, said relatives of the Czech victims would take home the ashes of their loved ones, who were cremated at a Buddhist pagoda in Phnom Penh on Thursday.

The body of Nikolay Pavlenko, the plane's crew chief from Uzbekistan, was being stored in a morgue awaiting his relatives.

Rescue teams retrieved all of the bodies from the crash site in Kampot province late Wednesday.

The aircraft, owned by the small Cambodian airline PMT Air, crashed during a storm not long before it was to land in Sihanoukville on the south coast. It had been flying from Siem Reap province, home of the famed Angkor Wat temple complex.

Prime Minister Hun Sen and Tourism Minister Thong Kohn earlier said the crash was caused by bad weather.

But South Korean news reports, citing the country's diplomats in Cambodia, suggested Thursday that pilot error may have been responsible.

PMT Air began flying in January between Siem Reap and Sihanoukville — a route launched by the government to spur tourism.

South Korean aviation safety officials said they plan to inspect aircraft from seven foreign airlines including PMT Air in the coming days.

Cop flown back [from Cambodia] on drug charges

June 30, 2007
Geoff Wilkinson
Herald Sun (Australia)

A RUNAWAY former Victorian detective accused of armed robbery and drug trafficking while working for the National Crime Authority was extradited from Cambodia yesterday.

James Anthony McCabe was flown back to Australia under guard despite the absence of a formal extradition treaty between the two countries.

Mr McCabe, 38, faces charges in New South Wales, but has also been linked to drug trafficking allegations in Victoria.

He was accused of selling heroin to a police informer during the trial last year of Ian Ferguson, a jailed former member of the Victoria Police drug squad.

The first allegations against Mr McCabe emerged in 2004 while he was in Cambodia and about to be presented with a medal for helping to fight that country's drug war.

But by this month Cambodia decided to order him to leave the country after considering information provided to Cambodia's Prime Minister by the NSW Police Integrity Commission.

He was arrested in Phnom Penh a week ago.

Mr McCabe is believed to have a wife and child in Cambodia, where he has been working in the security industry.

Two PIC investigators went to Phnom Penh this week to escort Mr McCabe to Australia.

He was remanded in custody in Sydney yesterday and is due to apply for bail next week.

Mr McCabe resigned from the Victoria Police as a senior detective in 2004 after 15 years' service.

He was seconded to the NCA and the Australian Crime Commission between 1999 and 2003.

Mr McCabe was implicated during PIC hearings by a NSW detective who admitted stealing ecstasy, amphetamines and cannabis during phony arrests of drug dealers.

Det-Sgt Samuel John Foster, who since pleaded guilty to criminal charges and is awaiting sentencing, told the commission that NCA and ACC cars were used in the rip-offs, and on one occasion an NCA firearm was used.

Mr McCabe admitted during one PIC hearing he had been involved in a $36,000 drug rip-off while working for the NCA.

But he denied holding a gun to a drug dealer's head while pretending to arrest him in another rip-off where 1kg of amphetamines worth $120,000 was stolen.

ADB helps wire Northwest Cambodia

2007-06-29
Infrasite News (Netherland)

Manila, Philippines - A major electricity shortage in northwest Cambodia, including around the tourism hub of Siem Reap, is being fixed with the help of an $8 million loan from the Asian Development Bank to build power lines that will import electricity from neighboring Thailand.

The development will be a boost for the regional economy, not just in tourism but also in agriculture, mining and manufacturing. As demand for power grows, it will also reduce emissions as businesses will not have to invest in new diesel-powered electrical generators.

“This will give the region access to cheaper electricity and a reliable supply,” said Tomas A. Norton de Matos, a Senior Structured Finance Specialist with ADB. “It is also promoting regional cooperation because the electricity will be supplied by Thailand. We worked closely with ThaiExim Bank to enable this project, which also includes trade in Thai equipment and services, to proceed.”

ADB’s Board of Directors agreed on June 27 2007 to loan the money to the (Cambodia) Power Transmission Lines Co. Ltd, a private Cambodian company. The high-voltage grid lines will be the first to be privately owned in the Greater Mekong Subregion. It is the first ADB private sector infrastructure project in Cambodia.

“We are pleased to be investing in Cambodia’s critical transmission infrastructure and to have worked closely with Cambodian and Thailand authorities, and all our partners, in this respect,” said Ly Say Khieng, Chairman and CEO of the company.

Northwest Cambodia, like the rest of the country, suffers from insufficient and unreliable power. There is no national grid and electricity is generated almost exclusively by small diesel plants that generate emissions. This hinders Cambodia’s ability to attract investment and promote sustainable economic activities, which are critical to reducing poverty.

Electricity in Cambodia is among the most expensive in the region because of the disaggregated and isolated small-scale systems.

Siem Reap is home to the famed Angkor Wat temples and is an important and growing tourism center. Many hotels in the area rely on their own power generators. There are similar power shortages in neighboring Battambang, an important agricultural center, and Banteay Meanchey, which supports manufacturing and trading activities.

The 115kV power lines will connect with Thailand’s national grid at the border. They will then run about 221 kilometers mainly alongside National Road 5 and National Road 6 to Siem Reap and Battambang. In addition to connecting the major towns, the new lines will provide opportunities to wire rural communities along the route for electricity.

Work on the project has already started and the first section to Siem Reap is expected to be completed this month or next. The second section to Battambang is scheduled to be completed a couple of months later.

ADB’s $8 million loan will go toward the estimated $32 million total project cost. The balance of funding is being provided through equity, as well as loans from the Export-Import Bank of Thailand and local Cambodian banks.

Briton cleared of child sex abuse in Cambodia

Briton Paul Ian Bower (C) is is seen being escorted by police as he leaves a police station in Phnom Penh in this January 22, 2007 file photo. A Cambodian court cleared a 42-year-old Briton on Friday of sexually abusing two boys aged 12 and 14 after they withdrew their allegations against him. REUTERS/Stringer/Files

Fri Jun 29, 2007

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - A Cambodian court cleared a 42-year-old Briton on Friday of sexually abusing two boys aged 12 and 14 after they withdrew their allegations against him.

Paul Ian Bower, who was working as an English teacher in the impoverished southeast Asian nation, was cleared of all charges after the two boys told the court Bower "did not do anything".

Child sex in Cambodia, which is trying hard to rid itself of its reputation as a haven for paedophiles and perverts, carries a jail term of between 10 and 20 years.

Bower was arrested in January at his rented Phnom Penh home and had to spend six months in detention while investigating judges probed the charges. At Friday's hearing, he appeared to be shivering and in poor health.

On being cleared, he said: "Justice is done".

Dr Lao Mong Hay could become chairman of the HRP steering committee

Friday, June 29, 2007
Rasmei Kampuchea newspaper
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

A reliable source within the HRP indicated that Dr Lao Mong Hay, who is a well known person in the society, will join the HRP and will become a candidate for the position of chairman of the steering committee of the party led by Kem Sokha.

The same source claimed on 28 June, that Dr Lao Mong Hay will be nominated as chairman of the steering committee of the HRP led by party president Kem Sokha. In his position as chairman of the HRP steering committee, Dr Lao Mong Hay will be in charge of legal affairs as well as the party legislation. The same source indicated that Dr Lao Mong Hay himself used to say that he will receive this position, however, it is not known whether Dr Lao Mong Hay may have a change of heart or not.

Kem Sokha, HRP president, told Rasmei Kampuchea in the evening of 28 June that according to the party bylaws, he cannot be the chairman of the party steering committee and that someone else will fill in this position. However, he denied (that Dr Lao Mong Hay accepted this position) because Dr Lao Mong Hay did not made up his mind yet as he is still tied to his work contract with the Asian Human Rights Committee (AHRC) until next February. Nevertheless, Kem Sokha said that he discussed with Dr Lao Mong Hay about the formation of his party since the very beginning. Dr Lao Mong Hay is currently living in Hong Kong, working for AHRC,

According to the HRP bylaws, candidates to the position of chairman of the HRP steering committee must be proposed by members of the steering committee which numbers between 25 and 29. Kem Sokha said that his party will at least have two vice-presidents, and Keo Remy will be one of the candidates for the party vice-president position, whereas the candidate for the other vice-presidency position will be a Cambodian party supporter living overseas, a source indicated. As for the number of party vice-presidents, Kem Sokha said that his party has not made the final decision yet because the party is waiting to discuss this issue with other Cambodians coming from the USA and Canada.

Kem Sokha added that this issue will also be involved with the other 3 or 4 parties which will merge with the HRP. Kem Sokha refused to reveal the names of the parties saying that it will have to wait until these parties made the announcement of them merging with the HRP in July. Nevertheless, he said that these parties already met with him to discuss about the mergers.

Khieu Kanharith: Donor countries may not believe the GW report, even if they still continue to provide funding to Global Witness

Dutch government continues to provide funding to Global Witness

28 June 2007
By Moeung Tum
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

The Dutch government continues to provide funding to Global Witness, the environmental protection organization.

An official from the Dutch embassy in Bangkok, Thailand, told The Cambodia Daily that the Dutch government values Global Witness work in its observation and protection of the environment in the world, and that it will continue to provide funding to Global Witness so that it can pursue its work.

The Dutch government’s decision took place after the Cambodian ambassador in London, England, issued a statement on 4 June requesting that all donor countries stop providing funds to Global Witness, because Cambodian officials accused Global Witness for issuing a defamation report about illegal logging in Cambodia involving the families and close business associates of prime minister Hun Sen.

Nevertheless, the Dutch government will not revisit its decision to continue funding Global Witness.

Regarding this type of funding for Global Witness, Khieu Kanharith, government spokesman, said on Wednesday that donor countries may not believe the Global Witness report published at the beginning of June, even though they continue to provide this type of aid (to Global Witness), and he also said that the government of Cambodia is not an enemy of the entire Global Witness organization.

Hun Sen hit by another case of cold, couldn’t attend 56th Anniversary of Communist People Party (aka CPP)

Hun Sen can be seen on this photo with a bodyguard constantly protecting him from the rain with an umbrella during his visit to Kampot province during the period of the plane crash. Heng Samrin claimed that Hun Sen got a cold from walking under the rain and he could not participate in the party's anniversary celebration (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

CPP celebrates party anniversary

Friday, June 29, 2007
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

The CPP celebrated its 56th anniversary in Phnom Penh on 28 June 2007. In a speech given for the occasion, Chea Sim, president of the party, congratulated the several-decade-old party by saying that it is a moving force borne out of popular movement. In his speech, Chea Sim told the group of supporters that Hun Sen was unanimously nominated to the position of prime minister if the party wins the upcoming 2008 general election. The celebration is marked by the absence of Hun Sen himself, but Heng Samrin, National Assembly president, told The Cambodia Daily by phone that Hun Sen was not able to participate in the celebration because he got a cold from walking under the rain during his help in the search for the plane which crashed on Monday. Heng Samrin said that Hun Sen is only slightly sick, and that it is normal for a human being to be sick.

Non-experts give their expert opinion on the cause of the plane crash

Flight course change may be the cause of crash

Friday, June 29, 2007
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

Radio Australia quoted a South Korean embassy official who said that the plane carrying Korean passengers crashed last Monday maybe due to a flight course change in order to avoid a storm. Shin Hyun-suk, the South Korean ambassador in Cambodia, said that the plane was veering southeast when it encountered a storm coming in from the sea and crashed on the Bokor Mountain. The ambassador said that normally the plane follows a straight path from Siem Reap to Sihanoukville by crossing the sea. However, the ambassador added that the pilot received the green light from the control tower to change course before he flew the plane in the direction of the mountain, this subsequently led to the crash. Prime Minister Hun Send said that, more likely, bad weather rather than mechanical problem is the cause of the crash on Monday.

UNHCR: Montagnards fled to Cambodia because they were deceived, have low education level ... and not from VN's oppression and persecution

29/06/2007
UNHCR makes fact-finding tour in Dak Lak

A representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has said that ethnic minority people in Central Highlands who illegally crossed the border to Cambodia were easily to be deceived due to their low educational level, according to the Army Newspaper.

UNHCR spokesman Kitty McKinsey, who is leading a delegation on a fact-finding visit to Central Highlands province of Dak Lak from June 26-28, made the remark during a meeting with provincial People’s Committee Chairman Lu Ngoc Cu on June 27.

McKinsey was quoted as saying that almost all of the returnees were not refugees, and therefore, they were unfit to settle in a third country.

The delegation arrived in districts of Buon Don and Cu M’gar, visited boarding and vocational training schools for ethnic minority children and met directly with families of those ethnic minority people who had illegally left for Cambodia in 2006.

The UN representative said that she would reflect objectively and honestly what she had seen during the visit, thus helping the international community understand more about the Vietnamese Government’s policies on the ethnic minority people in Central Highlands, the paper said.

McKinsey said she was also impressed with the development of Vietnam since her first visit to the country in 1991.

Source: VNA

Thailand supports Preah Vihear to be World Heritage site, but .... border has not been demarcated yet and Thailand now wants joint management

Thailand supports Preah Vihear shrine to be World Heritage : FM

Fri, June 29, 2007
by Marisa Chimprabha
The Nation

Thai authorities support in principle the ancient Hindu shrine of Preah Vihear being listed as a Unesco World Heritage Site, but there are some unsettled issues regarding the shrine.

Cambodia wants the temple, which lies on its north-west border with Thailand, to be recognised as a World Heritage monument to help assure its continued preservation.

Unesco's World Heritage Committee met recently and suspended a decision on Cambodia's request.

The decision came after Thailand argued that the Thai-Cambodian border has yet to be demarcated and a joint management plan for the area is still being discussed.

The Unesco panel asked both countries to resolve the unsettled issues first and suggested that Cambodia re-submit its request next year.

"We have no objection to Preah Vihear shrine being a World Heritage Site. We support in principle Phnom Penh's request. We hope that the unsettled issues can be solved and the request be put forward for approval again next year," Foreign Ministry spokesman Tharit Charungvat said yesterday.

The Unesco decision to delay the Cambodian request has put Thai authorities on alert. They fear the issue may be exploited to stir anti-Thai sentiment among Cambodians and that recent history might repeat itself.

In 2003 anti-Thai riots erupted, mainly in Phnom Penh, after Cambodian media repeatedly published rumours that a Thai actress had made derogatory remarks against the Cambodian people. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen fuelled the situation by directly confirming the rumours. Hundreds of Cambodians went on a rampage, looting and attacking Thai-owned businesses and the Thai Embassy.

A senior intelligence source said the Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh held an urgent meeting of Thai nationals in Cambodia last week to go over an evacuation plan after it was informed of the government's position on the Unesco matter.

However Tharit dismissed this, saying it was just a routine meeting between the embassy and Thai nationals living in Cambodia.

The Cambodian government has, over recent years, renewed its effort to have Unesco classify the ancient Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage Site.

Cambodia prevented 200 black-clad Thai soldiers who wanted to enter Preah Vihear temple

Friday, June 29, 2007
Rasmei Kampuchea newspaper
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

A report from Preach Vihear temple on 28 June indicated that black-clad Thai soldiers attempted to enter the perimeter of the Preah Vihear temple, but they were prevented by the Cambodian authority posted there. The Thai soldiers then pulled back.

The source which reported the information to Rasmei Kampuchea confirmed that about 200 black-clad Thai soldiers attempted to enter and occupy the Preah Vihear temple which belongs to Cambodia, but the local authority there did not allow them. The source indicated that this is not a first time that Thai soldiers made the attempt to enter the Preah Vihear temple. On 24 June, the Thai soldiers also showed their intent to take such action also, but the Cambodian authority prevented them once already.

Preab Tan, the Preah Vihear provincial governor, recognized over the phone that, indeed, the black-clad Thai soldiers attempted to enter the Preah Vihear temple, but that the Cambodian side did not authorize them. He indicated that these soldiers wore army uniforms although they were not armed and they asked to visit Preah Vihear temple.

Preab Tan added that the local Cambodian authority prevented the entrance to the Thai soldiers and informed them that if they want to visit the temple, they must wear civilian clothes, and they must buy tickets like any other tourist because the temple is under the sovereignty and ownership of Cambodia, and that no uniform soldiers (from other countries) can enter. He indicated that in the past, Thai soldiers attempted to enter the perimeter of the Cambodian temple, but the Cambodian side always prevented them by giving them the same reason. Preab Tan added that even if Cambodians want to enter the Thai territories, they must also obey by this rule.

Preah Vihear temple was under dispute between the two countries in the 60s. The Hague International Court of Justice decided to give the ownership of the temple to Cambodia in 1962, and the decision angered Thailand. The action taken by the Thai soldiers coincide with a time when Cambodia is asking UNESCO to list Preah Vihear as a World Heritage site. Thailand opposed Cambodia’s request by claiming a number of problems. The Cambodian delegation led by Sok An to the UNESCO meeting will return back at the beginning of July.

Kem Sokha asks for a delay in court appearance

Thursday, June 28, 2007
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

The Rasmei Kampuchea newspaper reported that Mr. Kem Sokha, the former president of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR), asked for a delay in his court appearance to clarify about the defamation lawsuit brought by his former workers. Kem Sokha asked for a delay to 30 July 2007, claiming that he is too busy with organizing the HRP congress. The report indicated that 5 former CCHR employees sued Kem Sokha for defamation. Following the filing of the lawsuit, the deputy prosecutor issued a summon for Kem Sokha’s court appearance on 28 June 2007 so that he can be questioned about this lawsuit. But on 26 June, Ms. Meng Sopheary, Kem Sokha’s lawyer, requested the court for a delay to 30 July instead claiming that her defendant is busy with the party congress which will be held on 22 July.

Cambodia sees tourism boom in first five months of ‘07

Friday, June 29, 2007
Posted at e-Travel Blackboard (Australia)

It seems more and more travelers are discovering the wonders of Cambodia, with the ports recording just below 20% growth in the first five months of the year when compared to 2006.

Siem Reap was still the most popular entrance port, with a market share of 65.26% of total arrivals. The 553,873 trips into Siem Reap represent a lift of a little over 57% when compared to 2006 figures.

Air travel in is also on the rise, with 562,652 travelers entering on planes, signifying a 36% increase in this mode of transportation in.

A third of travelers are still traveling in via land or sea, with inbound land travel up by 27% and sea travel inbound up by 8%.

Looking at inbound markets, Korea is still leading the pack with 175,006 trips in the January to May period, holding a strong 20% market share, and growing in numbers this period by 32%.

Coming in second, are the Japanese, with an 8% market share with 69,053 travelers in the first five months of 2007, an increase of 11% when compared to 2006. Rounding out the top five inbound markets are Taiwan, China and Vietnam.

AIDS-infected people in Cambodia decreases half in 2006: official

Srey Chhiep, left, feeds milk to her nine-month baby girl, who is HIV positive, at Opot Health Care Center sponsored by Partners in Compassion Cambodia (PCC),a non-governmental organization, at Takeo province some 60 kilometers (37 miles) south of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Saturday, June 23, 2007. Chhiep, is HIV negative and the baby contracted the disease through her father who has since died, said PCC co-founder, Wayne Dale Matthysse. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

June 29, 2007

Cambodia gained 70,000 AIDS-infected people in 2006, which decreased by half from the figure in 2003, a senior health official said on Thursday.

Cambodia is very proud of this result, said Mom Bun Heng, secretary of State of the Cambodian Ministry of Health, while addressing an AIDS seminar in Phnom Penh.

The Cambodian government could now provide the delaying-life medicine for 20,000 AIDS-infected people, including 2,000 children, he said.

The government's budget for AIDS prevention in 2007 stands two times higher than 2006, while the disease is spreading from urban areas to rural areas.

Cambodia is one of the worst-hit countries in the region in the field of AIDS spread. In 1997, its infection rate ran at 3.3 percent of its population.

Source: Xinhua

Beyond the Horizon: Five Years with the Khmer Rouge

Thursday, June 28, 2007
International Herald Tribune (Paris, France)

Summer Reading
Preparing for a new home overseas - or trying to understand your current one? The IHT's team of expatriate correspondents recommends books and Web sites to put you in the right frame of mind.

By Laurence Picq
Translated from the French by Patricia Norland.
St. Martin's Press, 1989. 218 pages.

On October 10, 1975, Laurence Picq, who had already ceded much of her working-class French upbringing to the ideological attractions of Mao Zedong, took one step farther away from home and boarded a plane from Peking to Phnom Penh to meet her husband, a Cambodian named Sikouen.

It was a step from which she would never recover. Phnom Penh had fallen to communist guerilla forces led by the murderous Khmer Rouge six months before, and the city, once the pearl - the Paris, even - of Southeast Asia, had become a ghost town. By 1979, the Khmer Rouge's radical peasant revolution had claimed the lives of some 2 million people, roughly a quarter of the population.

Picq was one of the survivors. Her memoir, "Beyond the Horizon," which was first published in France by Editions Bernard Barrault, inhabits the same terrifying territory as the fiction of Paul Bowles. If Kit Moresby could have pushed her way off the pages of "The Sheltering Sky" and written a memoir of her own, it might have looked something like this.

Picq takes a new name, Comrade Phâl, and joins her husband, a high-ranking member of Ieng Sary's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at a compound in Phnom Penh, where she spends about three years farming and translating documents for the Khmer Rouge.

Today, Sary is one of the most likely candidates for prosecution before a faltering war crimes tribunal now underway in Phnom Penh, and Picq's book is easier to read and offers more cultural insight than many of the detailed histories of those years.

The Khmer Rouge whipped Cambodia into a nationalistic fury. It was not, in other words, a good place for a French woman, whose very skin made her a symbol of colonialism. Things go from bad to worse for Picq. Her two daughters are taken from her, her friends keep getting killed, she has to march through the jungles of northwestern Cambodia in her ninth month of pregnancy, she gets malaria, her infant son dies, and everyone nearly starves to death, for a while subsisting on a diet of red ants.

This is fairly typical stuff for those years, and by the end of it, Picq is having "mediumistic" experiences. Reading the book, however, you are confronted not with your own familiar outrage, but with something far stranger: desire. Picq is one of those rare and invaluable creatures one sometimes meets while living overseas: a two-minded being capable of slipping between irreconcilable cultures. This is far more helpful for someone trying to understand the terrible, wronged pride of a weak nation like Cambodia, than is the blind western fury of a book like Asne Seierstad's bestselling "The Bookseller of Kabul."

Picq's idealism is relentless. She picks herself up again and again, renewing her love for this borrowed revolution, until at last, having buried her baby somewhere near the Thai border, her dream of a simple peasant life of equality, utility, and justice seems to die, too. Eventually she makes it back to France, having managed somehow to preserve that most basic habit of western civilization: her self.

For additional information about Suong Sikoeun, Laurence Picq's former husband, click here.

Day One: Our First Day at Sihanouk Hospital

Morris County to Cambodia Blog

Dr. Bruce Mintz of Mountain Lakes, his daughter, Jessie, and family friend Mike LoBiondo, in conjunction with Morristown Memorial Hospital, are traveling to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, to help establish medical clinics and offer medical education Sihanouk Hospital. They will blog regularly during their mission.

Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Posted at DailyRecord.com

Well, our first entry was delayed by our 23 hour flight combined with our arrival in Cambodia in the late evening. At 7am the three first members of our team made our way to Sihanouk Hospital of Hope. Our arrival was highlighted by countless paradoxes. The Poverty of the Capital city Phnom Penh is profound, yet each person one sees on the street makes eye contact followed almost instantaneously by the most generous of smiles. The gentleness of the culture draws such contrast to the recent history of this country so recently ravaged by civil strife and armed conflict. I could not extract my memory of the daily news from this city cataloguing the carnage from the overt and sincere kindness of each of our encounters.

We entered the hospital and were given a short tour lasting about an hour at which we were introduced to the surgical team. As we had been informed previously the doctors were uniformly young, enthusiastic and eager to hear the initial lectures we had prepared on vascular disease which is a common occurrence here. Though a language barrier existed it did not seem to impede healthy discourse and the quality of the physicians' clinical skills formed a sharp contrast to the sparse technology. Physicians from various countries roamed the halls of the hospital very much as we did. We made rounds in the surgical unit finding several candidates in need of the technology which had been provided by Morristown Memorial Hospital. Prior to our arrival and that of these recent acquisitions Vein imaging had not been attempted. We spent the mourning working with skilled and engaged Cambodian physicians who caught on quickly.

It was a first day in a world away, but one marked by the hustle of hoards of people in the streets and local medical personnel armed with a sense of purpose, and the kind of humanity that would draw anyone to a life in the healing arts. All in all, a great day.

-Dr. Bruce Mintz, D.O.