Cambodia: Mandatory Internet Surveillance Cameras [-Big Brother Hun Xen wants to watch you]

9 September
By Mong Palatino
Global Voices

The Cambodian government is enforcing a circular drafted earlier this year which requires internet cafes to set up surveillance cameras and to register callers. Based on an unofficial translation made by Jinja, the government said the circular was made in response to the rising number of cyber crimes in the country:

Past experiences of offense investigation and suppression have shown that, criminals and offenders always used telecommunications services such as mobile phones, fixed phones, VoIP and Internets as a means to commit terrorisms, trans-boundary crimes, robberies, kidnapping, murders, drug trafficking, human trafficking, economic offenses, illegal installment of and illegal corporation of all forms of telecommunications service, broadcasting of obscene pictures and debauchery, which affect national customs, traditions and social good moral values.

The provision below mandates telephone and internet stations to put CCTV cameras in their areas:

All telecommunications operators, sales outlets and distributors are obliged to register their business at local authorities. Meanwhile, all locations serving telephone services and Internet shall be equipped with closed circuit television camera and shall store footage data of users for at least 03 months. Telephone service corporation owners along public roads shall record National Identity Cards of any subscriber.

The circular could be a model for a more comprehensive cyber legislation which the government plans to enact this year. Jinja reports that no violator has been arrested yet in connection with the circular:

Changes in Myanmar’s press laws

Tuesday, 21 August 2012
David Boyle
The Phnom Penh Post

Newspaper editors in Myanmar will no longer have to scramble late at night to replace stories condemned to the cutting room floor by government censors, as the rapidly reforming country scrapped pre-publication vetting yesterday.

The press reforms, announced by the director-general of the Ministry of Information’s Press Scrutiny and Registration Department, Tint Swe, at a meeting with about 80 editors yesterday morning, come into effect immediately but are accompanied by strict self-censorship rules.

Editors will now be expected to enforce these rules themselves, which, among other things, forbid any negative political or economic reporting about state policies.

Still, despite the restrictions, media operators in Myanmar are hailing the reforms as a remarkable symbol of the reform process in a country where journalists testing the limits of tight state control have faced intimidation and imprisonment for close to 50 years.

Another Press Council charade in Phnom Penh?

Cambodia to Pursue Self-regulating Press Council

15 June 2012
ScandAsia.com

Senior Minister Om Yen Tieng, head of the government’s Anti-Corruption Unit, speaks at a joint Sweden-Cambodia workshop on press freedom and media ethics in Phnom Penh. He supports an idea of having a press council that would act as a self-regulating body with the power to field complaints as well as sanction reporters and their media organisations.

Many local reporters and editors from various radio stations and newspapers attended a joint workshop between Cambodia and Sweden on press freedom and ethics yesterday in Phnom Penh.

As a high-ranking Cambodian official proposed an idea of having the self-regulating press council, Minister Om Yin Tieng endorsed the idea.

“We don’t want the court to judge,” Om Yin Tieng said, although he said the court would not be taken completely out of the equation.

Asian Press ‘Among World’s Most Fettered’

May 3, 2012
UCAN (Catholic Church)

North Korea is the world’s worst country for press freedom, according to an annual survey released to coincide with today’s World Press Freedom Day.

China (PRC), Myanmar and Vietnam are also in the world’s worst twelve nations, the survey of 197 countries from the US-based activist Freedom House revealed.

The Global Press Freedom Rankings rated countries as ‘free’, ‘partly free’ or ‘not free’. Other Asian nations in the latter category included Laos, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia and Cambodia. Thailand escaped by one place and was classed as ‘partly free’, together with Nepal, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Indonesia, South Korea and Mongolia.

While the PRC was in joint 187th place, Hong Kong (partly free) was 70th and Taiwan (free) was 47th. All of the ten most free countries were in Europe.

"Accidental" Loss in the translation? - បកប្រែ ជាស្មែរ វាចេះតែខុយ!

Today, The Phnom Penh Post English version reported:

But a Bavet town police officer who declined to be named alleged yesterday that after Chhouk Bandith shot the protesters, he escaped and drove to Kampong Cham before moving on to Phnom Penh, where he was staying with one of Cambodia’s deputy prime ministers.

“He’s staying at [deputy prime minister] Men Sam An’s house in Phnom Penh. It is not difficult to find him.”

Men Sam An could not be reached yesterday.

The Khmer version of the report stated:

នៅ​ពេល​នេះ សមត្ថកិច្ច មិន​ទាន់​ដឹង​ថា លោក​ឈូក បណ្ឌិត កំពុង​ស្នាក់​នៅ​ទី​ណា​ឡើយ ​ប៉ុន្តែ​មន្ត្រី​នគរ​បាល​ម្នាក់​ បាន​អះអាង​ថា លោក​ឈូក ​បណ្ឌិត​កំពុង​ស្នាក់​​នៅ​ភូមិ​គ្រឹះ​របស់​ឧប​នាយក​រដ្ឋ​មន្ត្រី​មួយ​រូប​ នៅ​ភ្នំពេញ​។...

មន្ត្រី​រូប​នោះ​បាន​អះអាង​ថា៖​«នៅ​ពេល​នេះ​លោក​ឈូក បណ្ឌិត កំពុង​ស្នាក់​នៅ​ ក្នុង​ភូមិ​គ្រឹះ​របស់​ឧបនាយក​រដ្ឋ​មន្ត្រី​ម្នាក់ ​នៅ​ភ្នំពេញ វា​មិន​ពិបាក​រក​គាត់​ទេ»។

However, Man Sam An's name quoted in the English version was "accidentally" lost in the translation.

You can check the story by yourself. The English version is available here and the Khmer version is available here.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being a Dictator!

 

Thursday, November 03, 2011
Op-Ed by School of Vice

Another groundbreaking ceremony (the construction of a Chinese-funded bridge), another platform for Mr Hun Sen to unleash his pent-up frustration and anger against his critics in "the media" and elsewhere who lately have seen it fit to dangle the ignominious and humiliating fate of Libya's Col Gaddafi before him as a timely reminder of what dictators and violent rulers could look forward to at the end of their lengthy but equally violently terminated political careers.

As usual, it is left to a bunch of much condescended "puny" online, and largely anonymous news blogs - need I name them? - to do the work no ‘respectable’ news outlets in Cambodia would contemplate doing, out of fear of undermining carefully constructed network vis-a-vis the corridors of power. Contrary to the quoted statement of the publisher of the Phnom Penh Post - a foreign-managed news outlet - Cambodia does not enjoy the "freest media climate in Asia,” or something to that effect. There is certainly much perceived lack of professionalism among the local Khmer press and media community, but this situation or short-coming being the case as it were ought to call for appropriate remedy in the form of the existence of an independent national media watch dog or tribunal. Moreover, considering the existence of anything 'independent' (beside regime-affiliated institutions) is out of the question under a dictatorship, any perceived issues we have with press and media codes of conduct and professionalism seem either irrelevant or secondary so long as such 'professionalism' comes about on the back of the sacrifice by the media community as a whole, made upon fundamental principles associated with the freedom of expression of diverse opinions.

So at least, a student graduation ceremony, an inaugural address at a construction site would always be a monopoly for the "Prime Minister" to launch his war-talk and threaten violence against potential rivals to the political throne. Even as he infuriatingly dismisses the comparison made, the man unwittingly justifies it by ruling out or outlawing any opinion other than his own and by holding forth the spectre of punitive violence as the only fate awaiting those who attempt to remove him from his throne. If he is democratically and legitimately elected by the Cambodian people as he claims to be, then why not engage dissenting opinions through independent democratic forums rather than using one-sided, state-led party apparatus to throttle them, in addition to these constant verbal threats and murderous sanctions against anyone who manages to get under his skin? That would appear to be at odds with most people's understanding of parliamentary democracy where the administration of public affairs (outside of exceptional national emergencies or circumstances) is expected to be enacted by way of consensus, transparency and open public debate, the absence of which cannot be said to be conducive to the developmental process of sound governance or professional ethics in all spheres of public and civil life, including journalism and the media.

How important is the role and relevance of professional ethics to a Khmer reporter, a journalist, a teacher or anyone who immerses his/her existence in, and derives life’s meaning or fulfilment out of, the knowledge that such immersion positively affects the cause, or facilitates the aspirations, of the society to which they feel they belong in some way when an individual stands powerless in defending his/her actions anyway, be they meet some accepted personal or professional moral standard or otherwise so long as the ability and right to legislate what is ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ remain the monopoly of the powerful few or - in this case - that one person who is only accountable to Himself? With every general election over the last 20 years invariably having delivered a “landslide” mandate, why agonises over this comparison to a Middle-Eastern dictator, unless, that is, some elements of truth are embedded in the comparison somewhere? Or, is truth as it is, simply too much for some to bear?

Media Experts Worry About Declining Freedom

Hang Chakra, the publisher of Khmer Mchas Srok newspaper who was detained in 2010, told “Hello VOA” Thursday the paper had been doing well until he was held under criminal disinformation and defamation charges. (Photo: The Phnom Penh Post)

Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer

Washington, DC Tuesday, 10 May 2011

“We are not killers murdering someone, and we aren’t robbers.”

Media experts say freedom of expression is on the decline in Cambodia, especially as journalists have recently been detained under criminal disinformation.

Hang Chakra, the publisher of Khmer Mchas Srok newspaper who was detained in 2010, told “Hello VOA” Thursday the paper had been doing well until he was held under criminal disinformation and defamation charges.

“That made me very disappointed, but now I continue with my work and reform that is balanced,” he said. He has again started publishing his paper, which is supportive of the opposition Sam Rainsy Party, about a month ago, following more than a year’s absence.

Moeun Chhean Narridh, director of the Cambodian Institute for Media Studies, who was also a guest on “Hello VOA” Thursday, said journalists should not be punished under criminal laws.

2011 Freedom of the Press in Cambodia: NOT FREE, Rank 141 over 196 countries

Source: Freedom House

Cambodia’s score also deteriorated due to an aggressive use of disinformation and defamation legislation against journalists, as well as a reduction in media diversity following the closure of an opposition newspaper.

Reporters With Thought Borders

Ross Dunkley reads The Myanmar Times newspaper that he works for, before a hearing in his trial at Kamaryut township court in Yangon April 4, 2011. (Photo: Reuters)

Monday, April 18, 2011
By SIMON ROUGHNEEN
The Irrawaddy news

To compare, a Cambodian World Food Program staff member was given a six-month jail sentence in Cambodia, after downloading and printing material from KI Media, a political blog that runs material critical of the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) and Prime Minister Hun Sen. While the sentence was light compared to those handed out in Burma, the fact that it was issued at all is a cause for concern, said Sopheap Chak.

PHNOM PENH—Ross Dunkley, the sole foreign owner invested in Burma's state-controlled media, faces charges of assaulting a woman and breaches of the country's immigration laws, in what many observers, including some of Dunkley's own business partners, view as a power play aimed at ousting the Australian from his stake in the Myanmar Times.

Dunkley has since been released on bail, part of which was paid by his Burmese business partner, Tin Tun Oo, who was named CEO of the Myanmar Times in the days after Dunkley's initial arrest. Dunkley has subsequently downplayed the conspiracy angle, and hopes to be acquitted soon.

He is well known in media circles in Cambodia after buying into the Phnom Penh Post, one of the country's two English language dailies, back in 2007.

Cambodia is a challenging media market with freedom of expression under threat from a combination of formal and informal codes that inhibit the country's press, according to several observers.

Prime Minister Hun Sen and other senior officials do not shy from suing media, and the Phnom Penh Post has been hit with lawsuits in the past, while a local NGO, the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO), points to numerous cases of journalists being threatened with violence or worse, in a scenario akin to the Philippines, where guns are used to cow reporters operating in an otherwise free media environment.

How China Gags its Media

A man reads a magazine beside a newsstand in Beijing, Dec. 3, 2008. (AFP)

Government propaganda machine restricts reporting, issues 'approved' copy.

2011-04-15
Radio Free Asia

China has notched up controls over state-controlled media in the wake of recent online calls for a "Jasmine" revolution, but some major news organizations are pushing back against a growing wave of directives from the top, journalists said.

Independent journalist and blogger Zan Aizong said China's state-owned media has been increasingly responsive to the desire of the public for accurate information, with editors scrambling at times to make sure reports come out before officials have a chance to ban them.

"Some of the more daring media are reporting major stories with such speed that they get in there before the order forbidding coverage has had time to land," Zan said.

"The joke among journalists is that they publish first, even when the order runs as fast as [champion hurdler] Liu Xiang."

Opposition paper back in print

Publisher of Khmer Machas Srok Hang Chakra speaks to reporters in Phnom Penh in April last year. (Photo by: Heng Chivoan)

Tuesday, 22 March 2011
Meas Sokchea
The Phnom Penh Post

The opposition leaning Khmer Machas Srok newspaper yesterday resumed publishing after a nearly two-year hiatus stemming from the imprisonment of its publisher for defamation and disinformation in June 2009.

Although the paper will continue its support for the Sam Rainsy Party and criticism of the government, it is independent and not under the control of any political party or powerful clique, Hang Chakra, publisher of Khmer Machas Srok, said yesterday.

“We still keep the same stance of constructive criticism. Previously, they always said my newspaper is an ‘opposition newspaper’. Thank you for saying this,” Hang Chakra said.

The right to remain silent

WEDNESDAY, 16 MARCH 2011
OU VIRAK
Letter to The Phnom Penh Post

“I used to write 100 percent of the truth, but I’ve reduced it to about 30 percent.” - Cambodian journalist Tes Vibol

I write in response to the observations of Roger Mitton in his article dated the March 14 (“No press freedom leads to no freedom whatsoever”), which dealt with the issue of continued restrictions on the freedom of the press in Southeast Asia and which provided the opportunity to discuss the perilous state of journalistic freedom in Cambodia.

Journalism appears to be a safer profession in Cambodia than in previous years; the last murder of a journalist was that of Khim Sambo three years ago, bringing the total to 11 journalists killed over a 15-year period. Nevertheless, the situation of freedom of the press is deteriorating with the government and aligned forces controlling the media and punishing the remaining few journalists who report on issues that run contrary to the interests of the government or which contain criticisms of policy, actions or omissions on its part.

Since the last general election in 2008, the legal system has been working quietly and diligently silencing journalists and others who speak out in criticism of the government. The Club of Cambodian Journalists has reported that for the period of May 3, 2009, to May 3, 2010, 24 journalists were arrested and 10 were sued by members of the government or its inner circle, eight more than in 2008, with two being jailed for disinformation.

A cartoon is worth a thousand words

The opposition leads a challenge campaign against the government on border issues and will broach freedom of the press issue also

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy (R) and Mr. Sean Pengse (2nd from right) during their US tour (Photo: Free Press Magazine Online)

Monday 31 May 2010
By Pech Bandol
Free Press Magazine
Translated from Khmer by Socheata
Click here to read the article in Khmer

Since the explosion of the border problem on 25 October 2009, the Cambodian government appears to be quite weakened and the general public, in particular, people who live along the border can now clearly see the ultimate national betrayal by the Hun Xen regime.

The border issue is an important subject that the opposition party snatched to use at its strategy to attack the government both inside and outside the country. Next, the opposition plans to broach the issue of the freedom of press which is worsening right now.

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy and Mr. Sean Pengse, President of the France-based Cambodia’s Border Committee continue to show a lot of information on the border problems which are currently taking place along eastern Cambodia next to the Yuon border, in order to inform the international community and the Cambodian communities in the US during their visit there between 22 May and 15 June 2010. According to plan, the campaign is aimed at attracting support from the Cambodian communities in 7 US states and 11 cities.

Meanwhile, in Cambodia, following the visit of SRP MPs’ visit on 01 June to Cambodian farmers who are currently jailed in Svay Rieng for border issue, the SRP MPs plan to travel to visit the border problem that is currently taking place in Anh Chanh village where reports indicated on Sunday that villagers, who dare talk about their rice fields being lost to the Yuons’ hand through the planting of border post, are now threatened by the local authority which told them not to talk about this issue otherwise they will be jailed. Under such circumstances, the opposition can now thank the government for providing them with the opportunity to broach these events which are strategically important for their campaign stemming from the stupid connivance between Hanoi and its puppet regime in Phnom Penh.

SRP MP Yim Sovann said that, right now, eastern border problems are popping up like popcorn from one region to another.

Following their visit to Takeo, the SRP MPs plan to visit border posts no. 124 and 125 located in Ponhea Krek district, Kampong Cham province also.

In addition to all the activities above, the opposition has also planned to send Hang Chakra, the editor-in-chief of the Khmer Machas Srok newspaper who was recently released from jail, to the US next month with the aim of fustigating the government on the issue of press freedom.

Hang Chakra indicated in his interview with the Free Press Magazine that: “We will raise the issue of press freedom during our meetings with the Cambodian communities in the US. Press freedom [in Cambodia] is extremely bad.”

Hang Chakra also claimed that: “There was no professional mistake made that could lead the government to throw me in jail, it was the powerful government officials who violated the press law that they set up, it’s a coward case…”

Since the explosion of the border problem on 25 October 2009, the Cambodian government appears to be quite weakened and the general public, in particular, people who live along the border can clearly see the ultimate national betrayal by the Hun Xen regime.

The government plans to release Hang Chakra before the Cambodian New Year

Hang Chakra (Photo: Sok Serey, RFA)

03 April 2010
By Sok Serey
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Socheata
Click here to read the article in Khmer

A high-ranking government official revealed that the Cambodian government plans to release Hang Chakra, the Editor-in-Chief of the Khmer Machas Srok newspaper, before the Cambodian New Year.

A high-ranking government official claimed that hang Chakra, the editor-in-chief of the Khmer Machas Srok newspaper, will be freed soon, prior the Cambodian New Year, following the OK from Hun Xen and Xok An, the vice-PM and minister of the Council of Minister, who sued Hang Chakra in this lawsuit case.

Khieu Kanharith, minister of Information and government spokesman, told RFA on Friday that Hang Chakra will be freed soon. “H.E. Xok An did all that. Normally, when they announce the pardon, it will be announced before the Cambodian New Year,” Khieu Kanharith said.

Hang Chakra was sentenced by the Phnom Penh municipal court to 1-year of jail term on 26 June 2009. He was charged with defamation and disinformation because he published a number of reports at the beginning of April and May 2009, accusing Hun Xen of breaking up the nest of bad and corrupt officials around Xok An.

These reports led Xok An to sue Hang Chakra. Xok An denied the report and accused Hang Chakra of disinformation.

There is no date set for the release of Hang Chakra yet, only that it will take place before the Cambodian New Year.

Tith Sothea, government advisor and mouthpiece of the Press and Quick Reaction Unit attached to [Xok An’s] Council of Ministers, said that the release plan was OK’d by Hun Xen and Xok An, thus paving the way for the king to sign the pardon.

Tith Sothea said: “At this point in time, Mr. Hang Chakra spent 2/3 of his sentence already, and he also wrote an official letter that included apologies to H.E. the vice-PM as well, saying that his past criticisms were not true, and were lies, and he also confessed to his mistakes.”

Hang Chakra’s release plan was greeted and welcomed by human rights colleagues and activists in Cambodia.

Chum Sophal, the standing editor-in-chief of the Khmer Machas Srok newspaper said: “I am very happy and I welcome this, I really miss him very much!”

Sok Serey: “So, you hope that you will work with him soon ?”

Chum Sophal: “Yes! When he will get out, he will come back to work immediately.”

Am Sam Ath, chairman of investigations for the Licadho human rights NGO, said: “The ministry of Interior sent a letter to Hang Chakra’s daughter, that it sent to the Phnom Penh municipal court for Hang Chakra’s pardon before this New year. This is good news for Mr. Hang Chaka, it is a sign for an understanding towards reporters.”

Currently, there are 2 journalists who are jailed in Prey Sar prison: (1) Hang Chakra, the editor-in-chief of the Khmer Machas Srok newspaper who sentenced to 1-year of jail term by the Phnom Penh municipal court, and (2) Ros Sokhet who was sentenced by the same court to 2-year of jail term for defamation and disinformation also.

In Journalists Acquittal, Lessons All Around

RFA Reporter Sok Serey
Khmer Machas Srok Editor Hang Chakra

By Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
25 February 2010

Last week’s acquittal of a Radio Free Asia reporter accused of disinformation has been welcomed by advocacy groups as well as the UN, but observers warn that a number of journalists remain in jail for doing their jobs.

Immediately following the decision of Takeo provincial court, which had tried radio journalist Sok Serey after a story on local corruption, the Cambodian Center for Human Rights touted the decision as “encouraging development for freedom of expression.”

Ou Virak, president of the organization, told VOA Khmer on Tuesday that all courts should consider the possibility of malicious intent when charges are brought against journalists.

In Sok Serey’s case, it was a local official accused of corruption who brought the suit, which carries a criminal charge under Cambodian law. Takeo court officials cited a lack of evidence and malicious intent as the reasons behind the acquittal.

“Judgments in past cases did not take into account that intent,” Ou Virak said. “Only the court in Takeo did.”

The UN’s office for human rights in Phnom Penh called the decision “a significant step towards the protection of the right of human rights defenders and journalists to freely and peacefully express themselves on matters of public interest, without fear of reprisals”.

Sok Serey, two members of the Cambodia-Muslim community and two local rights activists were charged with disinformation following their interviews alleging that the local Muslim imam, Riem Math, and two other members of the committee were involved in corruption.

Ny San, a community member, was subsequently jailed as a result of the case. He will serve five months in jail and was fined $250.

While the decision itself received praise, Reporters Without Borders called for the release of Hang Chakra, the editor of Khmer Machas Srok newspaper, who remains in jail after publishing a story alleging corruption within the powerful Council of Ministers, which is led by Cabinet Minister Sok An.

Reporters Without Borders also called on a re-investigation into the murder of journalist Khim Sambor, who was gunned down along with his son in Phnom Penh ahead of 2008’s July elections.

For Pen Samithy, president of the Club of Cambodian Journalists, Sok Serey’s case served as a reminder that journalists much maintain professionalism and care.

“Long-working journalists will know what to be cautious about,” he said. “This includes keeping their records and finding a balance [in reporting], and the only way to protect themselves is to increase their adherence to facts.”

Radio Journalist Faces Defamation Charges

The accused (in pink shirt) and human rights activists leave the Takeo courtroom (Photo: Sovannara, RFI)

By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
09 February 2010

One journalist and three of his sources went on trial for defamation in Takeo province on Tuesday, with the court scheduling a verdict for Feb. 19.

To Serey, a radio journalist for Radio Free Asia, is accused of broadcasting a report alleging corruption by a local official in the province.

Two human rights workers and a villager who were interviewed by the reporter are also accused of defamation.

All four appeared in court Tuesday, where a five-hour hearing ensued. Evidence against the accused was based on testimony of 12 witnesses, who denied the broadcast report, which said members of the Muslim community had demonstrated against corruption.

Cambodia’s courts have come under increasing criticism for criminal trials of defamation and disinformation, allowed under a recently passed media law.

Critics say the law promotes retributive suits against government dissenters, the opposition and the media.

The key to democracy is a free press

Thursday, Oct. 1, 2009
By JOEL BRINKLEY
McClatchy-Tribune News Service

Since that time [in 1993-1994], however, freedom of the press [in Cambodia] has been on slow slide south. Reporters Without Borders ranked Cambodia 71st out of 139 countries in 2002. By 2008, the ranking had slid to 126th out of 173 nations - in the company of Kazakhstan, a dictatorship; and Jordan, a monarchy.

If you want to know whether a nation is truly democratic, one measure will give you an answer with near certitude: How does the state treat the press?

Nothing so directly challenges a corrupt or authoritarian leader than an aggressive news media. So, wherever the United States and its Western allies have wielded influence over the formation of a new government in the last half century - from Japan to Iraq - freedom of the press has been a core value the United States has tried to imprint on the culture of each new state. The recent results are mostly discouraging.

I first worked in Iraq in the months after the 2003 invasion, and it was thrilling to see a dozen or more independent Iraqi newspapers for sale on the streets, a new one every week or so. With financial help from the United States, several television stations began broadcasting relatively independent news. After decades of brutal repression, freedom of the press and expression flowered - though, of course bombers and militants made life dangerous and harrowing for journalists and everyone else. At least 170 journalists were killed during the war's first five years.

Today many of the surviving reporters are scared. The government is censoring, suing and harassing reporters. In July, The Economist reported, police arrested a journalist for taking pictures of a typical, massive Baghdad traffic jam, saying the photos reflected badly on Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's campaign to demonstrate that the quality of life was improving.

Last month about 100 Iraqi journalists staged a raucous protest of growing restrictions on their work, shouting: "No, no to muzzling; yes, yes to freedom!"

The government is now censoring the Internet and certain books, on the pretext of protecting citizens from pornography and hate messages. But as every journalist knows, that is the leading edge of a slippery slope. Reporters Without Borders places Iraq near the bottom of its press freedom index, and its ranking continues to fall.

The United States introduced the notion of a free press to Afghanistan in 2002, but during the election in August state security forces assaulted and arrested numerous domestic and foreign journalists reporting on violence during the voting. How could President Hamid Karzai steal the election if the news media had been free to show mayhem and chicanery at the polls? Now we can clearly see that Karzai is not a democrat, and the news media is a victim of that. But then he is not the only villain. Taliban militants have kidnapped dozens of domestic and foreign reporters in recent years and killed four of them.

The United States, NATO and the United Nations practically created the modern state of Kosovo, which proclaimed its independence last year. Like most Central Asian states, newspapers and television stations are generally attached to political parties. Still, some reporters are showing encouraging early signs of independence. But when RTK, the state's lone independent, public-television station, broadcast a news show this spring that discussed issues such as drug addiction, homosexuality, human rights, and press freedom - a novel broadcast for Kosovo - the reporter received death threats, and others in the media launched a smear campaign. Perhaps we should give Kosovo a little more time.

Before that, the United Nations occupied Cambodia in 1993 and 1994 and staged elections with the aim of establishing a new democracy after decades of genocide and war. The United States contributed one-third of the $3 billion spent on this effort. Under U.N. patronage, new newspapers, radio and TV stations began publishing and airing an array of aggressive news reports.

Since that time, however, freedom of the press has been on slow slide south. Reporters Without Borders ranked Cambodia 71st out of 139 countries in 2002. By 2008, the ranking had slid to 126th out of 173 nations - in the company of Kazakhstan, a dictatorship; and Jordan, a monarchy.

Over the summer, the government sued several newspapers for defamation because they had published articles that offended senior officials. One newspaper was forced to close. In July the government sued the Cambodia Daily, an excellent English language newspaper, for merely quoting someone who criticized the government. Last week, the court found the paper's editor guilty.

Critics of former President Bush have long argued that, no matter how inspiring those images of Iraqi voters with purple fingers may have been, elections alone cannot create a democracy. The fate of the news media in several new, Western-imposed democracies is a sad but honest demonstration of that.

ABOUT THE WRITER

Joel Brinkley is a former Pulitzer Prize-winning foreign correspondent for The New York Times and now a professor of journalism at Stanford University. Readers may send him e-mail at: brinkley@foreign-matters.com

Raoul Jennar is concerned that tourists visiting Cambodia know the truth about the shenanigans of Hun Xen, his boss

Raoul Jennar (R) hugging Khieu Kaharith (Photo: DAP news)

09 September 2009
DAP news
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

Raoul Jennar, the Belgian advisor of Hun Xen’s government and an expert in constitutional law, expressed his concerns when he saw that some tourist guides written in French contain attacks on Hun Xen’s regime. He said that such attacks could affect the emotion of tourists visiting Cambodia.

Raoul Jennar made this comment during his meeting discussion with Khieu Kanharith, the minister of Information, in the afternoon of 08 September 2009, at the ministry of Information.

Raoul Jennar came to Cambodia in 1989 to provide help to the People’s Republic of Kampuchea (PRK), the Vietnamese-installed puppet regime, to set up a new constitution in order to form the state of Kampuchea. This year, he is also giving a talk, for the first time, at the Cambodian news media headquarter about democracy in the world.

Currently, Raoul Jennar is a Cambodian government advisor providing help in international relation, such as the KR Tribunal and the Preah Vihear temple issue etc…

Raoul Jennar also indicated that some foreign countries said that freedom of the press in Cambodia dropped and he said that Cambodia must put additional effort to let other countries understand about this issue. Furthermore, he also raised the issue of the delays at the KR Tribunal work due to other piling up problems.

In response to Raoul Jennar, Khieu Kanharith said that the publishing freedom right in Cambodia is guaranteed by the Cambodian press law. However, he said that, when false reports are printed, Cambodia has the right to review these publications by a panel of experts, therefore tourist guides must also be reviewed by the ministry of Tourism, and as far as the concerns expressed by Raoul Jennar, the ministry of Information plans to discuss this issue with the ministry of Tourism. Furthermore, the ministry of Information will review all these points, and it will send its guidelines to the publishers. [KI-Media note: Khieu Kanharith must be joking if he thinks he can censure tourist guides published overseas].

Regarding freedom of the press, Khieu Kanharith said that Cambodia still have elevated freedom rights, but what people get confused is when disinformation is published and some [the publishers] are charged, then the public does not understand in depth that this is not done to prevent the freedom of the press, but that it is rather a case of defamation of the honor of certain individuals [like Hun Xen and Xok An?], or an act of incitation, such as the case of Angkor Wat temple when Thailand claimed that Cambodia does not have the ability to preserve the temple by itself. Therefore, according to Khieu Kanharith, some articles are not only defamation, they also constitute incitation as well.

Regarding the KR Tribunal, Khieu Kanharith said that Hun Xen’s stance, as expressed in his speech on 07 September, does not mean that Hun Xen is trying to prevent or put obstacles in the tribunal work, but that he only indicated that some of the issues raised by the KRT does not take into consideration the social aspect whereby several problems will be created. Right now, the KRT has 4 other KR leader cases to judge, why doesn’t it concentrate on this work? Furthermore, the number of explanations provided by the witnesses so far is sufficient enough, so there is almost no need to bring in additional witnesses to come forward and provide their clarifications. But, Khieu Kanharith added that, maybe the salary for the KRT judges are so high that there are delays taking place like this.

Newspaper editor jailed under law bequeathed by UN

30 June 2009
Reporters Without Border

Reporters Without Borders calls for the release of Hang Chakra, the editor of the daily Khmer Machas Srok (http://kmsblog.wordpress.com/), who was jailed on 26 June 2009 after receiving a one-year prison sentence as a result of government complaint about articles accusing the deputy prime minister of corrupt practices.

“Prime Minister Hun Sen took the historic decision to decriminalize defamation, but his government has now regrettably abused a law about disinformation that was inherited from the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC),” Reporters Without Borders said. “Hang Chakra must be freed and then articles 62 and 63 of the criminal code bequeathed by the UN must be amended.”

The press freedom organisation added: “It is shocking that the government’s ministers decided to refer this matter to the courts without first requesting a right of reply in the newspaper.”

This is the first time that a journalist has been jailed since June 2008, when Dam Sith, the managing editor of the opposition daily Moneaksekar Khmer, spent a week in prison after being accused by the foreign minister of disseminating false information.

The complaint against Hang Chakra – over a series of articles in April and May accusing Deputy Prime Minister Sok An of corruption – was heard in the editor’s absence. The one-year jail sentence and a fine of 1,500 euros were imposed at the end of a trial lasting just one hour. The police then arrested Hang Chakra and took him to the capital’s Prey Sar prison.

His lawyer, Chong Cho Ngy, told Reporters Without Borders he would file an appeal. “I still do not understand why the judge refused to try my client under the press law,” he said. “The reports published in the newspaper were obviously of interest to its readers so it is clearly a press freedom issue.”

Speaking to the media, he said that, in order to reach a verdict quickly, the Phnom Penh court had rejected his request for an adjournment and had rushed the trial without Hang Chakra being present.

One of Cambodia’s three opposition dailies, Khmer Machas Srok is linked to the opposition Sam Rainsy party. Hang Chakra told the Cambodge Soir newspaper before he was jailed: “I know the courts will not rule in my favour… but I am not afraid.” In an article for the Phnom Penh Post (www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/ 2009060426264/National-news/Publisher-answers-charges.html), he said he had resisted the prosecutor’s attempts to get him to name his sources.

Judge Din Sivuthy tried Hang Chakra under the criminal code inherited from the UNTAC instead of the 1995 press law in order to be able to impose a more severe sentence. The press law provides for fines but not jail sentences.

According to the Cambodian Journalists Club, six lawsuits have been brought against opposition or independent journalists since the start of the year. Two of them are journalists employed by Radio Free Asia’s Khmer service who are being prosecuted in connection with a report on Cambodia’s Muslim community.

Hang Chakra’s jail sentence marks a new phase in the politicisation of defamation and disinformation complaints being brought by government officials in recent months. A report by the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Cambodia deplored the fact that at least eight different complaints were pending against opposition members, lawyers and journalists.