Showing posts with label Hun Xen's authoritarian regime. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hun Xen's authoritarian regime. Show all posts
Monday, September 17, 2012
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Tuesday, September 04, 2012
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Cambodia steps up Internet surveillance
By Clothilde Le Coz
AsianCorrespondent.com
“Internet users are the ones that the government fears the most”
As Burma loosens its grip on the media, Cambodia has begun to rank high among the countries repressing internet and telephone freedom in the name of national security, safety and social order. It is still not comparable to China or Vietnam, but Cambodia is moving in the wrong direction.
Last February, the Kingdom of Wonders adopted an “inter-ministerial circular”, according to which every Internet cafe in the country has to set up surveillance cameras and any phone shop has to register callers using its services. According to an unofficial translation obtained by the Asian Correspondent, the circular is meant to “promote protection of national security, safety and social order for the country”. Even though nothing has been implemented thus far, the circular is a threat to every phone and Internet user in the country.
“This is not a law. The authorities simply decided to do whatever they want to regulate online content in the country only because it could violate khmer culture,” stated Norbert Klein, the “founding father” of the Internet in Cambodia and now the head of the Cambodia chapter of the Internet Society. To him, the circular is a “means of intimidation for Internet users more than a means to protect their safety “.
Tuesday, August 07, 2012
'Cambodia Spring' Unlikely, Political Observers Say [-It could be a self implosion within the CPP itself]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JvCkK1x9D4
Friday, July 27, 2012
Rights Advocates Worry Closure of Beehive Radio Will Follow the Arrest of Its Owner
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| Mam Sonando, 70, was arrested on July 22, 2012, in Phnom Penh and has been charged with crimes related to sedition. |
Government spokesman Phay Siphan said it is too early to speculate on what might happen to Mam Sonando, or his station.
26 July 2012
Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
With Mam Sonando in jail on charges related to sedition, rights advocates say they worry his Beehive Radio station, one of the few independent stations in the country, will be forced to close.
Broadcasts on 105 FM have not ended since his arrest in mid-July, but Am Sam Ath, chief monitor for the rights group Licadho, said it could be shuttered in Mam Sonando is found guilty of leading a secessionist movement against the government.
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Democracy in Cambodia has taken many more steps backwards
Comment by Mu Sochua
Revisiting events - more than 20 years have passed and democracy in Cambodia has taken many more steps backwards. Land grabs, corrupt judiciary, unemployment add to the unresolved issues of corruption, power and impunity. The Cambodia Movement for National Rescue will give birth to a new party in time for 2013. Join us in building hope for our people and restoring the soul of our nation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b23Zf0HpOOA
Tuesday, June 05, 2012
Hun Xen's on course to become the world's longest-serving dictator ... thanks to FOREIGN AID!!!
Cambodia PM's party claims victory in election test run
06 June 2012
Reuters
06 June 2012
Reuters
Critics say Hun Sen is a ruthless leader who has intimidated his opponents into submission or frightened them out of the country.
PHNOM PENH -- Cambodia's ruling party looks to have won a landslide win in local elections, putting authoritarian Prime Minister Hun Sen on course to remain one of the world's longest-serving leaders after parliamentary elections next year.
Official results from Sunday's elections for the chiefs of areas known as communes are not expected for several weeks but the major parties were in agreement that Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party (CPP) had swept the polls, as it has in all national ballots in the past decade.
The CPP claimed 72 percent of the seats in what it sees as a test of support ahead of the 2013 election. General elections take place every five years.
“These results show a landslide victory,” top CPP member of parliament Cheam Yeap told Reuters. “This is a basic projection for the parliamentary election in the middle of next year.”
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Friday, May 25, 2012
Thursday, May 24, 2012
ជម្លោះដីធ្លីកាន់តែធ្ងន់ធ្ងរអាចធ្វើឲ្យមានការផ្លាស់ប្តូរ
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| នគរបាលរាជធានី ចាប់ស្ត្រីអ្នកភូមិបឹងកក់ នៅក្នុងការតវ៉ាមួយ កាលពីថ្ងៃអង្គារ។ រូបថត ម៉េង គីមឡុង |
Thursday, 24 May 2012 12:24
Bridget Di Certo
The Phnom Penh Post
ភ្នំពេញៈ បញ្ហាជម្លោះដីធ្លីនៅក្នុងប្រទេសកម្ពុជា មានលក្ខណៈកាន់តែធ្ងន់ធ្ងរទៅ ដោយសារតែការកើនឡើង នៃការផ្តល់ដីសម្បទានសេដ្ឋកិច្ច របស់រដ្ឋាភិបាល ដែលកាន់តែធ្វើឲ្យមានការរំលោភបំពានសិទ្ធិមនុស្សកាន់ខ្លាំងផងដែរ ខណៈដែលការតវ៉ា ក៏កាន់តែកើនឡើង ហើយជាកត្តាអាចនឹងធ្វើឲ្យមានការផ្លាស់ប្តូរ។.នេះបើយោងតាមអង្គការលើកលែងទោសអន្តរជាតិ (Amnesty International) នៅក្នុងរបាយការណ៍មួយ ចេញកាលពីម្សិលមិញ។
របាយការណ៍បានបង្ហាញថា ប្រជាជនកម្ពុជា បានបន្តប្រឈមមុខនឹងបញ្ហាសិទ្ធិមនុស្សរបស់ខ្លួន តាមរយៈការដាក់កំហិត នៃសេរីភាពសមាគម និងការបញ្ចេញមតិ និងបញ្ហាជម្លោះដីធ្លី ដែលមានលក្ខណៈកាន់តែធ្ងន់ធ្ងរ ដោយសារ«ចំនួនកើនឡើងនៃសម្បទានដីសេដ្ឋកិច្ចដែលផ្តល់ សម្រាប់អត្ថប្រយោជន៍របស់ក្រុមហ៊ុនដោយរដ្ឋាភិបាល»។
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Monday, May 07, 2012
Cambodia: Vanny Tep, former pinup model, rages against cronyism
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| Tep Vanny leading a protest (Photo: The Phnom Penh Post) |
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| Tep Vanny during a protest |
In a country where dissent can bring death, one woman fights against the destruction of homes to make way for Chinese development projects.
May 6, 2012
Terry McCoy
Global Post
But, really, in Cambodia only one person has power: Hun Sen. With a cultural fatalism that pervades Cambodia, Vanny says her story has a clear trajectory if Hun Sen sticks around. Last Wednesday, another protest leader, Chut Wutty, who’s inveighed against the government for years for illegal logging, was shot dead by the military in Koh Kong Province. Vanny says the same could happen to her, or she’ll end up with the others who have dared to question Hun Sen’s authority.
“In a black cell.”
Cambodia's government destroys the homes of poor residents to make way for upscale developments, often financed by rich Chinese investors. This excerpt from the Kindle Single "Playground" tells the story of one woman's bold struggle against the desctruction.
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Puttering down traffic-congested streets here earlier this year in a tuk-tuk, the motorcycle-pulled taxis of Southeast Asia, Vanny Tep wouldn’t stop talking. It was mid-afternoon and she’d been up since 5:30 a.m., leading three-hour seminars on protest methodology, fielding calls from reporters and politicians on two separate phones — “one for business, one for family” — and yelling, always yelling. I was exhausted just from watching her all day, and trying not to get yelled at.
“Khmer help Khmer! Khmer help Khmer!” Vanny bellowed at me inside our tuk-tuk as motorbike repair shops, rice stalls, and claustrophobic alleys streaked past. “It’s the slogan of our protest, and if anyone wants to struggle with us, they must say it. They must believe it. Because in Cambodia, we have only destroyed and killed ourselves. The government only cares about the rich, the companies. The government doesn’t care about the poor people. We need to change that!”
“Khmer help Khmer?” I asked.
“Khmer help Khmer!” she shouted back.
In Cambodia, ruled by a strongman named Hun Sen who imprisons or kills dissenters, these were very unusual things to say. I’d never heard anything like it. Between 2009 and mid-2011, I lived in provincial Cambodia as a Peace Corps volunteer and writer, traveling to every backwater on assignment for magazines and newspapers or various development missions. I became fluent in the language, got to know hundreds of Cambodians, dozens of them intimately, and thought I had met every sort of Khmer personality the country had to offer. But then I met Vanny.
I’d often been told in low-lit coffeehouses, in quiet tones, about the Cambodian government and its connection to China and foreign investors. Hun Sen’s cronies and the national senators sell any land they can to them, I heard, and leave the people destitute. As months passed, the tales became more frequent, and I started noticing in some parts of Cambodia that Chinese characters adorn just about every new bridge or highway streaking through rice fields. This may have been Cambodia’s development — but China owned it.
Sunday, May 06, 2012
The murder that shocked even Cambodia [-Chinese company ordered the murder of Chut Wutty]
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| THE FIGHT WILL GO ON: A woman holds a photograph of slain environmental activist Chhut Vuthy at his funeral last Monday. PHOTOS: WILL BAXTER/THE PHNOM PENH POST |
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| Chhut Vuthy is harassed and detained by men wearing Royal Cambodian Armed Forces uniforms in Koh Kong province in December, 2011. On April 26, Chhut Vuthy was travelling in the same area with two journalists from ‘The Cambodia Daily’ when he was shot and killed. |
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| Chhut Vuthy speaks to a journalist in the offices of ‘The Phnom Penh Post’ earlier this year. |
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| ANOTHER VICTIM: Chea Vichea, above, was murdered in 2004, sparking outrage further fuelled by the jailing of two men for the crime who many believe are innocent. Cambodian trade unionists, above right, grieved at his funeral in Phnom Penh. |
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| Mourners toss Cambodian riel notes into Chhut Vuthy’s coffin at his funeral last Monday. |
The gunning down of environmental activist Chhut Vuthy, suspected to be in the service of business interests, is seen by many as another example of those in power forever silencing a voice of protest
6/05/2012
Luke Hunt
Bangkok Post
Yet Chutt Vuthy's death followed an order from CHC [China Huadian Corporation] - among China's top five energy producers - to stop him from taking unwanted photographs.
In Cambodia, the murder of a high-profile environmentalist has sent shockwaves around a country which has never shaken-off its reputation for violence, corruption and a culture of impunity among the ruling political and moneyed classes.
Understandably, the shooting of Chhut Vuthy, 45, in a remote southern forest has outraged human rights groups and despite 14 years of peace has also reinforced perceptions of Cambodia as a lawless country still at war with itself.
But his death has wider ramifications and what exactly happened may never be known.
Chhut Vuthy was founder and director of the Natural Resource Protection Group, a small NGO dedicated to saving what's left of Cambodia's forests.
According to his friend Seng Sokheng of the Community Peace Building Network, Chhut Vuthy had decided on a trip to Koh Kong to investigate "forest crimes". The pair had worked together often and they wanted to capture illegal loggers on video.
The target was a heavily forested area near a dam being built by the China Huadian Corporation (CHC) at Stung Ressey Chrum Krom. The dam is one of four hydropower projects to be built in Koh Kong, labelled by Prime Minister Hun Sen as "a battery province". CHC officials had not commented on the killing by the time Spectrum went to press.
Friday, May 04, 2012
Intimidation of local journalists a ‘fact of life’
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| Questioning of the 2 reporters from the Cambodia Daily following the murder of Chut Wutty (Photo: The Phnom Penh Post) |
Friday, 04 May 2012
Joseph Freeman
The Phnom Penh Post
“Look for a truly investigative journalist, a local one – it’s almost impossible to find. They know the cost.”
The view of press freedom from the capital’s Imperial Hotel yesterday was decidedly rosier than the one provided by an international watchdog group whose latest report reveals that restrictions on the Kingdom’s news media did not ease in 2011.
Freedom House’s annual index on the state of the press in the world’s 197 countries and territories awarded Cambodia a score of 63 on a scale of zero to 100, with 100 the most repressive.
Speaking on World Press Freedom Day, Information Minister Khieu Kanharith yesterday painted a generally upbeat portrait of the situation, but mentioned the recent trend of faux-journalists who have been nabbed for using the title as a means of extortion.
“We saw there has been the arrest of news reporters who are not real professionals,” he said.
Sacrava's Political Cartoon: The Democra-zy 2012
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| Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com) |
Thursday, May 03, 2012
Cops prevent the celebration of 01 May in Kampong Som (Sihanoukville)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuP36gLFV38
Road to democracy in SE Asia long, bleak
05/03/2012
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The international world may have celebrated the emergence of democracy in Myanmar, when the country held its by-elections on April 1, and become hopeful of further changes in Southeast Asia, but democracy is not being fully implemented in the region, a meeting concluded.
The Second Meeting of the Inter-Regional Dialogue on Democracy in Jakarta on Tuesday agreed that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the umbrella organization that manages cooperation between 10 member countries in the region, had not been successful in bringing about a uniform shift toward democracy as it currently had only two member countries that could claim to be democracies: Indonesia and the Philippines.
Other members still have either monarchial or authoritarian governments with just one ruling party. Cambodia and Singapore are examples of one-party states.
In Cambodia, Prime Minister Hun Sen seized power from the then co-prime minister Prince Ranariddh in 1997 and has been in power since, while King Norodom Sihamoni’s role is largely ceremonial.
Tuesday, May 01, 2012
Chea Vichea and Cambodia’s Shame [-Hun Xen must be defecating in his pants]
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| Chea Vichea gunned down in broad daylight in the middle of Phnom Penh |
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| Chutt Wutty gunned down in broad daylight |
By Luke Hunt
The Diplomat
But the simple fact that such killings still take place speaks volumes about Cambodia. Sadly, the likes of Brad Cox have no shortage of subjects to work with.
Next month, American filmmaker Brad Cox will travel from his base in Bangkok to New York, where he will receive a prestigious Peabody Award for a documentary he made on the assassination of the Cambodian trade union leader Chea Vichea in 2004.
Two men – Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun – were charged with the murder, but a confession was later retracted amid claims they were tortured. Both men also had alibis and witnesses who said they were somewhere else at the time of the killing.
Both are widely held to be innocent, but the government insists they got the right people, prompting Cox to produce “Who Killed Chea Vichea?” The movie is banned in Cambodia. Nor is the Cambodian government impressed with the award, claiming Peabody is “a politically motivated” institution, and that Cox’s film is little more than “propaganda.” (The Peabody Awards are the oldest electronic media awards in the world).
But as Cox was having a suit made for the big night, word had filtered through that another prominent environmental activist, Chut Vuthy, had been gunned down after photographing forests in Cambodia’s remote south, which is known for illegal logging.
“He reminds me quite a bit of labor leader Chea Vichea. Both were outspoken, both were willing to stand up for what they believe despite threats and harassment, and both paid the price for their convictions,” Cox said.
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