Cambodia to hold first national forum on climate change

October 15, 2009
Xinhua

Cambodia is planned to hold the first national forum on climate change next week, one of the global moves and coalition fighting against the climate change.

A statement released Thursday by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Cambodia, said the forum is scheduled on Oct. 19through 21 in Phnom Penh.

It said the forum will involve and be participated by many stakeholders coming from various sources including the government, international organizations, and experts.

Preparing a symbolic move along with the forum, the Oxfam Cambodia set Oct. 21 as a day to alert the world about the adverse impact of climate change on Cambodia.

The event is open to the public and will take place for one hour at Wat Phnom, the heart of Cambodia's Phnom Penh capital with a message saying "time is running out" and "time for climate change".

According to the statement, the objective of the event is to wake up the world to tackle climate change and agree on a global deal and to tell the world of the adverse impact of climate change on Cambodia.

The statement also said "it is imperative that world leaders agree on a global climate deal that is fair, ambitious and binding in December 2009 in Copenhagen."

As scheduled, the participants will stand in front of the Big Clock at Wat Phnom for one hour, carrying clock and banners with two messages in Khmer and in English.

FORUM: Testimonials from the Long Beach gathering may be offered to war crimes tribunal

Cambodian emigres share pain

FORUM: Testimonials from the Long Beach gathering may be offered to war crimes tribunal.

03/21/2008
By Greg Mellen, Staff Writer
Long Beach Press Telegram (California, USA)

LONG BEACH - The pain is never far below the surface for Cambodian refugees. Their shared history informs much of what they do and how they see society.

While the recollection and sharing of survivor stories is nothing new, especially in Long Beach, it remains relevant and vital to recovery for individuals and the community.

The memories of the atrocities of the Killing Fields genocide of the late 1970s still run deep and few in Long Beach's Cambodian community escaped without being profoundly affected.

On March 29 at Cal State Long Beach, survivors and those interested in Cambodian social issues will be convening in a daylong event called "Shared Suffering, Shared Resilience: A Critical Dialogue Forum and Film Screening."

The event will have an added layer of relevance as testimonials and discussion may be relayed to the international tribunal in Cambodia that is currently prosecuting alleged perpetrators of the Killing Fields atrocities.

"Many Cambodian refugees say they feel helpless and victimized and unheard by the international community; now here's your chance (to be heard,)" said Leakhena Nou, an assistant professor of sociology at Cal State Long Beach and organizer of the event.

The Open Society Justice Initiative, which has a watchdog group monitoring the international tribunal being conducted by the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, will have a representative at the forum and will receive and review transcripts from the day.

A representative from the State Department's Office of War Crimes Issues may also attend.

Tracey Gurd, an associate legal officer with Open Society, says the event provides a rare opportunity for refugees in the U.S. to be heard in Cambodia, which really hasn't reached out to emigrants during the tribunal process.

Gurd said that by sharing experiences and giving feedback, Long Beach Cambodians can be engaged in the trial.

Nou, who is also the founder of the nonprofit Association for Social Research Institute of Cambodia which is sponsoring the forum, said this could be the first in a series of similar events both in the United States and overseas.

Nou and her nonprofit have been talking to Cambodian groups in Lowell, Mass.; Oregon; Virginia; and Washington, D.C., about presenting similar programs and seeing what patterns emerge in the Cambodian refugee experience.

The Cambodian-American professor, whose family was able to emigrate before the Khmer Rouge rose to power, stresses that her event is not at all political.

"This is an academic and public event," she said. "It has nothing to do with putting down the current regime."

Rather she says, it is a chance for Cambodians to begin redefining their history and their identity and moving past the suffering to solutions and reconciliation.

The all-day CSULB event will feature discussion panels with both younger and older Cambodians, cultural presentations by Cambodian artists and performers and a screening of the documentary film "Bombhunters" by Skye Fitzgerald.

"The experiences (of Cambodian refugees) have defined their current existence and their future, both positively and negatively," Nou said.

What matters, she says, is "how they use it as a basis to move forward."

greg.mellen@presstelegram.com, 562-499-1291

Forum Finds Tribunal Angst Over Cooperation, Money

Mony, VOA Khmer
Original reports from Mondulkiri
04/05/2007

A Khmer Rouge tribunal forum in Mondolkiri province Friday found villagers worried over the ability of Cambodian and UN-appointed judges to cooperate—and whether victims of the brutal regime should received monetary compensation for their pain.

The forum, one of a series held by the Center for Social Development, brought together participants from 12 districts in the province and included a film overview of the Khmer Rouge years.

Participants said they worried about the titles of "co-prosecutor" would lead to the same troubles as "co-prime minister" did in the 1990s, when a power-sharing agreement between the former premiers Hun Sen and Prince Norodom Ranariddh meant deadlocks and, ultimately, a violent coup.

So far, Cambodian and international judges and prosecutors have met numerous stumbling blocks themselves. The most recent public hurdle—excessive fees for foreign lawyers—was overcome recently, when the Cambodian Bar Association lowered its requirements.

Tribunal judges said they hoped to meet at the end of May to reach final agreement on internal rules that govern the operation of the tribunal.

Villagers at the Mondolkiri forum also said they wanted to see reparations for victims, a hope tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath said was not provided for in civil law.