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.

Congressmen fear for speakers’ fate

Left to right: Mu Sochua, Dr. Pung Chiv Kek, Moeun Tola (Photo: SRP North America)

Thursday, 17 September 2009
Meas Sokchea and James O’toole
The Phnom Penh Post

Advise US Embassy to offer ‘island of freedom’ to Lantos commission witnesses.
REPRESENTATIVES from the US Congress sent a letter to the US Embassy in Phnom Penh urging the protection of three Cambodians who testified in Washington, as the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs sought to downplay the significance of the US hearing.

Last Thursday, Sam Rainsy Party parliamentarian Mu Sochua testified with Licadho rights group president Kek Galabru and Community Legal Education Centre labour programme head Moeun Tola in front of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, a US congressional body that monitors human rights norms around the world. All three witnesses offered fierce criticisms of the government, with Mu Sochua testifying that Cambodian democracy is “experiencing an alarming free fall”.

On Tuesday, two members of the Tom Lantos commission sent a letter to US Ambassador Carol Rodley urging her to monitor the safety of the three witnesses when they return home to Cambodia.

“The US Embassy should represent an island of freedom in a country such as Cambodia, where dissidents and human rights defenders often face threats and discrimination by the government and government-controlled security forces,” US congressmen James Moran and Frank Wolf wrote.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs secretary of state Ouch Borith dismissed concern for the safety of Mu Sochua and the other witnesses on Wednesday as overblown, comparing them to other prominent figures associated with the opposition.

“Have we ever arrested [SRP head] Sam Rainsy?” Ouch Borith asked. “Sam Rainsy is a leading party representative, and he always wants to speak badly about Cambodia when he travels abroad.... As for [Mu Sochua’s] return to Cambodia, don’t worry about this.”

Ouch Borith went on to dispute Mu Sochua’s characterisation of a meeting she had with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last Friday. On Sunday, Mu Sochua told the Post that Clinton expressed interest in sending a US State Department delegation to Cambodia later this year, and “made it very clear that she does not wish to see further deterioration” in the Kingdom’s rights situation.

Ouch Borith said that during a recent meeting with Carol Rodley, the US ambassador clarified to him that the meeting between Clinton and Mu Sochua “was not official – it took place outside [Clinton’s] office”.

To the issue of the US delegation, Ouch Borith said Clinton “didn’t respond at all”.

US Embassy spokesman John Johnson confirmed in an email on Wednesday that Clinton “did meet briefly with Mu Sochua to discuss the current situation in Cambodia” but did not offer further details regarding the meeting.

Sacrava's Political Cartoon: Who's the Exaggerator and Liar?

Click on the cartoon to zoom in

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

Official Denies Statements at US Rights Hearing

Ouch Borith: A master of "truth spinning"?

By Chun Sakada and Men Kimseng
Original reports from Phnom Penh and Washington
16 September 2009

A Foreign Affairs official dismissed as false statements made to US Congress by Sam Rainsy Party lawmaker Mu Sochua, in a human rights hearing last week.

Mu Sochua’s description of a country where democracy was a “façade” was meant “only for cheating the Cambodian people,” said Uch Borith, a secretary of state for the ministry, told reporters at a press conference after meeting with US Ambassador Carol Rodley.

He also denied reports on a Web site called Khmer Intelligence KI-Media that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would send a delegation to investigate rights issues.

The Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission invited three prominent Cambodians to testify on Thursday, after noting a worrying trend in the erosion of rights and freedoms in the media.

Mu Sochua and another opposition lawmaker had their parliamentary immunity revoked earlier this, as the courts pursued lawsuits against them by senior officials; and at least one opposition journalist is in jail after accusing senior officials of corruption.

Meanwhile, a US congressman said Cambodian government representatives should have been invited to the hearing last week should the US wish to see changes in Cambodia’s human rights record.

“I do not believe that holding a hearing that gives voice to the opposition party and excludes the ruling party is the way for us to proceed in affecting change in Cambodia,” Eni Faleomavaega, a Democrat from Samoa, said in a statement issued on the day of a hearing conducted by Tom Lantos Human Rights commission. “I also do not believe that any Commission should usurp the role of the US Department of State or the diplomatic relations we have established between our two countries.”

KI-Media’s Open Letter to Mrs. Carol Rodley, US Ambassador to Cambodia

The public needs to know the truth!

16 September 2009

Mrs. Carol A. Rodley
US Ambassador to the Kingdom of Cambodia

Dear Mrs. Rodley,

On 16 September 2009, several Cambodian news media, including the US-funded Radio Free Asia, quoted Mr. Ouch Borith, the Cambodian secretary of state of the ministry of Foreign Affairs as saying: “…Therefore, what the [US] ambassador told me yesterday when I met her, it was a clear confirmation that the internet publication by KI[-Media] does not reflect the truth, it is an exaggeration and a lie.” (Click here to read the RFA article in Khmer).

What we would like to confirm with you is whether you indicated to Mr. Ouch Borith that the article in which KI-Media translated in English from an original article posted by Radio Free Asia, a station funded by the US, was “an exaggeration and a lie” – as Mr. Ouch Borith seems to attribute this claim to you – or that it was merely Mr. Ouch Borith’s personal malicious interpretation.

Your reply is of utmost importance for the parties involved, including the following:

1. For Mrs. Mu Sochua, whom according to Mr. Ouch Borith, the Phnom Penh regime representative, would be the source of this “exaggeration and lie”.
2. For Radio Free Asia, an institution funded with US taxpayer dollars to “provide accurate and timely news and information to Asian countries whose governments prohibit access to a free press,” who would be the source for spreading this “exaggeration and lie”.
3. For KI-Media, which translated the RFA report from Khmer to English in order to provide information to the general public on the actual situation in Cambodia that would otherwise be censored by the Phnom Penh regime, who would also be a secondary source for spreading this “exaggeration and lie”.

As a representative of a country that champions freedom of expression in the world, we urge you to clarify this issue and confirm or deny the claims attributed to you by the Phnom Penh regime representative. If Mrs. Mu Sochua did not tell the truth about her meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, you, as the representative of the US government, or Mrs. Clinton should demand an apology from Mrs. Mu Sochua.

If RFA’s report was indeed an “exaggeration and a lie”, you, as the representative of the US government, should petition the US Congress to stop funding this institution which seems not to “provide accurate and timely news and information to Asian countries whose governments prohibit access to a free press”.

If KI-Media indeed helped spread “exaggeration and lie” as Mr. Ouch Borith claimed, please do let us know so that we may bring a correction or an apology, or even retract our publication, if necessary.

On the other hand, if what Mr. Ouch Borith attributed to you was merely a spinning of the truth by the Phnom Penh regime, we would also like to obtain your clarification in this matter, in order to show to the world, and more specifically the Cambodian public, how low this regime has to stoop to protect its authoritarian image.

We would greatly appreciate the honor of your reply. Please email it to us at kiletters@gmail.com

Sincerely,

KI-Media team

KI-Media is the target of CPP Ouch Borith’s wrath for reporting an article from Radio Free Asia on Mu Sochua-Clinton meeting

Ouch Borith's press conference ... to spin the truth or to control the damages? (Photo: Khmer Sthabna)

Ouch Borith: Mrs. Hillary Clinton did not reply to the request made by Mrs. Mu Sochua

16 Sept 2009
By Sopheap
Khmer Sthabna
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy

"Ouch Borith claimed that, according to Carol Rodley, she clearly indicated KI-Media’s publication does not reflect the truth, it was an exaggeration and a lie."

Click here to read the RFA report about the meeting between Mu Sochua and Hillary Clinton

The Cambodian ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFAIC) held a press conference in the afternoon of 16 September to discuss about the meeting between Ouch Borith, the CPP secretary of state of the MFAIC, and US Ambassador Carol Rodley on 15 September 2009.

Ouch Borith declared that he usually meets with the US ambassador in Cambodia for exchange of opinions in the development of the bilateral cooperation between Cambodia and the US. In his most recent meeting, Ouch Borith told Carol rodley about an article published by KI-Media regarding what Mrs. Mu Sochua spoke in Washington DC. In its publication, KI-Media indicated that Mrs. Mu Sochua met with Mrs. Hillary Clinton, and according to Mrs. Mu Sochua also, she said that: “I asked Mrs. Hillary Clinton to send a delegation led by the US ambassador at large [Melane Verveer], and in response [to this request], Mrs. Clinton gave a positive answer to the request.”

Ouch Borith indicated that, regarding this issue, Carol Rodley clearly indicated that indeed Mrs. Clinton met with Mrs. Mu Sochua, but that meeting was done outside of the office [unofficial?]. The pair shook hands without planning in advance [by chance?], it was not a bilateral [meeting] or anything else. Regarding the request made by Mrs. Mu Sochua to Mrs. Clinton to send a high level delegation of check the human rights violations in Cambodia, Carol Rodley said that it was true that Mrs. Mu Sochua raised this issue. However, Mrs. Clicnton did not provide any answer to any request, there was none.

Ouch Borith claimed that, according to Carol Rodley, she clearly indicated KI-Media’s publication does not reflect the truth, it was an exaggeration and a lie.

Cambodia committed to democracy, human rights ... and spinning the truth?

Ouch Borith (center): The CPP's master of spin? (Photo: CPP)

Cambodia committed to democracy, human rights with rule of law: official

PHNOM PENH, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia is more than ever committed to human rights promotion and protection approach with its organic laws, said a government statement released on Tuesday by the Foreign Ministry's spokesman.

The statement was made after Ouch Borith, secretary of state for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, on Friday exchanged views on the issues of human rights with European Union's delegation led by the British Ambassador Andrew Mace, who is representing Sweden in their presidency of the EU.

During the meeting, Ouch Borith underlined that "Cambodia is more than ever committed to human rights promotion and protection approach with its organic laws."

At the same time, Ouch Borith stressed that Cambodia's democracy is based on the fundamental rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

"While individual rights, freedom of expression and a culture of debates are taking deeper roots in Cambodia, we must recognize that the exercise of these rights and freedoms in any democratic society must be within the rule of law," he said

EU's meeting with the government follows a Phnom Penh Municipal Court ruling on Aug. 4 that found opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) lawmaker Mu Sochua guilty of defaming Prime Minister Hun Sen and ordered her to pay about 4,100 U.S. dollars in fines and compensation.

The EU expressed "concern over a number of instances in which criminal charges of defamation and disinformation have been used against representatives of civil society, the media and the political opposition," according to the report of the Cambodia Daily.

"Laws and regulations concerning defamation and disinformation exist worldwide, particularly in developed countries, to protect and guarantee the right to dignity of everyone," Ouch Borith said.

"The verdicts by the Cambodian Court on the recent defamation and disinformation cases are in compliance with the existing laws in relation to these offences," he added.

Admitting "the country still faces many challenges," Ouch Borith reassured the delegation of the EU that "Cambodia is firmly committed to ensuring that the country embraces the principles of democracy and human rights with the rule of law."