By Ka-set in English
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Click here to read the article in Khmer
From the listing of the Preah Vihear temple as a World heritage site to Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun's provisional release, let us take a look back at the second semester of 2008 in Cambodia. Those six months were mainly marked by the legislative elections and the confirmation of the ruling Cambodian People's Party's electoral supremacy, but also by the border dispute with Thailand.
JULY: Preah Vihear and the elections
7th : After a serias of twists and despite tensions with Thailand who eventually withdrew its support to Cambodia, the temple of Preah Vihear is listed as a World Heritage Site. The decision was issued by the World Heritage Committee, meeting in Quebec (Canada). In the meantime, the Committee urged Cambodia to collaborate with Thailand with a view to come to a new “cross-border listing” of the area, intended to ensure the conservation of the whole site, acknowledged by the Committee as “exceptional”.
Phnom Penh, Olympic stadium (Cambodia), 14/07/2008. Celebrations for the Preah Vihear temple's listing as a World Heritage Site (Photo: John Vink / Magnum)
11th : A journalist of the opposition newspaper Moneaksekar Khmer (Khmer Conscience) and his son are assassinated in Phnom Penh. Khem Sambo's murder happened as the election campaign was at its peak. The murder is seen by many and by the SRP as “a message addressed to the opposition, especially to the Sam Rainsy Party”. The assassinations are widely condemned.
Phnom Penh (Cambodia), 13/07/2008. Funeral of Khem Sambo, a journalist killed together with his son on July 11th (Photo: John Vink / Magnum)
15th : A border conflict is set off between Cambodia and Thailand. Despite the listing earlier the same month of the temple of Preah Vihear as a World Heritage Site, three Thai nationals climb the barrier situated on the Thai-Cambodian border during the night of July 14th-15th to install flags representing their country's colours. They are arrested by the Cambodian authorities on charges of violation of the Cambodian territory. Although Cambodia has kept the Preah Vihear border crossing closed since June 22nd - a precaution taken to contain the potential popular unrest which appeared following demonstrations held near that area of the border - some forty Thai armed soldiers enter the Cambodian territory around mid-day. Meanwhile, other Thai armed forces are deployed along the border, facing their Cambodian counterparts, already stationed. Each party reinforcing their strength, June 15th marks the beginning of a long dispute.
Prasat Preah Vihear (Preah Vihear, Cambodia), 21/07/2008. Member of the military police on site (Photo: John Vink / Magnum)
17th : Cambodia is still listed, together with 9 other Asian countries (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Lao PDR, Timor-Leste and Yemen) by the United nations as a “least developed country”. The list is revised every three years by the Social and Economic Council.
27th : Twelve political parties compete in the peacefully held legislative elections. The CPP is said to be well ahead and the first temporary results announce without any surprise the victory of Prime Minister Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party (CPP); the population is angry due to the impossibility for many people to cast their vote. During the July 2008 elections, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human rights noted lower violence from previous elections but observed more threats and intimidation directed against political activists.
Takhmau (Kandal, Cambodia), 27/07/2008. Prime Minister Hun Sen casting his vote in his district (Photo: John Vink / Magnum)
28th : The day following the polls, the Cambodian opposition show unity in front of the CPP. All four parties, including the Sam Rainsy Party, the Human Rights Party, the Norodom Ranariddh Party and the FUNCINPEC, which are represented with at least one seat at the National Assembly, call their fellow Cambodian citizens “not to acknowledge the July 27th 2008 election results”.
Late July: land disputes between Cambodia and Thailand spread little by little. Thai troops are sent to occupy the Ta Moane temples, located nearby the countries’ common border, in the Cambodian province of Oddar Meanchey. Thailand claims sovereignty over these temples.
AUGUST: post-election protest and Khmer Rouge tribunal
12th : PSR et PDH stay united in their rejection of the election results and announce their intention to bring the matter before the United Nations.
Phnom Penh (Cambodia), 08/08/2008. Press conference held by Sam Rainsy, Keat Sokhim (vice-president of the Human Rights Party) et Muth Chantha (spokesman for the Norodom Ranariddh Party) in protest of the legislative elections results (Photo: John Vink / Magnum)
21st : Co-Prosecutors at the Extraordinary Chamber in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) file a Notice of Appeal against the Closing Order indicting the former director of S-21 centre and supposed to send him before the Trial Chamber. The decision prevents the first trial of the ECCC to open in 2008 as planned. The two Co-Prosecutors deplored the fact that this Order did not “indict the Charged Person [Duch] for committing the alleged crimes via participation in a joint criminal enterprise [at S-21]” and that the Closing Order “forgot to indict Duch on the basis of and in accordance with the Cambodian Penal Code of 1956”.
Kambol (Phnom Penh, Cambodia), 03/12/2007. Kang Guek Eav (Duch), in the Pre-Trial Chamber at the ECCC (Photo: John Vink / Magnum)
SEPTEMBER: Boeung Kak, Norodom Ranariddh, the USA and Human rights
1st : More than a hundred residents at the Boeung Kak lake, in the capital of Cambodia, demonstrate in order to call the municipality to put an end to the operations launched by the private Company Shukaku Ltd to fill in the lake, or at least to find a solution to rehouse inhabitants. The company signed an agreement with the government in February 2007 and intends to invest US$79 million in a huge development project on the Boeung Kak lake and its surrounding area, as part of a 99-year concession on the zone. Shukaku Ltd started filling in the lake on August 26th.
Takhmau (Kandal, Cambodia),17/09/2008. Boeung Kak Lake residents demonstrate to urge the Prime Minister to intervene against their eviction (Photo: John Vink / Magnum)
2nd : Publication of the official election results: Cambodian People's Party (90 seats), Sam Rainsy Party (26 seats), Human Rights Party (3 seats), FUNCINPEC ( 2 seats) and Norodom Ranariddh party (2 seats).
15th : Yash Ghai, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Human rights in Cambodia, resigns before the end of his mandate. The Kenyan jurist announced his resignation with a strong wish: that his successor receive the full support from the Human Rights Council, all the UN organisations and the international community. During the three years he worked as Special Representative for Human rights in Cambodia, Yash Ghai did not stop battling it out with Hun Sen, through an exchange of public declarations and media announcements. His position was not renewed as he asked. The UN Human Rights Council decided at the end of September to appoint a special Rapporteur for a duration of one year.
16th : American Deputy Secretary of State John D. Negroponte announces in Cambodia an “initial” contribution of US$1.8 million for the year 2008 from the United States to the ECCC's international (UN) part. Even though the American Congress lifted budget restrictions concerning American aid to direct development in Cambodia in 2005, the legal body continues to assert its condition that in order for the country to benefit from any American participation, the Congress must be sure that the tribunal is acknowledged as being in accordance with “international standards” and is not just a “show”. The donation comes as a blessing to the ECCC, always looking for additional funding. The ECCC’s initial budget was revised upward since the first official estimations.
Phnom Penh (Cambodia), 16/09/2008. John D. Negroponte, the American Deputy Secretary of State (Photo: John Vink / Magnum)
24th : The inauguration of the Fourth Legislature, held at the National Assembly and presided over by the King, and the MPs swearing-in ceremony at the Royal Palace, take place, exceptionally, without any anomaly. Prime Minister Hun Sen's new mandate was officially recognised by King Norodom Sihamoni. September 24th 2008 was also the 15th Anniversary of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia.
Phnom Penh (Cambodia), 24/09/2008. Newly-elected MPs on their way to the Royal Palace (Photo: John Vink / Magnum)
25th : The new government of Cambodia is validated. Only seven Ministers from the former governmental team happen not to be part of the new one.
King Sihamoni issues a Royal Pardon for his half-brother Norodom Ranariddh upon the request of the Prime Minister. On the 17th, Hun Sen gave his consent for the prince’s return to the country, since his party, the Norodom Ranariddh Party (NRP) finally acknowledged the legislative elections results and called for a quick formation of the new government. Prince Ranariddh went into exile in February 2007 after a complaint was filed against him for Breach of Trust in the case of the selling of the headquarters of the FUNCINPEC, the party he once led. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison and fined US$150,000. Norodom Ranariddh’s appointment as personal superior advisor to the King of Cambodia in early December confirmed his retirement from the country’s political life, since at the end of September, shortly after his return to Cambodia, he refused the offer to lead his party, the NRP.
OCTOBER: corruption, Reporters Without Borders and Cambodian-Thai conflict
8th : The OSJI (Open Society Justice Initiative) organisation, one of the main bodies in charge of observing the Khmer Rouge tribunal, calls donors “to require, as a condition for any future aid to the tribunal and the transfer of promised donations, that serious concern about recurring allegations of corruption within the ECCC be resolved, and that the tribunal give an answer to complaints of corruption”. The OSJI was the first, in February 2007, to denounce the obligation for Cambodians to give part of their salary to government officials in order to be given jobs at the tribunal.
15th : A new incident on the Cambodian-Thai border, near the Preah Vihear temple, gives rise to fears of an open conflict among the population. The incident, which saw soldiers opening fire, claimed three lives on the Cambodian side.
Prasat Preah Vihear (Preah Vihear, Cambodia), 07/11/ 2008. Barbed wire along the border crossing between Thailand and Cambodia (Photo: John Vink / Magnum)
24th : The 2008 Annual Press Freedom Index, published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), sees Cambodia dropping from the 85th to the 126th place (out of 173 countries), which makes the Kingdom come down to the same level as Colombia. RSF justified Cambodia’s bad result with “the assassination of a journalist, apparently organised by a policeman, and the strengthening of media control during the legislative elections”.
NOVEMBER : Hok Lundy, Gunnar Bergstrom and economic crisis
7th : Cambodia's growth rate should be around 4,75% in 2009 and reach its lowest level since 1993, according to conclusions made by a mission of economists of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
9th : Hok Lundy, the country's top Police Chief – and holding that position since 1994 – dies in a helicopter crash as he was on his way to his native province of Svay Rieng in South-East Cambodia. He went on this trip straight after the commemoration of the 55th Anniversary of the Kingdom's independence.
15th : Thirty years after he first set foot in Cambodia, the Swede Gunnar Bergstrom comes back to the country to present his apologies. After visiting the Khmer Rouge in August 1978 , he went back to his homeland convinced of the goodness of the Khmer Rouge regime, without suspecting the tragic happenings going on in the meantime in Cambodia. He later realised his mistake and decided to move on.
DECEMBER : International aid, budget, bird flu and justice
5th : The Minister of Economy and Finance announces at the end of a Development and Cooperation Forum in Cambodia that donor-countries and international organisations promised to grant the country a billion dollars for the year 2009. China comes as the first “benefactor”, with 257 million dollars, followed by the European Union with 214 million dollars, and Japan, with a 113 million-dollar donation. Other good news for Cambodia: donors now announce their donation promises for the next 3 to 5 coming years, when before their announcements only applied to the coming year.
Phnom Penh (Cambodia), 03/12/2008. Development and Cooperation Forum of Cambodia (Photo: John Vink / Magnum)
8th : The two International and Cambodian Co-Prosecutors at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) state their “disagreement upon the appropriateness of opening new judicial investigations into crimes committed in various locations throughout Cambodia by certain persons considered to be senior leaders of the Khmer Rouge or persons most responsible for crimes under that regime. The Cambodian population, and victims first, insists on the fact that the five former Khmer Rouge leaders and criminals should not be the only ones to appear before the tribunal.
9th : The National Assembly adopts the 2009 National Budget. It amounts to more than 1.8 billion dollars, i.e. a 28% increase compared with the 2008 budget. In a context of border crisis with Thailand, the Ministry of Defence is allocated a massive 160 million dollars, meaning a 68,8% rise in its budget.
12th : A new human case of bird flu, a young Cambodian man who contracted the virus at the end of November 2008, is confirmed. After resting at the hospital, he was discharged safe and sound. He is the 8th human case of virulent bird flu in Cambodia since February 2nd 2005, when the Cambodian authorities first announced a case of human contamination by the H5N1 virus. No new bird flu case had been declared since the death of a teenager in April 2007.
Phnom Penh (Cambodia), 11/11/2008. Campaign against bird flu during the Water Festival (Photo: John Vink / Magnum)
18th : Kem Sokha, president of the Human Rights Party, calls a press conference to announce that the time has come for the HRP and the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) to make their alliance come true. The idea had been mentioned many times after the July 27th legislative elections.
Phnom Penh (Cambodia), 18/12/2008. Kem Sokha, president of the Human Rights Party, at a press conference (Photo: John Vink / Magnum)
26th : The King-Father announces in a communiqué from his home in Beijing that he will not return to Cambodia in February 2009 as planned, due his poor health. Now 87, the former King of Cambodia is currently being treated for cancer for the third time.
31st : Almost five years after their arrest, followed by their much disputed condemnation to 20 years of imprisonment for the murder of high-profile union leader Chea Vichea, the Supreme Court of Cambodia ruled the provisional release of Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun. Their case is sent back to the Court of Appeal, who will have to reopen an investigation. Many international organisations for Human rights, as well as union organisations, had expressed their demands and renewed their pleas during the past few weeks. They welcomed the ruling with much enthusiasm.
Phnom Penh (Cambodia), 31/12/2008. Born Samnang, after the Supreme Court hearing which ruled his provisional release (Photo: John Vink / Magnum)
The first part of this retrospective on the news in Cambodia in 2008 was published on January 1st 2009
JULY: Preah Vihear and the elections
7th : After a serias of twists and despite tensions with Thailand who eventually withdrew its support to Cambodia, the temple of Preah Vihear is listed as a World Heritage Site. The decision was issued by the World Heritage Committee, meeting in Quebec (Canada). In the meantime, the Committee urged Cambodia to collaborate with Thailand with a view to come to a new “cross-border listing” of the area, intended to ensure the conservation of the whole site, acknowledged by the Committee as “exceptional”.
Phnom Penh, Olympic stadium (Cambodia), 14/07/2008. Celebrations for the Preah Vihear temple's listing as a World Heritage Site (Photo: John Vink / Magnum)11th : A journalist of the opposition newspaper Moneaksekar Khmer (Khmer Conscience) and his son are assassinated in Phnom Penh. Khem Sambo's murder happened as the election campaign was at its peak. The murder is seen by many and by the SRP as “a message addressed to the opposition, especially to the Sam Rainsy Party”. The assassinations are widely condemned.
Phnom Penh (Cambodia), 13/07/2008. Funeral of Khem Sambo, a journalist killed together with his son on July 11th (Photo: John Vink / Magnum)15th : A border conflict is set off between Cambodia and Thailand. Despite the listing earlier the same month of the temple of Preah Vihear as a World Heritage Site, three Thai nationals climb the barrier situated on the Thai-Cambodian border during the night of July 14th-15th to install flags representing their country's colours. They are arrested by the Cambodian authorities on charges of violation of the Cambodian territory. Although Cambodia has kept the Preah Vihear border crossing closed since June 22nd - a precaution taken to contain the potential popular unrest which appeared following demonstrations held near that area of the border - some forty Thai armed soldiers enter the Cambodian territory around mid-day. Meanwhile, other Thai armed forces are deployed along the border, facing their Cambodian counterparts, already stationed. Each party reinforcing their strength, June 15th marks the beginning of a long dispute.
Prasat Preah Vihear (Preah Vihear, Cambodia), 21/07/2008. Member of the military police on site (Photo: John Vink / Magnum)17th : Cambodia is still listed, together with 9 other Asian countries (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Lao PDR, Timor-Leste and Yemen) by the United nations as a “least developed country”. The list is revised every three years by the Social and Economic Council.
27th : Twelve political parties compete in the peacefully held legislative elections. The CPP is said to be well ahead and the first temporary results announce without any surprise the victory of Prime Minister Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party (CPP); the population is angry due to the impossibility for many people to cast their vote. During the July 2008 elections, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human rights noted lower violence from previous elections but observed more threats and intimidation directed against political activists.
Takhmau (Kandal, Cambodia), 27/07/2008. Prime Minister Hun Sen casting his vote in his district (Photo: John Vink / Magnum)28th : The day following the polls, the Cambodian opposition show unity in front of the CPP. All four parties, including the Sam Rainsy Party, the Human Rights Party, the Norodom Ranariddh Party and the FUNCINPEC, which are represented with at least one seat at the National Assembly, call their fellow Cambodian citizens “not to acknowledge the July 27th 2008 election results”.
Late July: land disputes between Cambodia and Thailand spread little by little. Thai troops are sent to occupy the Ta Moane temples, located nearby the countries’ common border, in the Cambodian province of Oddar Meanchey. Thailand claims sovereignty over these temples.
AUGUST: post-election protest and Khmer Rouge tribunal
12th : PSR et PDH stay united in their rejection of the election results and announce their intention to bring the matter before the United Nations.
Phnom Penh (Cambodia), 08/08/2008. Press conference held by Sam Rainsy, Keat Sokhim (vice-president of the Human Rights Party) et Muth Chantha (spokesman for the Norodom Ranariddh Party) in protest of the legislative elections results (Photo: John Vink / Magnum)21st : Co-Prosecutors at the Extraordinary Chamber in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) file a Notice of Appeal against the Closing Order indicting the former director of S-21 centre and supposed to send him before the Trial Chamber. The decision prevents the first trial of the ECCC to open in 2008 as planned. The two Co-Prosecutors deplored the fact that this Order did not “indict the Charged Person [Duch] for committing the alleged crimes via participation in a joint criminal enterprise [at S-21]” and that the Closing Order “forgot to indict Duch on the basis of and in accordance with the Cambodian Penal Code of 1956”.
Kambol (Phnom Penh, Cambodia), 03/12/2007. Kang Guek Eav (Duch), in the Pre-Trial Chamber at the ECCC (Photo: John Vink / Magnum)SEPTEMBER: Boeung Kak, Norodom Ranariddh, the USA and Human rights
1st : More than a hundred residents at the Boeung Kak lake, in the capital of Cambodia, demonstrate in order to call the municipality to put an end to the operations launched by the private Company Shukaku Ltd to fill in the lake, or at least to find a solution to rehouse inhabitants. The company signed an agreement with the government in February 2007 and intends to invest US$79 million in a huge development project on the Boeung Kak lake and its surrounding area, as part of a 99-year concession on the zone. Shukaku Ltd started filling in the lake on August 26th.
Takhmau (Kandal, Cambodia),17/09/2008. Boeung Kak Lake residents demonstrate to urge the Prime Minister to intervene against their eviction (Photo: John Vink / Magnum)2nd : Publication of the official election results: Cambodian People's Party (90 seats), Sam Rainsy Party (26 seats), Human Rights Party (3 seats), FUNCINPEC ( 2 seats) and Norodom Ranariddh party (2 seats).
15th : Yash Ghai, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Human rights in Cambodia, resigns before the end of his mandate. The Kenyan jurist announced his resignation with a strong wish: that his successor receive the full support from the Human Rights Council, all the UN organisations and the international community. During the three years he worked as Special Representative for Human rights in Cambodia, Yash Ghai did not stop battling it out with Hun Sen, through an exchange of public declarations and media announcements. His position was not renewed as he asked. The UN Human Rights Council decided at the end of September to appoint a special Rapporteur for a duration of one year.
16th : American Deputy Secretary of State John D. Negroponte announces in Cambodia an “initial” contribution of US$1.8 million for the year 2008 from the United States to the ECCC's international (UN) part. Even though the American Congress lifted budget restrictions concerning American aid to direct development in Cambodia in 2005, the legal body continues to assert its condition that in order for the country to benefit from any American participation, the Congress must be sure that the tribunal is acknowledged as being in accordance with “international standards” and is not just a “show”. The donation comes as a blessing to the ECCC, always looking for additional funding. The ECCC’s initial budget was revised upward since the first official estimations.
Phnom Penh (Cambodia), 16/09/2008. John D. Negroponte, the American Deputy Secretary of State (Photo: John Vink / Magnum)24th : The inauguration of the Fourth Legislature, held at the National Assembly and presided over by the King, and the MPs swearing-in ceremony at the Royal Palace, take place, exceptionally, without any anomaly. Prime Minister Hun Sen's new mandate was officially recognised by King Norodom Sihamoni. September 24th 2008 was also the 15th Anniversary of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia.
Phnom Penh (Cambodia), 24/09/2008. Newly-elected MPs on their way to the Royal Palace (Photo: John Vink / Magnum)25th : The new government of Cambodia is validated. Only seven Ministers from the former governmental team happen not to be part of the new one.
King Sihamoni issues a Royal Pardon for his half-brother Norodom Ranariddh upon the request of the Prime Minister. On the 17th, Hun Sen gave his consent for the prince’s return to the country, since his party, the Norodom Ranariddh Party (NRP) finally acknowledged the legislative elections results and called for a quick formation of the new government. Prince Ranariddh went into exile in February 2007 after a complaint was filed against him for Breach of Trust in the case of the selling of the headquarters of the FUNCINPEC, the party he once led. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison and fined US$150,000. Norodom Ranariddh’s appointment as personal superior advisor to the King of Cambodia in early December confirmed his retirement from the country’s political life, since at the end of September, shortly after his return to Cambodia, he refused the offer to lead his party, the NRP.
OCTOBER: corruption, Reporters Without Borders and Cambodian-Thai conflict
8th : The OSJI (Open Society Justice Initiative) organisation, one of the main bodies in charge of observing the Khmer Rouge tribunal, calls donors “to require, as a condition for any future aid to the tribunal and the transfer of promised donations, that serious concern about recurring allegations of corruption within the ECCC be resolved, and that the tribunal give an answer to complaints of corruption”. The OSJI was the first, in February 2007, to denounce the obligation for Cambodians to give part of their salary to government officials in order to be given jobs at the tribunal.
15th : A new incident on the Cambodian-Thai border, near the Preah Vihear temple, gives rise to fears of an open conflict among the population. The incident, which saw soldiers opening fire, claimed three lives on the Cambodian side.
Prasat Preah Vihear (Preah Vihear, Cambodia), 07/11/ 2008. Barbed wire along the border crossing between Thailand and Cambodia (Photo: John Vink / Magnum)24th : The 2008 Annual Press Freedom Index, published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), sees Cambodia dropping from the 85th to the 126th place (out of 173 countries), which makes the Kingdom come down to the same level as Colombia. RSF justified Cambodia’s bad result with “the assassination of a journalist, apparently organised by a policeman, and the strengthening of media control during the legislative elections”.
NOVEMBER : Hok Lundy, Gunnar Bergstrom and economic crisis
7th : Cambodia's growth rate should be around 4,75% in 2009 and reach its lowest level since 1993, according to conclusions made by a mission of economists of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
9th : Hok Lundy, the country's top Police Chief – and holding that position since 1994 – dies in a helicopter crash as he was on his way to his native province of Svay Rieng in South-East Cambodia. He went on this trip straight after the commemoration of the 55th Anniversary of the Kingdom's independence.
15th : Thirty years after he first set foot in Cambodia, the Swede Gunnar Bergstrom comes back to the country to present his apologies. After visiting the Khmer Rouge in August 1978 , he went back to his homeland convinced of the goodness of the Khmer Rouge regime, without suspecting the tragic happenings going on in the meantime in Cambodia. He later realised his mistake and decided to move on.
DECEMBER : International aid, budget, bird flu and justice
5th : The Minister of Economy and Finance announces at the end of a Development and Cooperation Forum in Cambodia that donor-countries and international organisations promised to grant the country a billion dollars for the year 2009. China comes as the first “benefactor”, with 257 million dollars, followed by the European Union with 214 million dollars, and Japan, with a 113 million-dollar donation. Other good news for Cambodia: donors now announce their donation promises for the next 3 to 5 coming years, when before their announcements only applied to the coming year.
Phnom Penh (Cambodia), 03/12/2008. Development and Cooperation Forum of Cambodia (Photo: John Vink / Magnum)8th : The two International and Cambodian Co-Prosecutors at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) state their “disagreement upon the appropriateness of opening new judicial investigations into crimes committed in various locations throughout Cambodia by certain persons considered to be senior leaders of the Khmer Rouge or persons most responsible for crimes under that regime. The Cambodian population, and victims first, insists on the fact that the five former Khmer Rouge leaders and criminals should not be the only ones to appear before the tribunal.
9th : The National Assembly adopts the 2009 National Budget. It amounts to more than 1.8 billion dollars, i.e. a 28% increase compared with the 2008 budget. In a context of border crisis with Thailand, the Ministry of Defence is allocated a massive 160 million dollars, meaning a 68,8% rise in its budget.
12th : A new human case of bird flu, a young Cambodian man who contracted the virus at the end of November 2008, is confirmed. After resting at the hospital, he was discharged safe and sound. He is the 8th human case of virulent bird flu in Cambodia since February 2nd 2005, when the Cambodian authorities first announced a case of human contamination by the H5N1 virus. No new bird flu case had been declared since the death of a teenager in April 2007.
Phnom Penh (Cambodia), 11/11/2008. Campaign against bird flu during the Water Festival (Photo: John Vink / Magnum)18th : Kem Sokha, president of the Human Rights Party, calls a press conference to announce that the time has come for the HRP and the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) to make their alliance come true. The idea had been mentioned many times after the July 27th legislative elections.
Phnom Penh (Cambodia), 18/12/2008. Kem Sokha, president of the Human Rights Party, at a press conference (Photo: John Vink / Magnum)26th : The King-Father announces in a communiqué from his home in Beijing that he will not return to Cambodia in February 2009 as planned, due his poor health. Now 87, the former King of Cambodia is currently being treated for cancer for the third time.
31st : Almost five years after their arrest, followed by their much disputed condemnation to 20 years of imprisonment for the murder of high-profile union leader Chea Vichea, the Supreme Court of Cambodia ruled the provisional release of Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun. Their case is sent back to the Court of Appeal, who will have to reopen an investigation. Many international organisations for Human rights, as well as union organisations, had expressed their demands and renewed their pleas during the past few weeks. They welcomed the ruling with much enthusiasm.
Phnom Penh (Cambodia), 31/12/2008. Born Samnang, after the Supreme Court hearing which ruled his provisional release (Photo: John Vink / Magnum)The first part of this retrospective on the news in Cambodia in 2008 was published on January 1st 2009
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