After being caught for accepting bribe, Ly Vouchleng can still get a position at the Council of Ministers: It pays to be corrupt in Cambodia!

Ly Vouchleng (L) and You Bunleng (R), her replacement after she was fired for accepting bribes

Legal post goes to ousted Court of Appeal president

Monday, 23 February 2009
Written by Chrann Chamroeun and Robbie Corey-Boulet The Phnom Penh Post

TIE TO THE KRT
You Bunleng, co-investigating judge at the Khmer Rouge tribunal, was appointed to replace Ly Vouchleng at the Court of Appeal after her removal. He initially said he might not be able to remain at the tribunal but eventually decided to stay on.

Ly Vouchleng's appointment to the Council of Ministers comes 17 months after allegations of corruption resulted in her dismissal.

LY Vouchleng has been appointed as legal counsel to the Council of Ministers some 17 months after a corruption scandal led to her removal from her post as president of the Court of Appeal, Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan told the Post Sunday.

A royal decree issued in August 2007 ousted Ly Vouchleng from the Court of Appeal in response to allegations that the court had been bribed into releasing two human trafficking suspects.

Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith defended the new appointment as "legal" and declined to comment on the past corruption case, deferring questions about that to "the person who decided to appoint her", whom he said he could not name.

Phay Siphan said he did not know who approved the appointment and could not say whether past allegations of wrongdoing levied against her had figured in the decision.

"I just know that she was appointed to the position of legal counsel at the Council of Ministers and that her background is in legal expertise," he said.

Ly Vouchleng could not be reached for comment Sunday.

Kek Galabru, president of the rights group Licadho, said she had not heard of the appointment but that any decision to place Ly Vouchleng in a government post would be "difficult to understand" in light of the government's claims to be actively rooting out corruption.

"I feel very sorry if there really is a new appointment of Ly Vouchleng," she told the Post Sunday.

Natural resources “for sale” in Cambodia: Global Witness strikes again

Proveang (Preah Vihear, Cambodia). 05/06/2008: Illegal gold extraction in an open-pit mine (Photo: John Vink/ Magnum)

10-02-2009
By Stéphanie Gée
Ka-set

The environmentalist NGO Global Witness, genuine thorn in the Cambodian government's side, is back with a new report, vitriolic following its custom. The title gives the tone: “Country for Sale: Welcome to Cambodia”! Their previous report “Cambodia's Family Trees”, published on June 1st 2007, had incurred the wrath of the authorities in Phnom Penh, and their latest is no exception. The London-based organisation – who had started to denounce operations of illegal logging since 1995 – had been obliged to close their Phnom Penh office in September 2005, “because of the concerted attempts by the authorities to stop our activities,” Mike Davis of Global Witness had then explained. According to the organisation, the patterns of institutionalised corruption and clan and family patronage of the elite ruling the country – which they had exposed in the forest exploitation – are now observed in the exploitation of mineral and oil resources. The NGO is ringing the alarm.

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Corruption in Cambodia

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Comment and cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

Corruption in Cambodia

Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Op-Ed by U. Bun Heang
Translation from Khmer by Heng Soy

Corruption issue in Cambodia is a tale from the “1001 Nights (The Arabian Nights)” for the Cambodian people. It stretches from the top to the bottom levels of the government.

The anti-corruption law is a law that has not been drafted yet because the Tuol Krasaing (Hun Sen’s residence) group and the CPP are still learning how to put consonants and vowels together to spell the word “law.” Interestingly enough, Cambodian government VIPs have received “Ph.D.” degrees from various unknown universities around the world.

Cambodian people still live in poverty, this is a past reflection on the Tuol Krasaing group and the CPP … because, in the past, the latter were very poor and they did not even have enough to feed their children, but now that the Tuol Krasaing group and the CPP are becoming multi-millionaires and they have plenty to stuff their face, they have also created a class system filled with injustice.

Maybe Sar Kheng should preach anti-corruption to his CPP fellows first before scolding the cops

Sar Kheng upbraids police for corruption

Tuesday, 30 December 2008
Written by Vong Sokheng
The Phnom Penh Post

INTERIOR Minister Sar Kheng lashed out at his subordinates, accusing them of mismanagement and corruption in a speech last week.

Sar Kheng told about 300 police officers on Friday that funds earmarked for salaries were being siphoned by corrupt and incompetent officials.

"[Corruption] is a serious mistake and means they are stealing from the ministry and stealing official salaries by enlarging the budget. These mistakes will not be tolerated," Sar Kheng said.

Cambodia ranks near the bottom of corruption watchdog Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index, at 166 out of 180 countries.

Sar Kheng, who is also a deputy prime minister, lambasted corruption in procurement of uniforms, petrol and rice. He called on all levels of the police financial department to reduce unnecessary spending on electricity, water and building upkeep.

"These were issues the ministry has to be concerned about. We have to reform financial management for 2009," Sar Kheng said.

"When we get the budget under control, the ministry will be able to increase salaries for police officers."

He also announced reforms in the ministry's rice distribution scheme that gave police officers bags of rice on top of their salaries.

The new system would provide 2,800 riel for each kilogram of rice given under the old system. A local police official speaking on condition of anonymity said officers receive between 10 and 20 kilograms of rice on top of the current salary of between $45 and $55 per month, depending on rank.

Cambodian PM promises to fight corruption [... just like he promised an anti-corruption law a decade earlier]

Friday, December 05, 2008
Associated Press of Pakistan

PHNOM PENH: Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Thursday promised foreign donors he would fight corruption as aid donations of nearly one billion dollars were expected to be pledged to the impoverished nation.

Opening a two-day meeting between the government and the country's donors, Hun Sen said he was committed to passing a new anti-corruption law as soon as possible and had already "vigorously combated corruption." "Fighting against corruption is the backbone of sustainable development," Hun Sen told his audience.

‘Clean’ Businesses Seek To Beat Corruption [-Hun Sen's crony Mong Reththy did not join this "clean" initiative ... wonder why?]

By Win Thida, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
06 November 2008

Click here to listen to the Khmer audio program

Facing ongoing corruption that is hurting their livelihoods, around 40 companies have joined together in a “clean business” endeavor.

The initiative, which officially began in September, seeks to join companies together to promote transparency in business dealings and avoid informal taxes or fraudulent prices, said Ka Ki, director of Morison Kak and Associates, a member of the initiative.

“We must strengthen the implementation of the law, because we do not have a culture that respects the law appropriately,” he said.

“Clean” businesses will avoid paying exploitive charges, undertaking corrupt practices, or selling fraudulent products.

In Channy, president of Acleda Bank, another member of the initiative, said he believed the initiative will lead to increased transparency and cooperation in commerce.

“Clean business will improve confidence and help encourage trust” of customers and the public, he said.

The initiative was even more important as Cambodia moves toward a 2009 stock market.

Cambodia loses an estimated $500 million a year in state income to corruption, and companies routinely cite corruption as a major impediment to creating competitive businesses.

At the announcement of the initiative in September, Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh acknowledged Cambodia’s need to attract foreign investors and strengthen the rule of law.

Mong Reththy, who Mong Reththey Group has not joined the initiative, said he supports it but would wait to see if it would succeed.

Khieu Kanharith blasts Joel Brinkley’s article on corruption in Cambodia

An indignant Khieu Kanharith blasted Joel Brinkley's article on corruption in Cambodia (Photo: Chantha, Koh Santepheap)

Click here to read Joel Brinkley's excellent article
which hits the CPP where it hurts them the most

24 August 2008
By L.D. and A.L.G.
Cambodge Soir Hebdo
Translated from French by Luc Sâr
Click here to read the original article in French

Khieu Kanharith, the government spokesman, called for a press conference in the morning of Sunday 24 August to protest against an article on corruption in Cambodia written by a US reporter.

Khieu Kanharith, the minister of Information and government spokesman, accused Joel Brinkley, a Pulitzer prize author, of being “biased” in his article titled: “The world leader in corruption is – Cambodia” published by the “Modesto Bee” in California on 21 August.

“Joel Brinkley came to visit me on 14 August to tell me that he wished to write articles on education, the economy, land dispute problems, and the government political vision,” Khieu Kanharith said. “I proposed to him to put him in contact with Say Chhum, the CPP secretary-general, with Im Chhunlim, the minister of Land Management, with Im Sothy, the state secretary of Education, with Chum Bunrong, the spokesman for the National Authority for Resolution of Land Disputes, and with Phay Siphan, the spokesman of the Council of Ministers.”

“Joel Brinkley told me that he was Pulitzer prize winner, and that he wished to meet high-ranking VIPs,” Khieu Kanharith claimed. “He considered me as an assistant (level official).”

The article – which was posted on KI-Media, a website close to the SRP [KI-Media note: KI-Media is not affiliated with the SRP]– cited the “Phnom Penh Post” article about the accident involving Hun Chea, Hun Sen’s nephew, in which a motorcycle driver was killed.

According to the “Phnom Penh Post,” the victim’s family would have received $4,000 in exchange for their silence, and the military police supported Hun Chea’s version.

Joel Brinkley’s article also cited Joseph Mussomeli, the US Ambassador to Cambodia, as saying "This goes to the whole culture of impunity here. Who you are, who you know, is more important than following the law.”

Joel Brinkley, who received the Pulitzer prize for reporting overseas in 1980 and publishing several articles on Cambodia, wrote “I have worked in many corrupt states - Iraq, Sudan, Afghanistan, among others. But in none of them is the corruption so pervasive, even pandemic.”

During the press conference, Khieu Kanharith rejected the information published by the Phnom Penh Post and he indicated that the accident involving Hun Sen’s nephew was “a private affair.”

When asked whether he would ask for an entry ban to Cambodia for Joel Brinkley, Khieu Kanharith answered: “the journalist could return to Cambodia whenever he wishes.”

Taxpayers fund Cambodia's corruption

July 16, 2008
Comment by A. Gaffar Peang-Meth
Pacific Daily News (Guam)

Cambodia's July 27 general election, the fourth since the 1991 United Nations "Comprehensive Political Settlement of the Cambodia Conflict," is, again, a lopsided political competition for power among eleven political parties -- reduced from more than 50 earlier -- for 123 parliamentarian seats.

There's nothing "fair" and "equitable" about an election where the ruling Cambodian People's Party controls the nation's 30 TV and radio broadcast outlets, and opposition parties have little voice. More than 8 million people have registered to vote.

The non-partisan Committee for Free and Fair Election in Cambodia observed on July 2, "at least 16 cases" of "disturbance, intimidation and threat against political parties" in the first week of the election campaign, and charged, "civil servants, authorities and armed forces have not only taken part in supporting the ruling party but have also conducted activities against other political parties."

The July 9 Cambodia Daily's Kuch Naren wrote about electoral "campaign complaints from political parties who have reported alleged vote buying, bias, threats and violence." Chhorn Chansy reported 10 of 11 parties (absent was the Cambodian People's Party) competing for election "pledged publicly ... to enact an anti-corruption law within the first six months of being elected."

Earlier, the June 23 Inter Press Service reported that 40 Cambodian civil society groups jointly expressed concern over increased political violence in the first half of the year; and that Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have accused the ruling party of political intimidation and manipulation of the judicial system leading up to the election.

The leading opposition Sam Rainsy Party charged that the party's deputy secretary-general, former Minister of Women's Affairs, and nominee for the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize, Mu Sochua, an SRP candidate, was physically assaulted by a CPP "army general," that left her blouse "undone, leaving her half-naked" before a crowd of men.

There's nothing "free" and "fair" about such an election. Neither does it take a sage to predict the winner. Some say it's better to have a less than free and fair election than to have no election at all. But when political parties are obliged to participate in grossly flawed elections do they not "legitimize" the victors who can claim a mandate through polls?

IPS says Sen "has already vowed that CPP would govern alone" after its victory, and Agence France Presse said he has vowed publicly to remain in power until he's 90 -- he's only 55 today.

An Asia Times Online statistic shows Cambodia's rate of poverty at 35 percent -- defined as those who live on less than one dollar per day -- out of a total population of 13.3 million.

Yet donor countries are pumping in financial aid worth nearly half of Cambodia's national budget to enable the current regime to hang on to power.

If you Google "Global Witness Cambodia's Family Trees," you can read a 95-page report by the London-based non-governmental organization Global Witness, released in June 2007, titled, "Cambodia's Family Trees: Illegal logging and the stripping of public assets by Cambodia's elite," complete with names and photos of political and military personalities, and their kin, alleged to be involved in dismantling the country's wealth.

The report, banned in Cambodia, alleged "evidence of entrenched criminality with the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces," and accused China and the United States of "providing direct military assistance" to the CPP's RCAF.

The report charges, donor countries "have refused to acknowledge the fact that the (Cambodian) government is thoroughly corrupt ... billions of dollars worth of aid funded by western taxpayers have done relatively little to improve the lives of ordinary Cambodians," and that the regime "is successfully exploiting international aid as a source of political legitimacy."

I confess that certain shocking parts of the report took my breath away.

In the Aug. 8, 2007 Asia Times Online, Marawaan Marcan-Makar's "If a tree falls, does the World Bank hear it?" mocked World Bank president Robert Zoellick, a former U.S. deputy secretary of state, for his "mild tone against corruption in Cambodia," and for choosing "words carefully when reprimanding errant states in which (the Bank) has big stakes."

Marcan-Makar reported that in a 2006 survey of corruption in the Asia-Pacific region, the Berlin-based global anti-graft watchdog, Transparency International, listed Cambodia among countries with "the highest ... corruption," perpetuating "rampant corruption" and "undermining improvements in quality of life for the poorest citizens." Transparency International ranked Cambodia 151 among the 163 countries, with the least corrupt nations ranked with lower numbers.

Sadly, Cambodia's Mekong Times reported that King Father Norodom Sihanouk, who has paid "close attention to reports of injustices and irregularities in Cambodian society" and who is "vigilantly watching all such issues," has said he has "no power to deal with deficiencies and injustices ... at present."

We speak of justice and equity as a basis for peace, but donor countries' financial assistance to Cambodia's ruling party, an organization chastised by non-governmental organizations and rights groups, is not a source of comfort. It raises questions about donor countries who would appear to pursue their interests at the expense of the welfare of the people who are suffering under the rule of a corrupt regime.

A. Gaffar Peang-Meth, Ph.D., is retired from the University of Guam, where he taught political science for 13 years.