Khmer Intelligence News 01 February 2010

KHMER INTELLIGENCE NEWS

01 February 2010

Thaksin obtained Cambodian citizenship in March 2009 (2)

Thailand's fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra obtained a Cambodian passport in the last week of March 2009. The Royal Decree granting Thaksin Khmer citizenship was signed off by CPP and Senate President Chea Sim in his capacity then as Acting Head of State. King Norodom Sihamoni had been “advised” to unexpectedly but discretely leave Cambodia for France in that last week of March 2009 in order to keep secret the CPP decision to grant Khmer citizenship to Thaksin.

Former anti-Vietnamese Resistance soldiers confront Thai Army at Preah Vihear (2)

The Hun Sen government has deliberately selected former anti-Vietnamese Resistance soldiers – from the Khmer Rouge, Funcinpec and Son Sann’s KPNLF – to confront the Thai Army in the defense of Preah Vihear Temple. The Vietnamese-inspired CPP policy is to eliminate all Khmer soldiers who fought against the Vietnamese occupation of Cambodia in the 1980’s, especially the Khmer Rouge warriors who continued fighting the Hun Sen government until 1998. The objective of this policy is to prevent any possible armed rebellion against the current regime in the future and to turn a “completely new page” in the relations between Cambodia and Vietnam.

A long history of border encroachments by Vietnam in Svay Rieng province (1)

Even opposition leader Sam Rainsy, who pulled out a so-called border post in Svay Rieng province last October, may not know that there had been continuous attempts by Vietnam over the last century to encroach on Cambodian territory, especially in Svay Rieng province.

- In 1930, under French colonial rule, King Sisowath Monivong (1875-1941), fearing and wanting to contain Vietnamese encroachments, ordered on-the-spot land measurements, border delineation and mapping of that part of Svay Rieng province where Sam Rainsy pulled out the so-called border post. The concerned area was around Koh Khsan (later on known as Koh Kban) in Chantrea district. See the 12 February 1930 Royal Declaration at http://tinyurl.com/ycg2den

- In 1986, under the People’s Republic of Kampuchea, Msah Lah, a courageous Deputy Minister who was suspicious about border encroachments by Vietnam, requested national press agency SPK to print aerial photos of the Svay Rieng border post plantings. There is also a telling report by Sao Samuth, Chairman of the Svay Rieng Border Subcommittee. Subsequently, Sao Samuth was reportedly murdered in 1987 by the Vietnamese for being patriotic on the boundary affairs. See CPP secret documents at http://tinyurl.com/yhh68fh

- In 1999, under the current Kingdom of Cambodia, Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) Commander-in-Chief General Ke Kim Yan wrote a report to Prime Minister Hun Sen indicating that Vietnam had been surreptitiously and illegally annexing stretches of Cambodia's territories including in Svay Rieng province. The report details several cases where Vietnamese civilians protected by armed soldiers or militiamen grabbed land belonging to Cambodian farmers and moved border markers well inside Cambodian territory. Read the full report at http://tinyurl.com/yjypg2s

Cambodia is committing suicide as a nation because of her inadequate handling of border affairs: Norodom Sihanouk (1)

In a 16 March 2005 statement King-Father Norodom Sihanouk condemned the continuous border encroachment by the Vietnamese authorities. He mentioned the case of Svay Rieng province where opposition leader Sam Rainsy uprooted last October a so-called border post to defend Cambodian farmers who were victims of land grab associated with border encroachment. The King-Father specified that Vietnam had recently created "new borders" to her benefit. In conclusion, he accused the Vietnamese-subservient Hun Sen government of pushing Cambodia to commit suicide as a nation because of its weak stance on the border issue.

Full text of the royal statement in French with unofficial translation in Khmer at http://tinyurl.com/yk99v3d

Both Cambodian and Vietnamese authorities recognize their “mistake” on border post location (2)

On 27 January the Svay Rieng provincial court sentenced opposition leader Sam Rainsy and two Cambodian farmers to jail term for uprooting on 25 October 2009 a border post (#185) in Koh Kban Kandal village, in Samraong commune, Chantrea district, Svay Rieng province. However, following the strong evidence presented by the Sam Rainsy Party at http://tinyurl.com/yeaoxyf with further explanation at http://tinyurl.com/yk5zbtt, both the Cambodian and Vietnamese authorities are now obliged to recognize that the so-called border post uprooted by Sam Rainsy had been planted at the wrong place. Actually, it was planted well inside Cambodia’s territory, at a distance of nearly 300 meters from the legal/official border with Vietnam.

Therefore, that so-called border post (#185) was not a real and legal one, meaning Sam Rainsy and the two farmers have committed no crime. Realizing their “mistake,” Vietnamese border officials on 16 November removed nearby “border” posts (#184, 186 and 187) and took them back to Vietnam, leading the Sam Rainsy Party to claim a “political and moral victory for Cambodia.” Read the SRP statement at http://tinyurl.com/ye2o6w2

Profile of the two farmers currently in jail (1)

Who are the two Cambodian farmers who, alongside Sam Rainsy, were sentenced on 27 January by the Svay Rieng provincial court to one year in prison? They are Meas Srey, female, 38, and Prum Chea, male, 41. They have been living with their families, for generations, in Samraong commune bordering Vietnam. They are victims of land grab associated with border encroachment. Actually, their only crime was their courage to publicly denounce injustice while standing next to Sam Rainsy on Meas Srey’s rice field on 25 October.

Meas Srey and Prum Chea were actually spokespersons for several dozens farmer families in Samraong commune alone who have lost, or are in the process of losing, their rice fields to Vietnam because “border” posts have been moved deeper and deeper into Cambodian territory.

Please listen to the two victims by clicking at http://tinyurl.com/yfmakb5

[End]

Life in Long Bich (Long Beach in English)

Khmer oldies collection distributed by Mietophoum in Long Beach

Click here to listen to "Than Suor Kirirom" by Mao Saret (Low quality MP3)
Click here to listen to "Teuk chruos Bou Sra" by Mao Saret and Toch Teng (Low quality MP3)

Sunday, January 31, 2010
By P. from Long Beach

Dear All,

About once a month, I would make my pilgrimage to the Mark Twain library in Long Beach to borrow some Khmer books to read. Today, on my way back home, I decided to stop by the Chaktokmouk (Riverside) market to pick a few odds and ends.

At the exit of the market, a small kiosk at one end of the parking lot caught my eyes and I decided to take a look at it. As it turns out, the kiosk was selling Khmer DVDs and CDs. What caught my attention was a display table that contains several CDs bearing the photos of old time Cambodian singers, such as Sin Sisamouth, Ros Serey Sothea, etc… Out of habit, I picked up one of the CDs bearing Sin Sisamouth picture and started reading the song titles on the back cover. Ah! I said to myself, the song “Any” (one of Sin Sisamouth’s most famous song) is here, so I asked the salesman if it was the original version or one that contains a low quality version with new music added. He told me that his songs are all original version with no add-on music. I was somewhat skeptical at first, but asked him to try the song out for me anyway. As the old CD player belted out the song from Cambodia’s King of Crooner from the 60s, one man approached the kiosk and claimed: “You know what, it was because of that song that I lost my innocence back then!” He then proceeded to tell us that, in his youth, as a young soldier in the Lon Nol army, the song inspired him so much that, one day, as he met a woman by the name of Any, he lost his innocence to her. He told us that she already had a child when he met her, but it did not matter because her name was Any! However, his romance did not last, at the end, she apparently decided to marry an army captain rather than a simple soldier like him, and that was the end of Any and the “Pulto Aphoap” (sad private).

The anecdote above shows that for the majority of us, Cambodians, who have lived through many eras, listening to old songs bring us back a flood of memories. In my case, listening to these songs bring me back to a time before April 17, 1975. Back then, it was a rather pleasant life for my family (well, it was in fact quite painful some times after 1970) and on Sundays, after dinner, my family would all gather around an old radio set, listening to Sunday evening songs. Most of the time, if I remembered correctly, the evening would be filled with mainly Ramvong, Lam Leav songs, etc... I can still picture in my mind one of these evenings: my dear mother working at the table, my father reading something or another, other siblings trying to complete their homework for the following day. Being the youngest in my family, I would always bug my older brothers and sisters once in a while. After a while, my older sister would invariably chase me around to make me stop. To calm me down, my father would sometime punish me by making me stand on the table and giving out an impromptu performance of one of the songs on the radio. Of course, being tone deaf and not knowing any song in particular, I just yelled out anything that came to my mind to the giggling and laughing of my older siblings. Alas, those joyful moments did not last forever, since then, some of us have passed away under horrible circumstances, some of us survived but we are now spread all over the world. You can now easily understand my attraction to these oldies Khmer songs.

I ended up picking 6 CDs that cost me 20 bucks. The CDs are produced and sold by the “Mietophoum National Library and Cultural Center”, located at 2338 E. Anaheim Street, Suite 102, Long Beach, CA 90804, Tel: (562) 968-7188 and (562) 450-8756. As I was paying for the CDs, it occurred to me that there used to be a Mietophoum store on Pacific Coast Highway in Long Beach also. The salesman told me that he was the owner of that store and he now moved to his new place on Anaheim Street where he opened a library and cultural center. He told me to stop by some time to see his place. I agreed.

On my way home, I popped one of the CDs I bought into the CD player, it was a collection of songs by Mao Saret (see CD cover). I immediately recognized the first song, “Than Suor Kirirom” (Kirirom paradise), the music is inspired by a song by Kyu Sakamoto, a famous pop Japanese singer from the 60s. while the Japanese song title is “Ue wo muite arukou” (I look up when I walk, so the tears won’t fall), the English song title is usually know as “Sukiyaki”. I have attached here a low quality version of this song, I hope I will not get into trouble with the CD distributor, but I want all of you to hear this sample to have an idea of the song quality and clarity. “Reatrey Nov Saumur” (Night in Saumur) is an oldie song that I had never heard before. Knowing that Ms. Mao Saret was one of the singer usually featured in Sihanouk’s movies, I believe that this song could have something to do with the old king. Indeed, during the French protectorate era, a young king by the name of Sihanouk completed his military training in Saumur. Most likely, this song was part of the former king’s repertoire from that era.

Through this collection, I learned that our oldies singers were quite up to date for their time. For example, Kyu Sakamoto’s song was a top pop chart in the 60s and it was quickly adopted by Ms. Mao Saret. The CD also includes a plethora of other well known songs such as “Kun Meul Kang-ha Trov Khyol” (Looking at the wind blowing on the windmill), “Om Touk Rosay Rosat” (Rowing the boat here and there?), and the original interpretation of “Teuk Chruos Bou Sra” (Bou Sra water fall) by Mao Saret and Toch Teng. While I included here a sample of two low quality songs from the CD compilation, they do not provide justice to the original CD quality version. Therefore, I would encourage all of you, Khmer oldies buffs, to purchase these CDs for your own collection. The cost is somewhat expensive for a Khmer CD ($4 a piece, but if you buy 5, you get one free), but the quality of the songs and the CD covers are well worth it. I don’t know if Mietophoum has a website or not. In any case, I hope you could enjoy these oldies as much as I do.

When time permits, I will try to give a brief update of the other CDs I purchased.

Thank you for you for your interest!

P. from Long Beach

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Mietophoum, nor do I get any special pricing for my purchases from them.

Carol Rodley: Cambodian trials should be transparent

US Ambassador Carol Rodley (Photo: Kem Sos, RFA)

29 January 2010
By Den Ayuthyea
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy
Click here to read the article in Khmer

The US ambassador to Cambodia said that all trials by the court should be conducted with transparency and fairness.

Mrs. Carol Rodley, the US ambassador to Cambodia, said that she is following closely all court hearings and trials, whether they involve politicians or ordinary citizens.

Mrs. Rodley did not comment on the Svay Rieng court decision handed down to Mr. Sam Rainsy, but she simply said that all court hearings should be conducted with transparency and fairness.

Through a translator, she said: “We are closely following this trial, and it’s not just trials involving politicians and VIPs, but also on various other trials as well. All trials should be conducted with transparency and fairness.”

Mrs. Rodley made this declaration one day after the Svay Rieng provincial court sentenced opposition leader Sam Rainsy to 2-year jail term.

On 27 January 2010, opposition leader Sam Rainsy was sentenced in absentia by the Svay Rieng provincial court to 2-year of jail term, and he was also fined with several million of riels after he was accused of destruction of public properties and incitation of racial discrimination. The sentencing was issued after Sam Rainsy and a number of villagers from Chantrea district, Svay Rieng province, uprooted stakes for border post no. 185 in October 2009.

Mrs. Rodley did not think that Mr. Sam Rainsy’s case was political, but she indicated that, if this case reaches the Appeal court, and the decision by Appeal court could be fair and transparent, then it would be a good sign.

Mrs. Carol Rodley said: “I think that if this case reaches the Appeal court, and if the Appeal court could be transparent and fair [then it would be a good sign].”

Mr. Sam Rainsy considered the 2-year jail sentence on him, and the 1-year jail sentence handed down to 2 other villagers are not what matter, but the problem is centered on the Cambodian authority giving away Cambodian territories to foreigners, and the latter is the main problem.

Hun Xen: Anti-corruption law is almost out [… more than a decade late and numerous broken promises later]

This anti-corruption law is stretchy [KI-Media note: the word “yoeut” means both stretchy and lengthy in Khmer] just like a chewing a gum: SRP MP Son Chhay (Photo: Cambodge Soir Hebdo)

30 January 2010
By Ky Soklim
Radio France Internationale
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy
Click here to read the article in Khmer

Hun Xen announced publicly that the anti-corruption law is almost out, therefore, government officials will have to declare their wealth, and those who do not declare their entire possession will face the law (sic!).

On Thursday, PM Hun Sen announced that tough measures will be taken against army officers who protect and back up illegal activities. He issued stern warnings to army officers who are conducting illegal business deals or who are involved in illegal businesses. He told these officers to leave the army rank as they bring bad image to the RCAF in general.

Regarding corruption, Hun Xen indicates that in the future, the anti-corruption will be adopted, and it will require high-ranking officers to declare all their wealth, therefore, those who do not declare all their wealth could face jail sentence.

Cheam Yeap, the CPP chairman of the National Assembly’s economy and finance committee, indicated today that government officials with the rank of department head and above must declare their wealth. As for the politicians, those who hold the rank of under-secretary of state and above will also have to declare their wealth.

According to Cheam Yeap, the anti-corruption draft law was approved by the Council of Ministers, but it did not reach the National Assembly (NA) yet. Cheam Yeap claimed that the NA could ratify this important law in April.

It should be noted that the anti-corruption draft law was in preparation since 1994, but up to now, the draft law has not been ratified yet. The anti-corruption includes 9 sections and 57 articles.

SRP MP Son Chhay, who has closely followed this law since 1994, said that this law is stretchy [KI-Media note: the word “yoeut” means both stretchy and lengthy in Khmer] just like a chewing a gum. To Son Chhay, whether the law is tardy or not is not important, what matters is whether the current government will have the political will to rain down on those corrupt officials or not. Son Chhay noted that a number of corrupt officials in Cambodia never had to face the law at all.

Sacrava's Political Cartoon: My Chewing Gum Law

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

Cambodia: UN Should Review Role in Drug Detention

Source: Human Rights Watch
For Immediate Release

Cambodia: UN Should Review Role in Drug Detention

Press Government to Investigate, Close Down Abusive Programs, Hold Torturers Accountable

(New York, January 31, 2010) – The United Nations should conduct a thorough review of its support for Cambodia’s drug detention centers, Human Rights Watch said today.

Human Rights Watch issued a 93-page report, “Skin on the Cable,” on January 25, 2010, with reports of widespread beatings, whippings, and electric shock to detainees, including children and individuals with mental disabilities, in seven Cambodian drug detention centers.

In response, several United Nations agencies, including the joint UN program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the World Health Organization (WHO), have spoken out about the abuses. But the two UN agencies that work most closely with the government in detention centers and on drug policy, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), have been less vocal.

“UN officials agree that these centers are illegal and abusive,” said Joe Amon, health and human rights director at Human Rights Watch. “Now UNICEF and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime need to make clear to the Cambodian government that the centers should be shut down.”

The Cambodian government is in the process of finalizing a new law on drug control, with technical support from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime. But the draft law, a copy of which was obtained by Human Rights Watch, does not provide adequate protection against abuse for children and adults forcibly detained under the guise of providing them with treatment for drug dependency.

In particular, the draft law purports to offer immunity from prosecution to "officers who implement drug treatment and rehabilitation measures in accordance with the right to drug treatment." International law does not permit immunity for officials who commit serious abuses – including ill-treatment and torture – in the course of their duties.

“The UN agency responsible for drug control should forcefully oppose any laws that do not meet international standards,” Amon said. “The draft law on drug control would protect abusers and violate Cambodia's human rights obligations.”

According to its web site, the UNODC office in Cambodia has supported the government since 2001 in developing “effective approaches and techniques to deal with drug abuse” and “coordinated, community-based drug abuse counseling, treatment and rehabilitation care programs." Part of that support has involved technical assistance, with more than US$1 million earmarked for the development of community-based treatment.

The Human Rights Watch report revealed that, among other abuses in the detention centers, detainees are often forced to work at hard manual labor or exercise as a means of “treatment.” Human Rights Watch said that comments to the press by Interior Ministry spokesperson, Khieu Sopheak, that labor and “sweating” were “one of the main ways to make drug-addicted people to become normal people,” demonstrated that the Cambodian government is not committed to international standards. The remarks also show that the UN Office on Drug and Crime’s engagement with the government has not yet built sufficient understanding and capacity to provide effective treatment, Human Rights Watch said.

Since the release of the Human Rights Watch report last week, UNICEF has faced intense public scrutiny for involvement in the Choam Chao “youth rehabilitation centre.” A representative of the European Union has called for an investigation to determine if EU funding for UNICEF has supported human rights violations in the centers. UNICEF officials have said that they have supported government monitoring of the facilities and have not been aware of any abuses. The project is in the final year of funding, and plans for continued engagement are under review.

“We met with UNICEF in Cambodia last September about these abuses, and they told us they would investigate,” Amon said. “But they haven’t, and they continue to claim that children are in these centers voluntarily.”

UNICEF also refused to share with Human Rights Watch their reports of past assessments conducted in collaboration with the Cambodian government.

Cambodian government officials have refused to meet with Human Rights Watch since the report was released and did not respond to written requests for information as the report was being prepared. Government and detention center officials have been quoted in local and international press reports denying the most severe abuses, though acknowledging physically punishing and drugging detainees.

In an interview with Radio Australia, Nean Sokhim, director of a center in Phnom Penh, said that detainees are given drugs to keep them from escaping. The commander of the military police detention center in the province of Banteay Meanchay described to the press how detainees at his center were forced to stand in the sun or "walk like monkeys" as punishment for attempting to escape.

“The Cambodian government needs to investigate these centers and hold those responsible for these abuses accountable,” Amon said. “Instead of remaining silent, the United Nations should review its programs and support for these centers, and work with the government to shut them down.”

“‘Skin on the Cable’: The Illegal Arrest, Arbitrary Detention and Torture of People Who Use Drugs in Cambodia” is available at:
http://www.hrw.org/node/87692

For more information, please contact:
In New York, Joe Amon (English): +1-917-519-8930 (mobile); or amonj@hrw.org
In New York, Rebecca Schleifer (Spanish, English): +1-646-331-0324 (mobile); or schleir@hrw.org

The assassination of Mr. Sam Rainsy’s political career

Op-Ed by Khmerization
30th January, 2010

“when it comes to Cambodia’s national interests, in particular the issues of border encroachments and in the defence of Cambodian territorial integrity, Cambodian political leaders from all political persuasions cannot afford to fight each other along the line of political ideology. For the sake of Cambodia’s national interests and survival, they must put aside their differences and work together for the common good to save Cambodia from extinction.”

Mr. Sam Rainsy had landed himself in political hot waters when he led the villagers to uproot the border markers on 25th October 2009. Whether out of his patriotic instinct or a crave for a dramatic publicity stunt, in split seconds, he had uprooted six temporary wooden border markers in a spontaneous response to the villagers’ outcry when temporary border markers were planted in their rice fields without their knowledge and permission. This action, as a final straw, could seal his political fate and see the possible death of his political career, if a political solution is not found as he has been convicted and sentenced to two years jail for the political drama.

Opinions are divided on Mr. Sam Rainsy’s action. The opponents of the present government and the proponents of Mr. Sam Rainsy, in particular border critics, are adamant that border encroachments by Cambodia’s neighbours are real and happened on a grand scale and that Mr. Sam Rainsy’s action are appropriate under the circumstances. On the contrary, proponents of the government, who are convinced that border encroachments are just an invention of the opponents of the present government, think that Mr. Sam Rainsy had, in his short-sightedness and political immaturity, committed crime that endangers Cambodia’s national interests and damage good relations with Vietnam.

In Cambodia’s polarised and politically fractious and factional society, people tend not to view things independently and in a very rational way. They tend to tow the political line or policies taken by their political parties or political idols. The issues of Cambodia’s border problems with Vietnam is a perfect example of Cambodians towing political lines, as leaders and supporters of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) are vigorously trying to whitewash border encroachments by Vietnam and trying to smear Mr. Sam Rainsy for having exposed the encroachments. If this political trend continues into future generations, Cambodia will be at greater risks of losing its political, cultural and national identity and Cambodia’s borders with its neighbours, in particular, will even be at greater risks of being neglected and left undefended.

Many Cambodian patriots and opponents of the ruling CPP consider Mr. Rainsy’s action as the first step of stoking of national interests to instil the momentum in the border campaigns that will have far-reaching effect in the defence of Cambodian territorial integrity. And the evidences of border encroachments presented by Mr. Sam Rainsy, including maps and photographs, stoked national awareness and awakening amongst the general population, including some CPP leaders and, particularly, amongst overseas Khmers and Khmer academic circles in Cambodia and around the world.

Mr. Var Kimhong, chairman of Cambodian Border Committee, had accused Mr. Rainsy of fabrication and invention of documents. However, he admitted recently that Vietnam had indeed encroached on Cambodian borders on the spots where he refuted Mr. Sam Rainsy’s evidences of Vietnam’s encroachments.

Many political analysts and observers viewed Mr. Sam Rainsy’s conviction and sentencing by the notoriously corrupt and biased Cambodian court as nothing short of a travesty of justice and a farcical show trial designed to whitewash and legitimise the ruling party’s crackdowns on the oppositions and its critics in a campaign of political intimidation to silence dissenting voices. To put it point blank, the trial is a political assassination of Mr. Sam Rainsy’s political career in an attempt to weaken the Sam Rainsy Party and then engineer and orchestrate its break up, in the kind of wedge politics that has been employed effectively by the ruling CPP in the past.

But, when it comes to Cambodia’s national interests, in particular the issues of border encroachments and in the defence of Cambodian territorial integrity, Cambodian political leaders from all political persuasions cannot afford to fight each other along the line of political ideology. For the sake of Cambodia’s national interests and survival, they must put aside their differences and work together for the common good to save Cambodia from extinction.

The agony of Cambodian female victims

Dear all,

I hope everyone are fine.

Here I would like to share my articles related to Cambodia with some update.

The Agony of Cambodian Female Victims of Sex Trafficking and Exploitation
http://blog.nominetwork.org/2010/01/agony-of-cambodian-female-victims-of.html
Main points are highlighted on:

• Factors that Make Women Vulnerable to Sex Trafficking and Exploitation
• The Suffering of Victims of Sex Trafficking
• Does the Current Economic Crisis make Females More Vulnerable?
• Hope and Motivation from Anti-sex Trafficking Activists

Cambodia's Deportation Ordered by China
http://bit.ly/bhg1qC http://bit.ly/9nuRBK

Update on this article includes:
BBC: there is no information confirmed about the 20 Uighurs deported back to China.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8487724.stm

Here is the update of Hmong People deported back to Lao by Thai government. These deportees are now being held in squalid secret camps in remote parts of Laos, guarded by soldiers.
http://www.smh.com.au/world/deported-hmong-held-by-lao-army-in-squalid-camp-20100112-m4uj.html

Hope you find this information useful. Enjoy the weekend!

Regards,
Sopheap

From the Hands of Kampot Women

Dear friends,

Please come join us in celebrating the women of Kampot by supporting their products, food and crafts.

You will enjoy Devi Cookies, specialty of Kampot.

Save the date,

Sochua

"Territory West & East" a Poem in Khmer by Sam Vichea with Sacrava Toons

Sam Rainsy on Hello VOA program

Click here to listen to "Sam Rainsy on Hello VOA" on 28 January 2010 (in Khmer)

Sacrava's Political Cartoon: Samdach LEE HEUV

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

Sam Rainsy´s condition for his return to jail​លក្ខខ័ណ្ឌលោកប្រធានសមរង្ស៊ីចូលគុក

January 30, 2010
Written by Sokheoun Pang
Originally posted at THE SON OF THE KHMER EMPIRE កុលបុត្រមហានគរខ្មែរ

In his interview with RFA MP ​​​Sam Rainsy said that he would return to Cambodia to serve the 2-year jail term sentenced by the Svay Rieng kangaroo court of the puppet govt if his condition met.

"I will not return back to Cambodia yet. I wish to request for the release of the two who have been jailed, namely Mr. Prom Chea and Mrs. Meas Srey, from the prison first. If I return now I will be arrested (and jailed) as well, so what is the point if all of us are in jail. Who will help whom if all of us are in jail? Now I demand for the release of the two first. After that I will return to let them arrest me", he said.

I think this only condition is not just and it seems that MP Sam Rainsy forgets his other condition which he used to raise along with it, ie., the return of the lost rice fields to the farmers.

To my concern is that other conditions must be demanded and practically met besides the above two conditions:

1. The Svay Rieng court must evidently and technically prove that those rice fields are in Vietnam because if those border posts were installed in Cambodian rice fields, MP Sam Rainsy is absolutely right (he explained it here). The court must also prove which racial comment or act has MP Sam Rainsy made then? And bring those who uprooted the rest border posts namely border posts #184, #186, and#187 to trail as well.
2. Var Kim Hong or Hun Xen must unconditionally cooperate with MP Sam Rainsy in order to verify the alleged border posts together by using the documents that MP Sam Rainsy and Hun Xen´s government use as evidences according to our constitution. Then the loser, regardless who he is, must be brought to justice accordingly after the verification.

Otherwise, MP Sam Rainsy must be trapped by the CPP again. I means the CPP can release the jailed farmers with some secret conditions/threats and then MP Sam Rainsy would be jailed, if he really returned. Then, the new play would be arranged. The jailed farmers would join the puppet govt and push all the crimes onto MP Sam Rainsy. But if he would not return to serve his jail term as promised, then MP Sam Rainsy would be called by the CPP and viewed by other Cambodians as the “COWARD”, the “IRRESPONSIBLE”, the “CRIMINAL”, and his political life would be ended. Or maybe many other plot would be conspired to weight more crime on MP Sam Rainsy! So watch out MP Sam Rainsy!

MP Sam Rainsy should remember that, “It is most importantly not about his serving jail term under the kangaroo court, but it is about the protection of Cambodia and Cambodians.” Therefore, please don´t take it so easy with the puppet CPP.

Cambodia ship held by court, not taken by Somalis

Sat Jan 30, 2010

HARGEISA (Reuters) - A Cambodian vessel reportedly hijacked off Somalia instead was detained in the Somaliland port of Berbera on court orders, a port official said on Saturday.
The Kenya-based East African Seafarers' Assistance Programme earlier in the week had said the MV Layla-S had been hijacked after discharging its cargo in the breakaway northern enclave of Somaliland last year.

However, assistant chief of Berbera port Bile Hirsi said the ship was held after a local businessman, whose goods were destroyed in a fire on board another ship that belongs to the owners Layla-S, asked the court to detain it.

"The ship is in Berbera port by the order of the regional court of Berbera, because Abdillahi Omar -- a businessman who had a lot of merchandise on the ship that burned outside the port last October -- made a complaint to the regional court and the court ordered that the ship should remain in the port," he said.

Bile said the businessman wanted compensation for merchandise destroyed in the Maria Star fire.

Somaliland, which declared itself independent in 1991, is proud of its relative stability compared with the south of Somalia, where hardline Islamist rebels control large amounts of territory and are battling a weak Western-backed government.

Cambodian, Thai troops clash

Jan 30, 2010
AFP

PHNOM PENH - CAMBODIAN and Thai troops have had a brief shoot-out on their disputed border, a Cambodian defence ministry spokesman said on Saturday, in the latest such flare-up.

Mr Chum Socheat told AFP that soldiers from the two countries exchanged fire for two or three minutes on Friday evening.

'We are now further investigating into the problem to find out how it started. We can't tell who started it first,' he said. He added that Cambodian troops reported a Thai soldier was killed in the skirmish, however Thai military officials were not immediately available to comment.

Troops from the two countries briefly exchanged fire in disputed territory near an ancient Khmer temple last Sunday.

Cambodia and Thailand have been at loggerheads over their border for decades. Nationalist tensions spilled over into violence in July 2008, when the Preah Vihear temple was granted Unesco World Heritage status.

Four soldiers were killed in clashes in the temple area in 2008 and three more in a gunbattle last April. The border has never been fully demarcated, partly because it is littered with landmines left over from decades of war in Cambodia.

Cambodian, Thai troops exchange second fire

PHNOM PENH, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- A Cambodia's National Defense Ministry official said Saturday that there was another small fire between Thai and Cambodian troops in Veal Veng district in Pursat province.

Maj. Gen. Chhum Socheat, spokesman of Cambodia's National Defense Ministry told reporters that the clash happened at about 10 p.m. on Friday night but "we are still investigating the reason and who started the fire first." He said he also learned from the troops that the fire has resulted in the death of one Thai solider and injury of a few others.

But no one was reportedly killed or injured from the Cambodian side, he said.

Keo Sokunthear, vice police chief of Pursat province told reporters that as many as 20 Thai soldiers were trying to trespass Cambodian territory on Friday night before fire exchanged.

He said no Cambodian soldiers had lost lives in the fire, but one Thai soldier was killed and a few others might be injured, but he could not give the actual number.

On Sunday last week, Thai and Cambodian troops also exchanged a fire at the border area, east of Cambodia's Preah Vihear temple, a place of the border dispute between the two countries since July 2008.

Thai, Cambodia Clash Kills Soldier

JANUARY 30, 2010
Associated Press

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia -- Cambodia reported Saturday its troops killed one Thai soldier in the latest border clash between their militaries.

Khuy Sokha, governor of western Pursat province, said troops from the two sides fought for about 15 minutes late Friday after about 20 Thai soldiers crossed into Cambodian territory and refused to leave when confronted by Cambodian soldiers.

Cambodian Defense Ministry spokesman Lt. Gen. Chhum Socheat said one Thai soldier was killed, with Cambodian troops firing AK-47 assault rifles and B-40 rocket propelled grenades.

Thai officials were not immediately available for comment.

Cambodia's relations with Thailand deteriorated two years ago, when nationalistic public opinion forced Bangkok to withdraw its support for a Cambodian application to designate a famous border temple a U.N. World Heritage site. The issue sparked renewed interest in some small tracts of disputed territory near the Preah Vihear temple, and the two countries' soldiers since then have clashed several times.

Khuy Sokha said the body of the Thai soldier killed in the latest clash was turned over to Thai authorities Saturday morning after negotiations.

"Sethei Veay Chhkae Khos" a Poem in Khmer by Sék Serei

A Political and Moral Victory for Cambodia

January 30, 2010

A POLITICAL AND MORAL VICTORY FOR CAMBODIA

Because of irrefutable evidence of border encroachment presented by the Sam Rainsy Party as shown at http://tinyurl.com/yeaoxyf , the Cambodian government has started to reconsider their official position on the issue of border delimitation with Vietnam. This change in attitude has been exposed in SRP January 29 statement “Government admits mistake on border post location,” which can be read at http://tinyurl.com/yhnee57

But even before the Cambodian government was forced to realize their mistake, the Vietnamese authorities implicitly but publicly recognized their own mistake on November 16 when they removed themselves “temporary border posts” (#184, 186 and 187) in the immediate vicinity of post #185 which Sam Rainsy removed on October 25, 2009. See photos at http://tinyurl.com/yeaoxyf

Vietnamese border officials took those alleged border demarcation stakes back to Vietnam, which constitutes a political and moral victory for Cambodia. Hopefully, the Vietnamese (tactical?) retreat will pave the way for Cambodian farmers to recover their ancestral rice fields.

SRP Members of Parliament

Temporary Border Post Sits Well Inside Cambodian Territory: Sam Rainsy

Sam Rainsy’s clarification published in The Cambodia Daily, January 30-31, 2010

TEMPORARY BORDER POST SITS WELL INSIDE CAMBODIAN TERRITORY

In your article "By Video, Sam Rainsy Courts International Support" (January 29, page 1), you wrote, "Mr Rainsy pointed again to maps created by the Sam Rainsy Party."

I would like to stress that the SRP has not "created" any map. The ones we have recently presented are well-known official maps used and put forward by the Royal Cambodian Government itself. They are the French-era 1952 1/100,000 map and the US Army 1966 1/50,000 map. The 1952 map was deposited at the United Nations by the RCG under then-Prince Norodom Sihanouk [in 1964] in order to help secure international guarantee for Cambodia’s borders as inherited from the French colonial administration.

The SRP technical work on this issue is rigorously based on the above-mentioned official maps and consists of a two-step demonstration that anybody with good faith can easily follow or check:

1- Go on the spot, meaning to the exact location of the "temporary border post #185" in Svay Rieng province which I pulled out on October 25, and get the exact and precise geographic coordinates of that spot using a GPS device. The data collected are also known as GPS locations.

2- Locate on the maps the precise position of this "temporary border post #185" according to its geographic coordinates as collected from the GPS device. This can be done manually using a simple computer-designed grid as shown in SRP document "How to manually position border posts on a map," available at http://tinyurl.com/ycmw48z . The same result can be obtained more quickly by using specific computer programs.

The result is clear and irrefutable: The "temporary border post #185" sits well inside Cambodia’s territory, at a distance between 250 meters and 300 meters from the legal border with Vietnam as delineated on any of the two existing official maps.

Therefore, I did not pull out any real and legal border post, and the accusation against me and two Cambodian farmers, victims of land grab associated with border encroachment, is groundless.

Any independent map expert anywhere in the world could certify the accuracy of the SRP presentation provided the geographic coordinates (collected at Step 1) are accurate. The methodology itself (used at Step 2) would be acceptable by all.

Therefore, in order to allow a transparent assessment and a fair judgment, the government should publicize, and the court should ask for, the GPS locations of the concerned "temporary border post #185" and those of similar alleged border demarcation markers in the immediate vicinity.

At my trial on January 27, a representative from the government Border Committee denied my lawyer’s request that the court be given the geographic coordinates of "temporary border post #185" because, he said, this data is "confidential and secret."

But anybody now (journalists, diplomats, observers, ordinary citizens) can obtain this "confidential and secret" data by going on the spot with a GPS device. They will see by themselves where the truth stands. They will help uphold justice.

Sam Rainsy

Member of Parliament
President of the Sam Rainsy Party
France

The US will end tariff reduction on import of Cambodian garment

US Ambassador Carol Rodley gave an interview at the Meng Ieng garment factory on 28 January 2010 (Photo: Den Ayuthyea, RFA)

29 January 2010
By Den Ayuthyea
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy
Click here to read the article in Khmer

Carol Rodley, the US ambassador to Cambodia, indicated that, due to worldwide economic problems, the US will no longer reduce import tariff on garments manufactured in the Cambodia.

She made this statement during her visit to the Meng Ieng garment factory, a model factory with good work ethic located in Russei Keo district, Phnom Penh city, in the afternoon of 28 January.

Through a translator, Mrs. Rodley said: “The quota system does not exist anymore, therefore, US orders have dropped significantly. The US also faces severe economic problems, therefore, the US is also facing the same challenges and it is trying to tame these economic difficulties.”

Chea Mony, President of the Free Trade Union of Workers in the Kingdom of Cambodia (FTUWKC), said that if the US does not lower import tariff on garment made in Cambodia, then the Cambodian garment sector may face collapse.

He hopes that the US will take a second look to see if it has the ability to reduce import tariff on Cambodian-made garments, otherwise, this could seriously affect the livelihood of Cambodian factory workers as they may lose their job when the garment factories will be forced to close.

Chea Mony claimed: “The US will have to take a second look because if the US government does not exempt import of Cambodian-manufactured garments, and if it insists on imposing import tariff, then the US will destroy the Cambodian workers. Right now, Cambodian factory workers face severe hardship, and when the workers have no job, they will face danger and they will be forced to go find work in Thailand. Then, the Thai will shoot them, arrest them on a daily basis!”

Last week, Chea Mony sent a letter to the US Congress asking the US to exempt import tariff on Cambodian garments. Chea Mony claimed that if the US does not exempt the tariff, the Cambodian garment sector will face problems in 2010.

Nevertheless, Ambassador Rodley claimed that, in 2010, the reduction of import tariff on Cambodian garment will be eliminated. She indicated that the Cambodian garment sector will have to compete with those of her neighboring countries based on quality standards instead.

Shifting Burden of Proof: From Victims to Government of Political Violence

SHAME ! SHAME ! SHAME ! How unspeakably shameful and unspeakably infuriating that we -- our dignity, our present, our future, OUR NATION, our people -- should suffer the FLAGRANT ignorance and FLAGRANT stupidity of our government and judiciary! It is one thing for someone who doesn't know how to read and write to not know how to read and write; we have a different understanding and expectations of them - lack of resources, lack of opportunities; we do not hold them morally bankrupt. Many times, to the contrary, we admire their simplicity and honesty.

But for people - public officials, REPRESENTING US -- people, who hold themselves to be "educated" to play stupid and ignorant -- this would be laughable if not for the very real, serious spill-over consequences into public life and development of Cambodia.

The context has changed by the many misused billions of U.S. dollars pouring into Cambodia to give us a better facade, a better designer suit, but the bloody dirt and grime, the bloody paranoia and deceit, the bloody elevation of ignorance and anti-intellectualism of Khmer Rouge mentality continue to lead us backward into Cold War destruction. The Khmer Rouge leadership claimed ignorance or "I have no choice" for the killings; do current officials in the government, in the judiciary, in parliament, not use the same line of argument, "I have no choice"? I was forced to kill; I was forced to lie; I was forced to inform on my neighbor, etc.

Silence/inaction in the midst of wrongdoing is already considered morally bankrupt; how much more to be the hands to execute the unjust (even if lawful) order, to aid and abet?! What are the sorry excuses of the Svay Rieng Court to be either this incompetent or criminal (in knowingly convicting the villagers and opposition leader Sam Rainsy) or both? "I have no choice; if I don't do it, I will lose favor with the powers that be? I will lose my Lexus? I will lose my position?"

What the Khmer Rouge Tribunal is telling us is that no matter how difficult the choice, we are all held INDIVIDUALLY RESPONSIBLE for our choices! If we are to consider the degree of difficulty of the Svay Rieng Court to those of KR cadres, the degree is one of comfort and less of life and death.

SHAME! SHAME ! SHAME ! Unless we mature as individuals and as a people, expect more of this stupidity and ignorance and anti-intellectualism to be the norm. And weep. Weep for yourself, weep for our children. Weep for the death of Khmer dignity and Khmer nation.

The article below was first published in June 2008 in The Phnom Penh Post as part of the Voice of Justice columns.

SHIFTING BURDEN OF PROOF:
From Victims to Government of Political Violence

On June 2, the Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee (Chrac), Nicfec and Comfrel held a press conference on political violence during the pre-campaign period, and questions arose as to how we know that these cases of violence were related to politics. Do we have proof?

These are legitimate questions and the response requires us, first of all, to distinguish between what one knows and what one can prove, and related, to understand the term "burden of proof".

In law and in politics, as in life and in love, what we know can be different from what we can prove. The opposition commune chief was beaten unconscious: was he beaten for his political affiliation or for a personal vendetta or as a result of violence in the course of a random robbery? The victim, his family and neighbors believe (or know) the violence occurred because of his political stance, but how do they prove it? The government denies their charge or claim.

In current Cambodia, we see this scenario repeat itself over and over again, with only the names, location and context changing.

What is the "burden of proof?

In law and philosophy, the term "burden of proof" refers to the onus (duty, obligation) to establish (demonstrate, prove) a disputed charge or allegation for it to be accepted as true (or reasonable to believe). Simply put, the burden of proof is the responsibility of proving a fact in dispute.

Normally, the burden of proof rests on the person who asserts, not who denies. That is, the necessary of proof lies with he who complains. The principle that it should be this way is commonly known as the "presumption of innocence". If "he who asserts must prove" then the plaintiff has the burden in a civil case, and the prosecutor in a criminal case.

This allocation of burden is correct and as it should be.

Additionally, the less reasonable a statement or allegation seems, the more proof it requires.

Current burden on victims

Currently in Cambodia, when there is violence against opposition activists, the victims cry "politics!" and the government decry against it, claiming instead that it was random violence or personal vendetta. The victims carry the impossibly heavy burden of proving that it was politically motivated. It is impossible because the perpetrator hardly ever states his motivation; it is heavy because of the high threshold of non-existent visible proof, unlimited possibilities and motivations which could be and are posited, as well as a culture of fear and lack of investigative resources.

Cambodians, who read or hear of the repeated patterns of these incidents, intuitively know that these acts of violence are politically related, their knowledge framed and informed by their personal experience and acute understanding of their society, even if the victims cannot prove the case.

These cases provide a dissonance and disconnect between public knowledge and proof.

Hence, to maintain the burden of proving it was political on the victims is to invite and encourage further political violence and impunity of the perpetrators and powers-that-be. It is to play a pretend game of life when everyone knows otherwise.

Shifting burden to government

We need to shift the burden. We need to shift the responsibility of proof which is currently on the victims to the Government. We need to make it the Government’s duty to prove it was not political.

The exceptions to this general principle that "he who asserts must prove" can be had through a statute expressly placing the burden on the Government... "it shall be for the Government to prove..."

However, the shifting of burden through a statute must be limited (e.g., to the elections period) in order for it to be fair and reasonable.
Sample Statute
Six months prior to and three months after the July 27 national elections, any violence perpetrated on a known political activist (it does not matter which political party) will be considered a prima facie [automatically/ "on its face"] political case, and it shall he for the Government to prove that [the murder, the threat, the intimidation etc.] is not political. The Government shall compensate the victim or his family [US$100,000 for murder, etc.].

If the Government is serious about stemming political violence and would like to proactively erase the high suspicion and distrust of the public, and conversely build public confidence and communicate that life is sacred by giving token compensation, this Statute is very reasonable and necessary. However, if it would like the public to continue to be cynical, suspicious and fearful, then the Government should maintain the status quo and continue to parrot "personal vendetta; random violence" speech.

Other random matters

The arrest of opposition journalist Dam Sith is a deeply, deeply shameful, flagrant disrespect for the rule of law, due process and free expression, and adeeply, deeply shameful display of brute power that has no place at the table of civilized people and civilized nations in a globalized community of 2008. Has defamation not been de-criminalized? Moreover, what is the falsehood to be legally charged? In defamation, truth is a defense.

Generally speaking, we see that the ancient Greek, Anarchus, was very prophetic of Cambodia when he wrote: "Written laws are like the web of a spider, and will like a spider web only entangle and hold the poor and weak, while the rich and powerful will easily break through them." (I highly recommend US Ambassador Joseph Mussomeli's speech of March 20, 2008 from which this quote is taken.) Or a more modem version of this: "For my friends, whatever they want. For my enemies, the law."

Theary C. SENG, a member of the New York Bar Association, former director of Center for Social Development (March 2006—July 2009), founder and Board of the Center for Justice & Reconciliation (www.cjr-cambodia.org), founding adviser of the Association of Khmer Rouge Victims (www.akrvc.org), is currently writing her second book, under a grant, amidst her speaking engagements.

Portion of the FBI Report on the 1997 Grenade Attack

Click here to download this report

Thank you Mr. Soksan of lg-media.blogspot.com for sharing this document!

"Khmer Krao Srok VS Tolakar Hanoi" a Poem in Khmer by Hin Sithan

A Very Angry KI-Media Reader's Sound Off (in response to Graham Simmons, Malaysia Star)

One can call it the plight of the Viet in Cambodia.
But one ought to know that the very same freaking Viet is killing Cambodians and taking over Cambodia. That is the true color of the Viet, inside and out!
The world knows all about it already, where have you been Graham???

Anonymous KI-Media's reader

Som Niyeay Phorng - Editorial by Angkor Borey News

Click on the article in Khmer to zoom in

Uighurs returned to China 'disappear' says rights group

The Uighurs left Xinjiang after deadly fighting in July

Friday, 29 January 2010
BBC News

China must account for the whereabouts of ethnic Uighurs forcibly repatriated from Cambodia, a US-based rights group has said.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) said such groups had "disappeared into a black hole" on their return to China.

The Uighurs fled to Cambodia after mass ethnic riots in China in July. Beijing has referred to them as criminals.

In December, a group of 20 Uighurs were put on a plane to China despite opposition from the UN and US.

They said the group were likely to face persecution in China.

"Uighur asylum seekers sent back to China by Cambodia have disappeared into a black hole," said Sophie Richardson of HRW.

"There is no information about their whereabouts, no notification of any legal charges against them, and there are no guarantees they are safe from torture and ill-treatment."

HRW said a number of the group had given detailed accounts of past torture and persecution in China and that threats had been made against their families.

The organisation said China has a history of executing or imposing harsh sentences of Uighurs sent back from abroad and that there were unconfirmed reports some members of a group previously returned had been sentenced to death in western Xinjiang province.

'Fair trials'

Ms Richardson said the Chinese government must say where the group are being held and under what status as well as allowing the UN and family members to see them.

"Family members have the right to know what has happened to their loved ones," she said

"The Chinese government must treat all returnees humanely, ensure fair trials, and not persecute individuals for activities and speech that are protected under international law."

There has been no immediate comment from the Chinese foreign ministry.

The Uighurs fled Xinjiang after July's violent ethnic clashes in the provincial capital Urumqi which left at least 97 people dead.

Most of those killed in the unrest were majority Han Chinese, according to officials, and Urumqi's Han population had demanded swift justice.

At least 25 people have been sentenced to death after the riots.

Tensions between the mainly-Muslim Uighurs of Xinjiang and Han have been growing in recent years. Millions of Han have moved to the region in recent decades.

Many Uighurs want more autonomy and rights for their culture and religion than is allowed by Beijing's strict rule.

Southeast Asia: Human Rights Watch Charges Torture, Rape, Illegal Detentions at Cambodian Drug "Rehab" Centers, Demands Shutdown

From Drug War Chronicle, Issue #618
1/29/10

In a scathing 93-page report released today, the international human rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused Cambodian drug detention centers of torturing and raping detainees, imprisoning children and the mentally ill, and illegally detaining and imprisoning drug users. The centers are beyond reform and should be closed, the group said.

"Individuals in these centers are not being treated or rehabilitated, they are being illegally detained and often tortured," said Joseph Amon, director of the Health and Human Rights division at HRW. "These centers do not need to be revamped or modified; they need to be shut down."

The report cited detailed testimonies from detainees who were raped by center staff, beaten with electric cables, shocked with cattle prods, and forced to give blood. It also found that drug users were "cured" of their conditions by being forced to undergo rigorous military-style drills to sweat the drugs out of their systems.

"[After arrest] the police search my body, they take my money, they also keep my drugs... They say, 'If you don't have money, why don't you go for a walk with me?... [The police] drove me to a guest house.... How can you refuse to give him sex? You must do it. There were two officers. [I had sex with] each one time. After that they let me go home," said Minea, a woman in her mid-20's who uses drugs, explaining how she was raped by two police officers.

"[A staff member] would use the cable to beat people... On each whip the person's skin would come off and stick on the cable," said M'noh, age 16, describing whippings he witnessed in the Social Affairs "Youth Rehabilitation Center" in Choam Chao. The title of the HRW report is "Skin on the Cable."

More than 2,300 people were detained in Cambodia's 11 drug detention centers in 2008. That is 40% more than in 2007.

"The government of Cambodia must stop the torture occurring in these centers," said Amon. "Drug dependency can be addressed through expanded voluntary, community-based, outpatient treatment that respects human rights and is consistent with international standards."

Cambodian officials from the National Authority for Combating Drugs, the Interior Ministry, the National Police, and the Social Welfare Ministry all declined to comment when queried by the Associated Press. But Cambodian Brig. Gen. Roth Srieng, commander of the military police in Banteay Meanchy province, denied torture at his center, while adding that some detainees were forced to stand in the sun or "walk like monkeys" as punishment for trying to escape.

Children as young as 10, prostitutes, beggars, the homeless, and the mentally ill are frequently detained and taken to the drug detention centers, the report found. About one-quarter of those detained were minors. Most were not told why they were being detained. The report also said police sometimes demanded sexual favors or money for release and told some detainees they would not be beaten or could leave early if they donated blood.

The report relied on testimony from 74 people, most of them drug users, who had been detained between February and July 2009.

Rights group criticizes Cambodia opposition leader's conviction

Friday, January 29, 2010
Steve Czajkowski
Jurist (U. of Pittsburgh, School of Law)

[JURIST] Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] on Friday called [press release] the closed door trial of Cambodia's opposition leader Sam Rainsy [official profile] and two others a "farce," saying the ruling demonstrates the government's control over the country's judiciary. Rainsy was convicted [RFA report] Wednesday, in absentia, of inciting racial discrimination and intentionally destroying posts demarcating the border between Cambodia and Vietnam. Two villagers were convicted of the same crimes. HRW Asia Director Brad Adams said the decision was the result of political motivations by Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen [official profile]:

The Cambodian government's relentless crackdown on critics continues apace in 2010. Hun Sen seems intent on reversing the political pluralism that has been created over the past two decades. Any hopes of slowing Hun Sen's assault on the political opposition now depends on the donor community, which props up the government financially. This political trial should make donors recognize the gravity of the situation.

Rainsy was sentenced to two years in prison and fined 8 million riels (approximately USD $2,000), and the two villagers were each sentenced to one year in prison. All three were required to pay 55 million riels (approximately USD $13,000) for destroying the border markings.

The charges stem from an incident [Phnom Penh Post report] in October where Rainsy joined Cambodian villagers in removing six temporary border markers, which the villagers said were placed on their lands by Vietnamese authorities. Rainsy called the planting of the border markers a border incursion and said his conviction was requested by Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung [BBC profile]. Rainsy was stripped of his parliamentary immunity in November, and an arrest warrant was issued for him in December after he failed to appear for questioning about the incident. He has said he would return to the country and allow himself to be taken into custody if the two villagers are released from prison.

The odd and not so odd things you'll see in Chong Khneas: Can you tell which is which?

One of the smaller houseboats of Chong Khneas.
A palatial two-storey stilt mansion in Lake Tonle Sap. — GRAHAM SIMMONS

Excerpt from Sprung from the water

Saturday January 30, 2010
Graham Simmons
Malaysia Star

Chong Khneas, Lake Tonlé Sap, Cambodia

They are like immigrants anywhere. The mainly Vietnamese inhabitants of Chong Khneas, a unique floating village in Cambodia’s Lake Tonlé Sap, have to struggle just to survive. And their task is made more difficult by the extraordinary seasonal changes in one of Asia’s biggest lakes.

The area of Lake Tonlé Sap increases at least fourfold in the wet season, its depth rising by more than 8m. Then, during the dry season, the 1,100 families have to move several kilometres out towards the centre of the lake, taking with them all their amenities, including a floating school, fish processing factories, floating churches and mosques, and even a floating basketball court. This doesn’t exactly make life easy.

Chong Khneas is just one of around 170 floating villages in Lake Tonlé Sap. It’s also the easiest to get to from Phnom Penh, which accounts for its popularity as a day-trip escape from Siem Reap. In the wet season, Chong Khneas is about 11km from Siem Reap via Highway 63; the distance increases to anything between 12km and 15km in the dry season.

We set out on a boat cruise of Chong Khneas, picking a modest-looking covered boat parked at a floating jetty. A cruise of around 60-90 minutes costs US$11 (RM38) for a small boat (holding up to ten people) or US$22 for a larger boat. Individual passengers may be charged up to US$10 a head.

Fishing is the main source of livelihood, and it’s uncanny to see a full-scale fish processing production line out in the lake. Some of the fish caught are tiny riel, used to make the Vietnamese fish sauce nuoc nam. The villagers even have a crocodile farm, where baby crocs are raised in pretty miserable conditions to maturity, then skinned for the export market.

With Chong Kneas now seeing so many day-trippers, a few tour operators are offering trips to other floating villages.

The province of Kompong Chhnang has a couple of floating villages — Phoum Kandal and Chong Kos — not far from the town of Kompong Chhnang, while Pursat province boasts the biggest ethnic Vietnamese village of them all — Kompong Luong, complete with cafés, shops and even an ice-making plant.

Nearer to Siem Reap, the villages of Kampong Phluk and the much larger Kampong Khleang are easily accessible by public transport along Route 6, via the villages of Roluos and Domdek respectively. It’s surprising that no-one has yet come up with the idea of a floating hotel. This would enable an extended stay including trips to outlying floating villages.

Maybe that’s a project for an enterprising reader.

Government Admits Mistake on Border Post Location

January 29, 2010
Source: SRP

GOVERNMENT ADMITS MISTAKE ON BORDER POST LOCATION

In a statement broadcast yesterday on Radio Free Asia, government representative and Border Committee chief Var Kim Hong admitted that the maps used by opposition leader Sam Rainsy in his presentation to expose border encroachment by Vietnam are the “correct maps.” [Sam Rainsy’s full presentation is available at http://tinyurl.com/yeaoxyf].

However, Var Kim Hong claimed that the geographic coordinates stated by Sam Rainsy for the temporary border post #185 which Sam Rainsy pulled out last October, were “incorrect.”

But most surprisingly, Var Kim Hong refused to reveal the “correct” coordinates according to the government.

Since any given spot on Earth has specific, precise and unique geographic coordinates, and since the SRP is 100 percent certain of the geographic coordinates of border post #185 -- which anybody can obtain by going on the spot with a GPS device -- we can very logically infer that the government now recognizes that the so-called border post #185 uprooted by Sam Rainsy was planted at a wrong location and therefore was not a “correct” and legal border post.

Therefore, the accusation against Sam Rainsy and two farmers now in jail, is groundless and the charges against them must be dropped.

SRP Members of Parliament

Hun Xen’s generals: They are embezzler, can’t read map, incompetent and thief of state properties

Hun Xen unmasks four 3-golden-star generals during an army seminar

Thursday 28 Jan 2010
DAP news
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

Hun Xen issued strong warnings while revealing bad and illegal deeds perpetrated by a number of high ranking generals, some of whom were involved in cheating the army. During the closing of an army seminar held in the afternoon of 28 January 2010, Hun Xen warned that the action taken by 4 generals led to the decline of the army.

The direct warning issued by Hun Xen to 4 famous high-ranking army generals was done with the aim of erasing corruption and irregularities so as to bring progress to the army.

The 4 generals named by Hun Xen are: (1) 3-star general Chhoeun Chan Thorn, aka Mao, who is the commander of Chea Xim’s bodyguard unit; (2) 3-star general Sum Somnang, the director of the supply and finance of the ministry of Defense; (3) 3-star general Chao Phirun, the technical director of the ministry of Defense; and (4) 3-star general Ung Samkhan, the former navy chief of staff and currently the RCAF deputy chief of staff.

During the closing of the seminar summarizing the work completed by the RCAF for the past 5 years and setting the direction of the upcoming 5 years, held in on 28 January 2010, Hun Xen issued strong warnings to the 4 generals who were involved in embezzling soldiers’ salary, incompetent management of armaments, sale of army facilities and lands, backing up contraband to evade tax, etc…

The first general that Hun Xen hammered was Chhoeun Chan Thorn, aka Mao. Hun Xen warned: “Now, you demand to be the RCAF deputy chief of staff. The other day, I told you: ‘How many years are you really in the army?’ I wrote back to [Tea] Banh: ‘He does not have sufficient ability. Ah [derogative] Mao does not even know how to read a map, how can I let him become the deputy chief of staff. Also, he is climbing beyond his rank and he is using other people’s rank and even their names. This cannot be done, let’s make it clear.”

During that occasion, Hun Xen also told the minister of Defense and the RCAF chief of staff that any troops movements information must be transmitted to him because in the past, this information was not passed on to him in advance. On this issue, Hun Xen said: “The minister of Defense and the RCAF chief of Staff, when there is troop movement from one location to another, you must let me know, you cannot just do it. In the long run, you take all the troops from their bases to put elsewhere and the PM does not know about it. But, the PM is here, I am telling you: the PM rules the army, I’m no puppet PM.”

Hun Xen also cited as an example the transfer of army unit 31 to the navy, in this case, the decision requires a sub-decree from him. Therefore, including all these problems, Hun Xen told the minister of defense and the army chief of staff that they must inform him in advance.

The second general hammered by Hun Xen was Sum Somnang, the director of army supply and finance, because the latter embezzled 2,500 riels ($0.63) from each soldier when Hun Xen provided them with a 5,000 riels ($1.25) food stipend during their training period. Hun Xen said: “Sum Somnang, what did you do when I gave out money for training? At midnight, Tea Banh went [to meet you] and you denied, but Tea Banh can’t grasp it. I gave out additional food stipend of 5,000 riels ($1.25) for each soldier during training , Sum Somnang you gave them only 2,500 riels each. That day, if it were not for Tea Banh begging me I would have taken you out already.” Hun Xen added: “Then you went on to say that it was for reserve, your duty is not to set the reserve, it is my duty to set the reserve, or it is the ministry of defense’s duty. This is not your duty.”

At the same time, Hun Xen also ordered the elimination of the RCAF army supply department and merge it with the ministry of defense’s supply department instead, in order to avoid deep work confusion.

On this point, Hun Xen indicated that: “The accountings are overlapping, the work is duplicated, the ministry of Defense has this department and the chief of staff has this also, so, for this case, merge them both together to end it. There will be one document and the story ends there, there is no need to review much because the more you review, the more problem there is.”

The 3rd general blasted by Hun Xen is General Chao Phirun, the technical director of the ministry of Defense. Hun Xen warned him by saying: “Chao Phirun, about your warehouse: after the latest visit, how is it? The ammunitions that can be fixed, the rifles that can be fixed, they are left to waste in the warehouse besides those that were burnt down in Battambang province.” Regarding this issue, Hun Xen explained that, lately, he is in direct charge of supplying armaments, money and uniforms to soldiers, because in the past, he provided funds in US dollars, a lot of dollars, but the commanders and the fund administrators did not use the funds for the right reason, they went out and bought useless stuff and they did not serve the actual goal.

The fourth general hammered by Hun Xen was General Ung Samkhan, the former navy chief of staff and the current RCAF deputy chief of staff. Hun Xen scolded the general because he was involved in the sale of the navy headquarter, however, the documents [for the sale] were destroyed by Hun Xen. Regarding this general, Hun Xen said: “Ah [derogative] navy chief of staff who was inaugurated last Monday, he almost disappeared, and it was the work of Ah Mao [General Chhoeun Chan Thorn] again. But, I smashed those documents and I called Ah Khan [General Ung Samkhan], telling him: ‘Ah Khan, do you want to be the soldier anymore or not?’ He used the pretext that there is no KR anymore. Oh Mother! The headquarter existed since the French [colonial] era, even if there is no KR anymore, this headquarter is still very good.”

At the same time, Hun Xen also took the opportunity to publicly announce that anyone who uses the Hun family name, including his name, that of his wife, children, and children-in-law, with the aim of conducting illegal activities, Hun Xen ordered them to be arrested first because in the past, there were people who used the Hun family name in violation.

Hun Xen added: “I am telling you, whoever it is that use the Hun family name, or my children’s name or my children-in-law’s name, arrest them first. I am asking you to help arrest them first, because in the past, there was even a case of [river] sand dredging involving my children’s subordinates.

[To be continued ...]