Protest blocked by security guards

Tuesday, 18 October 2011
May Titthara
The Phnom Penh Post

About 250 villagers who turned out in Preah Vihear province’s Srayong commune to protest against alleged land-grabbing by rubber firm Siladamich Company yesterday found themselves blocked by company security guards and police, though arrests threatened a day earlier failed to materialise, villagers said.

Villager representative Meas Ren, 50, said their path had been blocked by three company security guards, four police officers, two military police and Srayong commune chief Sat Ty, who told villagers they had no right to protest because the 454-hectare plot in question is part of a 9,000-hectare land concession granted to Siladamich.

Meas Ren added that she believed police had hoped to arrest a village representative but had not due to the disparity in numbers.

Lakeside families face summonses

Boeung Kak lake residents protest yesterday at a site where homes were destroyed last month in Village 22, Daun Penh district. Photo by: Mai Vireak

Tuesday, 18 October 2011
May Titthara
The Phnom Penh Post

Eight families whose homes were demolished at Boeung Kak lake last month appealed to Prime Minister Hun Sen to intervene in their case yesterday amid the rubble of their former homes and a flurry of summonses they say are intended to silence their dissent.

The families, who on October 4 filed a complaint against real estate developer Shukaku Inc, owned by Cambodian People’s Party Senator Lao Meng Khin, said they have received separate summonses to appear for questioning today and Wednesday in the Shukaku case, while the company has not been asked to appear.

Additionally, two of the families have received summonses to answer to defamation charges filed by lawyer Suong Sophal – a man they say they have never heard of.

Thai Soldiers Rush to Reinforce Bangkok Flood Walls

A soldier offers to take care of an evacuee's dog during an evacuation at Nawa Nakhon industrial estate on the outskirts of Bangkok, Thailand, October 18, 2011. (Photo: AP)

October 18, 2011
Ron Corben, VOA News

Thai soldiers and government workers in Bangkok are racing to reinforce the capital's northern flood defenses with 1 million more sandbags.

Officials said early Monday that the flood threat to the city had passed. But authorities have discovered new weaknesses in barriers erected north of the city, where an industrial estate was inundated Monday. They say they have until Wednesday evening to shore up the flood walls.

The flooding has also affected millions of people in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. More than 300 people have died in Thailand, where the flooding is described as the worst in 50 years. Vietnam on Tuesday said the death toll there has reached 55.

Trial of Khmer Rouge leaders to start in November, court says

Oct 18, 2011
DPA

Phnom Penh - The long-awaited opening arguments in the trial of the surviving Khmer Rouge leaders are to start November 21, the UN-backed court said Tuesday.

The presentation of evidence would follow from November 28, the trial chamber said.

'This is the case that a lot of Cambodians have been waiting for,' tribunal spokesman Lars Olsen said. 'It is the case of those who are accused of being the leaders and of implementing the policies that allegedly led to the crimes for which they are being tried.'

The four elderly defendants denied charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes for their alleged roles in the deaths of up to 2.2 million people under the 1975-79 Khmer Rouge regime.

Cambodia jails Frenchman for 7 years for child sex

18/10/2011
AFP

A Cambodian court on Tuesday sentenced a middle-aged Frenchman to seven years in prison for having sex with a 13-year-old girl, her lawyer said.

Juan Ordonez Camacho, 50, was arrested in the southern seaside town of Sihanoukville in January and accused of sexually abusing the teenager on numerous occasions in 2010, the victim's lawyer Nuon Phanit told AFP.

Preah Sihanouk provincial court ordered Camacho to be deported after serving his jail term, he added.

Khmer Rouge – November trial date

18 October 2011
By International Justice Tribune
By Robert Carmichael in Phnom Penh

The trial proper of the surviving Khmer Rouge leaders would start on November 21, with evidence presented from November 28, the United Nations-backed war crimes tribunal said Tuesday. The case against the four has been described as the most complex since the Nazi trials at Nuremberg after World War II.

The elderly defendants deny charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. They stand accused of responsibility in the deaths of up to 2.2 million people during the Khmer Rouge’s 1975-79 rule.

Tribunal spokesman Lars Olsen explained the significance of Case 002, as it is known in court parlance.

“This is the case of those who are accused of being the leaders and of implementing the policies that allegedly led to the crimes for which they are being tried,” he said.

Cambodian's Khmer Rouge trial to start next month

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia's genocide tribunal will begin its long-awaited full-scale trial of former Khmer Rouge leaders late next month.

The U.N.-backed tribunal announced Tuesday that substantive proceedings will begin Nov. 21 in the trial of Khieu Samphan, the group's head of state; Nuon Chea, who was leader Pol Pot's No. 2 and the group's chief ideologist; Ieng Sary, the former foreign minister; and his wife, Ieng Thirith, who was minister for social affairs.

The tribunal is seeking justice for an estimated 1.7 million people who died of starvation, exhaustion, lack of medical care or torture during the communist Khmer Rouge's 1970s rule.

The defendants have been indicted for crimes against humanity, war crimes, genocide, religious persecution, homicide and torture.

The U.N. and the Khmer Rouge Trials

October 18, 2011
Letters to the International Herald Tribune

The op-ed “Justice delayed and denied” (Views, Oct. 14) by James A. Goldston mischaracterizes the position of the United Nations in relation to the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia.

Mr. Goldston states that in response to a judge’s resignation from the E.C.C.C. on grounds of perceived political interference, the secretary general “... simply thanked the judge for his service, announced that he was working to secure a replacement, and restated his strong support for the work of the E.C.C.C. In other words, business as usual.” This is not correct. In a statement made on Oct. 10, the United Nations noted the reasons given by the judge for his resignation, reiterated that the E.C.C.C. must be permitted to proceed with its work without interference from any entity, including the royal government of Cambodia, and indicated that the United Nations would continue to monitor the situation at the E.C.C.C. closely.

In line with that statement, I will travel to Phnom Penh next week to discuss the issue of political interference as a matter of urgency and to gain the best possible understanding of the facts regarding concerns about other aspects of the work of the E.C.C.C. The United Nations is naturally concerned by these matters and will strive to ensure that any action it may take would not undermine its longstanding support for the independence of the judiciary in Cambodia and elsewhere.

Patricia O’Brien, New York

Under secretary general for legal affairs, United Nations

Opposition Leader Sam Rainsy's press conference on 17 Oct 2011

Click the control below to listen to the press conference:

Click here to listen or download the audio program in MP3

PRESS RELEASE: Trial Chamber Announces Date for Opening of the Substantiv​e Hearing in Case 002

One worker at the Generation factory beaten up

ពត៌មាន

ប្រធាន សហជីព សេរី កម្មករ ប្រចាំ រោងចក្រ ជេនណឺរេសិន ម្នាក់ ត្រូវបាន អ្នក បកប្រែ ចិន របស់ ថៅកែ វាយ យ៉ាងធ្ងន់ធ្ងរ

 Please contact with Mr. Chea Mony

អរគុណ
--
Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia (FTUWKC)
Social Justice is the Foundation of Peace


Address: House No.16A, Street 360, Sangkat Boeung Keng Kang 3,
Khan Chamkar Mon, Phnom Penh


Tel/Fax: +855 0 23 216 870
Mobile: +855 0 12 941 308
http://www.ftuw.org/ http://ftuwkc.webs.com/
------
Unofficial translation from Khmer

A leader of the FTUWKC at the Generation factory was severely beaten up by the Chinese translator of the factory owner.

Bangkok Leader Calls for Sandbags as Floods Besiege Capital

By Daniel Ten Kate and Suttinee Yuvejwattana

Oct. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra appealed for more than a million sandbags to prevent flooding in the Thai capital as a “huge amount” of water from northern dams threatens to deluge inner parts of the city.

“Every minute is critical from now on,” he told a televised press briefing late yesterday in which he asked for 1.2 million sandbags. “We urge the government to give those bags now. Otherwise, it will be too late.”

Sandbag shortages are widespread, with the price jumping 15-fold to 75 baht ($2.44) each, Sean Boonpracong, a spokesman for the government’s Flood Relief Operation Command, said by phone today. A “lack of accurate information from the field” makes the situation unclear, he said, adding that inner Bangkok doesn’t face an immediate threat.

Tibetan nun 'dies in fire protest' near China monastery

The Kirti monastery has been the scene of repeated protests in recent months

Vietnamese monk self-immolation in the 60s

18 October 2011
BBC News

A Tibetan nun has set herself on fire near a restive monastery in western China, in the ninth such incident in recent months, reports say.

The Free Tibet group said the 20-year-old nun, Tenzin Wangmo, died on Monday in Sichuan province's Aba county.

A witness told Radio Free Asia (FRA) that she called for freedom for Tibet before she set herself on fire.

Aba county is home to the Kirti monastery, the scene of repeated protests against Beijing's rule.

US, China Donate Flood Aid to Cambodia

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZPyD5O6B0o

Boeung Kak Lake residents' press conference

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SR8FJhJBAno

Comfrel Press Release on the result of Voter Voice Workshop in O Saray,Tram Kark,Takeo

Dear All,

COMFREL is please to release its press release on the political agenda set by communities at the remote commune Osaray, Tramk Kark District, Takeo Province.

Please see the attached file for the release in Khmer.

Thank you for your cooperation and attention.

COMFREL


http://www.box.net/shared/rbl43cdixqnj958aj7dz

Safeguarding Judicial Independence in Mixed Tribunals by Mark Ellis

"I was an early supporter of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC). Consistent with my belief that we must fight impunity through accountability, I believed in the ECCC’s overall mission, including its ability to help bring justice to victims, and accuracy to the historical record. However, as the ECCC’s activities increased, my confidence in its judicial process started to decrease. I observed a growing number of problems that made me question the very legitimacy of the Court." - Mark Ellis

http://www.box.net/shared/s7a55p8eh5m7vl1m06o5

KRT’s ‘deficiencies’ decried

Tuesday, 18 October 2011Vong Sokheng and Bridget Di Certo
The Phnom Penh Post

Khmer Rouge tribunal judges are accused of taking bribes, lacking appropriate legal education and playing to political power in a damning report released yesterday.

“The early concerns about the deficiencies within the Cambodian domestic judicial system permeating the ECCC proceedings have come to fruition,” international law expert Mark Ellis said in his nearly 50-page report.

“The allegations relate primarily to lack of training and professional expertise on the part of the judges, executive interference in judicial selection and proceedings, and corruption among court officials and government employees,” Ellis wrote.

The national component of the tribunal has been a point of tension between the Cambodian government and the United Nations since talks to set up the tribunal began in 1997.

Maid ban ‘cosmetic’

Young domestic migrant workers bound for Malaysia yesterday watch as an employee of Top Manpower Co shouts at journalists at Phnom Penh International Airport. (Photo by: Will Baxter)

Migrant workers from the International Investment Service recruitment firm depart for Malaysia yesterday at Phnom Penh airport. (Photo by: Will Baxter)

Tuesday, 18 October 2011
David Boyle and Sen David
The Phnom Penh Post

More than 30 domestic workers arrived at Phnom Penh International Airport yesterday morning to fly to Malaysia, despite a decision by the prime minister to ban recruitment firms from sending workers to the country following abuse scandals.

Crying as they bid farewell to their families, the young women form part of an estimated 3,000 workers who are expected to slip through a loophole in the recruitment freeze – which government officials say will not apply to workers who already have contracts and travel documents.

An estimated 28 recruits from Top Manpower and International Investment Service boarded the 8:20am AirAsia flight to Kuala Lumpur yesterday, while four recruits from Century Manpower – which was raided by the government earlier this month – flew on a later flight after being accosted by reporters.

One recruit from the firm told a Post reporter she was only 19 years old, but prevented the journalist from seeing her passport.

The legal working age for domestic workers in Malaysia is 21 and five underage recruits were rescued during raids on Century Manpower earlier this month.

Obama set for first visit, official says

Tuesday, 18 October 2011
Mom Kunthear and Kristin Lynch
The Phnom Penh Post

United States President Barack Obama plans to visit Cambodia late next year for a regional summit, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Koy Kuong said yesterday.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting between Foreign Minister Hor Namhong and David Carden, the US Ambassador to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Koy Kuong said that Cambodia expects to welcome Obama at the ASEAN-US summit next November in Phnom Penh.

“The President of the United States, Barack Obama, will visit Cambodia for next year’s ASEAN-US summit,” he said. The US Embassy in Phnom Penh, however, said it had not been informed of the visit.