Liar, Liar, pants on fire!!!

June 12, 2012
US Department of State
Photos by VOA

Mr. Kao Kimhourn (left) and Mr. Ouch Borith (right) Secretaries of sate at the Cambodian foreign ministry respond to a question about continued human rights violation and land eviction in Cambodia. Mr. Kao Kimhourn says that "LAND GRABBING" is not a policy of the Cambodian government. (sic!)

Borei Keila 2012: A woman broke down after her home is tore down in the background. Land she owns is turned over to the Phanimex company for "development" without providing proper compensation

Residents of Dey Krahorm were evicted by force so that their land can be turn over the 7NG company.

 ... Meanwhile Comrade Ho 5 Hong thanks thanks (inaudible) (inaudible) Hillary Clinton

Remarks With Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Hor Namhong Before Their Meeting

Remarks

Hillary Rodham Clinton

Secretary of State

Treaty Room

Washington, DC

June 12, 2012

SECRETARY CLINTON: I am pleased to welcome the deputy prime minister of Cambodia here to the State Department. I’ve had the opportunity to meet with him in Cambodia and at ASEAN Regional Forum meetings, and we are looking forward to coming for the ASEAN Regional Forum to Cambodia in July. And we have many issues to discuss that are of importance to our two nations and to regional and global interests as well.

Deputy Prime Minister, welcome.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER NAMHONG: First of all, I would like to particularly thank Madam Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for (inaudible). We (inaudible) our bilateral agenda now to enhancing particularly our bilateral agenda (inaudible) on regional issues. We will be happy to welcome (inaudible) for the ARF meeting (inaudible) and we really are happy to welcome President Obama to Cambodia in November for the East Asia Summit (inaudible) summit of leaders (inaudible) Cambodia. Thank you so much.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you very much, sir.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER NAMHONG: Thank you. Thank you.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you all.

Consulate Vows To Help Cambodians 'Unconditionally' [-How to spin the truth a-la-CPP?]

Sok Savoeun, the newly appointed consular. (Photo: By Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer)

Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer
Philadelphia Monday, 27 September 2010

“Today I want to make clear to all of you that the main mission of either the embassy or the consulates is to serve all people regardless of their political tendencies and beliefs. We will serve you unconditionally (sic!).”

Cambodia opened a consulate office in Philadelphia, Penn., on Saturday, the third of its kind, aimed at serving Cambodian nationals and attracting tourism and investment.

Located on the ground floor of a building in the north of the city, the five-by-fifteen-meter office will certify documents and work with Cambodians facing issues like deportation, officials said.

“The opening of the general consulate is to help functions for our people who live in the US, to use it as a bridge for people in Philadelphia to our motherland,” Ouch Borith, secretary of state for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told a crowd of about 100 Saturday.

Cambodia already has consulates in Seattle, Wash., and Lowell, Mass., in addition to its embassy in Washington.

Officials also moved to put aside concerns that these offices were extensions of the ruling Cambodian People's Party.

“Today I want to make clear to all of you that the main mission of either the embassy or the consulates is to serve all people regardless of their political tendencies and beliefs,” he said. “We will serve you unconditionally.”

“I am committed to serve the interests of the Cambodian people,” said Sok Savoeun, the newly appointed consular. “I will try my best to help as much as I can, regardless of your political parties. So long as you are Cambodians, I will do my best to serve you.”

Local news blog a haven for dissent

A Cambodian woman visits ki-media.blogspot.com, the Web site of the Cambodian news blog KI-Media. The site posts news, opinion and political cartoons from local and international sources. (Photo by: Sovan Philong)

Thursday, 01 October 2009
James O'toole and Khouth Sophak Chakrya
The Phnom Penh Post

Dear KI-Media Readers,

Please rest assured that I am still a woman and I have no intention of becoming a man any time soon.

Yours truly,

Socheata

The anonymous authors of KI-Media are forging an independent place in the political sphere.

ON September 16, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs held a press conference in which it attempted to dispel a report that Sam Rainsy Party parliamentarian Mu Sochua had participated in an “official” meeting in Washington with United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

“The US ambassador met with me yesterday and said that what was published on KI-Media was not true,” a secretary of state for the ministry, Ouch Borith, said. “It is an exaggeration and a lie.”

The meeting between Clinton and Mu Sochua did in fact take place, but debate continues over whether it was strictly official or not. Whatever one makes of this controversy, however, Ouch Borith’s comments signal the rising stature of KI-Media, an English-language news aggregation blog founded several years ago by a group of like-minded Cambodians who met on a series of Internet discussion forums.

Their first post appeared on July 27, 2005, featuring a controversial video interview with Chhay Vee, a man who claimed involvement in the 1997 grenade attack in front of the old National Assembly building that killed 16 people.

“Looking back,” wrote Socheata, one of the administrators of the site, “posting that video essentially defined one of our goals that we have maintained since: disseminating information that is not easily available through the traditional media, or that has been suppressed/banned/censored by the Phnom Penh regime”.

Like the other contributors interviewed, Socheata insisted on confining correspondence to email and requested that he be identified only by his Internet handle, citing concerns about “safety and security”.

In the four years since the Chhay Vee video, the KI-Media team has stepped up its output, culling from local and international news outlets to produce a mix of news articles, political cartoons and editorials that numbers in the double digits on a daily basis. For the week of September 14, Socheata said, the site tallied 73,400 page views from almost 32,000 unique users.

KI-Media’s dozen or so regular contributors include four Cambodian residents, with others in Europe, Australia and North America. Though Socheata said the site is “not aligned with any political party”, another contributor, Khmerization, acknowledged that it “tends to be opposition-oriented”.

This assessment is borne out by the blog’s design. Passages of articles that include condemnations of the government are often enlarged and printed in red font, and contributors do not hesitate to editorialise. “15% garment sector decline, double digits drop in air arrivals, construction slowdown, but… all is fine in Hun Xen’s Cambodia!” read the site’s heading for a press release from the International Monetary Fund posted last week, the premier’s name spelled Vietnamese-style, with an “X”, in a jibe at his ties with the neighbouring country.

KI-Media’s site, ki-media.blogspot.com, has garnered attention across Cambodia’s political spectrum. Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith said he checks it several times a day, and that many other members of government are also regular readers.

Despite their frequent attacks on the government, Khieu Kanharith said that those who post on the site need not fear government prosecution.

“People have the right to comment about whatever they want without fear of defamation or disinformation lawsuits,” the information minister said.

“But if journalists take comments from the blog and publish them in newspapers or on radio and TV to incite violence or defame someone, they will face a complaint.”

Others do not see the distinction between traditional news outlets and Web sites like KI-Media in such a cut-and-dried manner.

Soy Sopheap, publisher of the Deum Ampil newspaper, said he was one of many local and international journalists who regularly check KI-Media. He expressed frustration at the blog’s aggregating style, however, saying its contributors are siphoning revenue from professional journalists.

“I pay US$1,000 per month to my staff to report the news, and they steal from us,” he said. “It’s not fair to my media company.”

Heng Soy, another KI-Media blogger, dismissed this allegation. Though the site does post and translate articles from other news outlets, he said, this is done only with proper attribution to the original source. As for theft of revenue, Heng Soy noted that he and other contributors refuse paid advertisements “to avoid criticisms that we are trying to make a profit from this blog”.

Pa Nguon Teang, director of the Cambodian Centre for Independent Media, agreed that KI-Media properly sources the news it takes from other outlets, and said that he supports online debate. He worried, however, about the anonymous Web site’s lack of accountability.

“If they want to continue with this kind of work, they should identify themselves,” he said. “They are a media outlet, and they need to show their professionalism.”

Though contributors exchange only limited personal information with one another, most, Socheata said, appear to be students. He and others noted several events on which KI-Media helped drive coverage by traditional outlets, including the 2005 arrest of Human Rights Party President Kem Sokha and the controversial “ilovethailand” Web site that drew the ire of the Cambodian government this July after claiming parts of Cambodia as lost Thai territory.

Rather than competing with the mainstream media, however, Socheata said the goal of KI-Media is simply to encourage dialogue on the part of its readers.

“What we would like to foster is a healthy political debate on all issues that affect Cambodians,” he said.

Someone is lying

Alternatives Watch – 20ix09
Op-Ed by Ung Bun Ang
Originally posted online

In the current episode of Cambodia politics, there are four potential liars: SRP parliamentarian Mu Sochua, Cambodian foreign affairs secretary of state Ouch Borith, US ambassador to Cambodia Carol Rodley, and US secretary of state Hillary Clinton. They all have reasons to lie.

Mu Sochua may lie as she could not afford to disappoint her supporters who have been hyped up by her rhetoric. Following her meeting with Clinton, Mu Sochua claims the US will, at the end of September, inform the Cambodian government that there will be conditions attached to US aid. Mu Sochua maintains that a high level US delegation led by Melanne Vereer – president Obama’s ambassador at-large for global women's issues – will visit Cambodia to assess human rights conditions. With such details, Mu Sochua is either telling the truth or a good liar.

But the claims prompt Cambodia’s Ouch Borith to brand Mu Sochua a liar. He asserts ambassador Rodley, whom he summoned to the ministry of foreign affairs to clarify what had transpired in the meeting between Hillary Clinton and Mu Sochua in Washington DC, has assured him the US secretary did not respond to any of Mu’s requests. Mu will thus be a liar if Ouch Borith accurately reports the outcome of his meeting with Rodley. He lies, however, if Rodley in fact confirms the parliamentarian’s claims.

There is a good reason for Ouch Borith to lie. Though the Cambodian government may not need the US aid, it could do with a public relations coup. A Mu Sochua run-away success will put a huge dent into the ego of prime minister Hun Sen, who has been mounting pressures on the parliamentarian to back down from their court tussle.

Or, ambassador Rodley could lie to Ouch Borith by not confirming the Mu Sochua claims. The US Administration has moved decisively in recent times to improve its relation with the Cambodia government with more aid and high level visits. US defence secretary and Cambodian defence minister are about to hold face-to-face meetings in Washington DC with undisclosed agenda. US energy giant Chevron has submitted an application to Cambodian authority for exploration rights in Cambodian maritime areas. Confirming Mu’s claims could jeopardise the efforts. Embassy spokesman John Johnson has declined to comment on the claims.

For the same reasons, secretary Clinton could just play lip service and lie to protect the US interest that must dwarf any personal regards she may have for Mu Sochua. She has not so far cared to clarify the matter, keeping all concerned up in the air.

It may be difficult to prove now who is lying as all have conformed to a requirement for a good lie: the meetings are one-to-one behind closed doors, and mum’s the word. But sooner or later, it will become clear who has lied. A major test comes if the US high level delegation actually visits Cambodia as claimed. Or, they may just send a lower level delegation, which is a compromise that makes everyone a liar.
-------
Quotable Quote:

“Nixon is a shifty-eyed goddam liar...He's one of the few in the history of this country to run for high office talking out of both sides of his mouth at the same time and lying out of both sides.” - Harry S. Truman (1884–1972), U.S. president. Referring to Richard Nixon.

A Lie or An Irony:

Duch, at the Khmer Rouge Tribunal hearing on 27 August 2009:

“… Another influence [on me] was from within the country. I used to have close and distant grandparents who were poor telling me, ‘you are a clever student, when you grow up you will definitely oppress me’. I was determined then that [I] would not let their foresight turn right.”

Duch did more than just oppressing them.

Liar caught red handed?

US official: Meeting between Mu Sochua and Hillary Clinton was an “official” one [-Look who’s lying Mr. Ouch Borith?]

18 September 2009
By Mao Sotheany
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy
Click here to read the article in Khmer

An official from the US Department of State confirmed to RFA that the meeting between SRP MP Mu Sochua and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was an “official meeting.”

Ouch Borith, secretary of state of the Cambodian ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MFAIC) declared that the meeting between Mrs. Mu Sochua and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was an unofficial meeting.

At a press conference held on 16 September 2009, Ouch Borith claimed that, according to what the US ambassador in Cambodia [Carol Rodley] told him: “The [US] ambassador clearly confirmed that it was true that Mrs. Hillary Clinton met with Mrs. Mu Sochua, however, this meeting is what can be termed a meeting that is not inside her office, it was a meeting along the corridor, in front of the office, outside of the office, it’s like shaking someone's hand without planning, and it was not a bilateral meeting either.”

Nevertheless, an official from the US Department of State confirmed to RFA yesterday that the meeting between SRP MP Mu Sochua and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington DC was an official meeting because Mrs. Mu Sochua’s name was registered in the official guest list of the US Department of State.

Ouch Borith: "Anyone who claims Cambodia is a country without laws must be blind"

Prime minister Hun Sen is half-blind. His left eye is fake.

Cambodian gov't dismisses comments of UN Human Rights Envoy

PHNOM PENH, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- The Cambodian government has blasted UN Rights Envoy Yash Ghai's recent criticism of the country's judicial system and land rights management, calling him tourist rather than envoy, local media said on Wednesday.

Yash Ghai on Monday attended the ceremony in Phnom Penh to mark the International Human Rights Day and released a statement claiming that Cambodian citizens live in fear of land grabbing, repression and a court system which offers scant hope of justice, with international donors seemingly turning a blind-eye.

However, at a specially convened government press conference on Tuesday, Ouch Borith, secretary of state for the Foreign Ministry, said that it was Ghai himself that was sightless, reported Cambodian-language newspaper the Moneaksekar Khmer.

"Anyone who claims Cambodia is a country without laws must be blind. This is not a dictatorship," said Borith at the press conference, adding that Ghai is simply a tourist.

Claiming that Ghai's comments were unacceptable, he said government leaders could not meet with Ghai during his ten-day visit as they were busy with working to develop the country, promote economic growth and eliminate poverty for the people.

Meanwhile, government spokesman Khieu Kanharith told reporters that Ghai's words were an incitement for the people to revolt, adding that Ghai isn't fit to be a UN envoy.

"Has he ever offered any ways to solve problems? And does he ever care to learn about the problems the government has solved?" hieu Kanharith said.

In addition, Ministry of the Interior spokesman Lieutenant General Khieu Sopheak described Ghai as a long-term tourist, who wants to make people oppose the government, reported English-Khmer language newspaper the Cambodia Daily.

CPP Gov't leaders too busy inventing excuses to have time to meet with UN Envoy Yash Ghai?

Cambodia slams UN criticism of courts

12/11/2007
Agence France-Presse

PHNOM PENH -- Cambodia lashed out at the UN's special envoy for human rights on Tuesday after he accused the government and courts of failing to provide justice and leaving the population in fear of authorities.

After a 10-visit to Cambodia, UN rights representative Yash Ghai said the courts had failed the nation's people, especially in cases of land grabbing, which left victims of evictions with little hope of ever finding justice.

During his visit, Ghai said not a single Cambodian official was willing to meet with him.

But the foreign ministry's secretary of state Ouch Borith said Ghai's remarks were "unacceptable" and "amusing."

He said government leaders were unable to meet with Ghai because they were "busy with working to develop the country and to promote economic growth to eliminate poverty for the people."

"What Ghai did does not suit his role as a diplomat and the UN secretary general's representative, as well as a so-called protector of human rights," Ouch Borith said, calling Ghai a "tourist."

He said Cambodia always worked to "cooperate with the UN in order to build democracy and human rights."

Ghai, a Kenyan lawyer who has clashed repeatedly with the government over his blunt appraisals of Cambodia's rights record, said earlier this year that impunity for human rights violations threatened the rule of law there.

He also wrote a report that accused the government of systematically abusing human rights to keep a grip on power.

Relations between the government and UN rights envoys have historically been poor, with Prime Minister Hun Sen calling Ghai "stupid". He has also described Ghai as "rude" and a "god without virtue".