KPPM sues Hun Xen's government at the ICC

ចលនា​អំណាច​ពលរដ្ឋ​ខ្មែរ ប្ដឹង​រដ្ឋាភិបាល​កម្ពុជា​ទៅ​តុលាការ​ព្រហ្មទណ្ឌ​អន្តរជាតិ


2012-08-22
ដោយ ជី វិតា
Radio Free Asia

និទ្ទណ្ឌភាព និង​ប្រព័ន្ធ​យុត្តិធម៌​ទន់​ខ្សោយ​នៅ​កម្ពុជា គឺ​ជា​ចំណុច​ខ្លាំង​នៃ​ពាក្យ​បណ្ដឹង​របស់​អង្គការ​ចលនា​អំណាច​ពលរដ្ឋ​ខ្មែរ ដែល​បាន​ដាក់​ទៅ​តុលាការ​ព្រហ្មទណ្ឌ​អន្តរជាតិ (International Criminal Court = ICC) ប្ដឹង​ចោទ​រដ្ឋាភិបាល​កម្ពុជា ក្រោម​ការ​ដឹកនាំ​របស់​លោក​នាយក​រដ្ឋមន្ត្រី ហ៊ុន សែន ថា បាន​ប្រព្រឹត្តិ​បទ​ឧក្រិដ្ឋកម្ម​ប្រឆាំង​មនុស្ស​ជាតិ។

មន្ត្រី​ឃ្លាំ​មើល​តុលាការ​អន្តរជាតិ អ្នកស្រី ឃ្លែរ៍ ដឹហ្វហ៊្វី (Clair Duffy) នៃ​អង្គការ OSJI (Open Society Justice Initiative) មាន​ប្រសាសន៍​ថា តាម​គោលការណ៍​ដើម្បី​អោយ​តុលាការ​ព្រហ្មទណ្ឌ​អន្តរជាតិ​នេះ​មាន​សមត្ថកិច្ច​ចាត់​ការ​រឿង​ក្តី​ព្រហ្មទណ្ឌ​ណា​មួយ​បាន​នោះ លុះត្រា​តែ​ម្ចាស់​បណ្ដឹង ឬ​ដើម​ចោទ អាច​បង្ហាញ និង​បញ្ជាក់​អោយ​រដ្ឋអាជ្ញា នៃ​តុលាការ​នេះ​ជឿ​ជាក់​ថា ទី១ បទ​ល្មើស​ដែល​ប្ដឹង​ទៅ​នោះ មាន​សភាព​ធ្ងន់ធ្ងរ ដែល​អាច​បង្ក​ក្តី​បារម្ភ​ដល់​សហគមន៍​អន្តរជាតិ។ ទី២ មាន​ភស្តុតាង​បញ្ជាក់​ថា បទ​ល្មើស​នោះ​កើត​ឡើង​យ៉ាង​ទូលំ​ទូលាយ ជា​លក្ខណៈ​ប្រព័ន្ធ។ ហើយ​ទី៣ តុលាការ​នៅ​ក្នុង​ប្រទេស​នោះ មិន​មាន​ឆន្ទៈ ឬ​មិន​អាច​រក​យុត្តិធម៌​ជូន​ជន​រងគ្រោះ។

Two Rubber Plantation Guards Arrested After Hun Sen Order

Monday, 06 February 2012
Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer | Phnom Penh

Authorities in Kratie province have detained two rubber plantation security guards charged with firing into a crowd of demonstrating villagers last month.

The two men, from the TTY Company, are charged with the illegal use of weapons, after they shot into a crowd of villagers, injuring four, on Jan. 18.

Ke Sovanna, 40, and Pin Kimleng, 26, are being held at the provincial jail awaiting a hearing after their arrest on Saturday, court officials said.

Prime Minister Hun Sen said last week he wanted the men arrested.

CCHR offers condolence​s to the family of acid attack victim In Soklyda and calls for a holistic approach to acid violence

CCHR Media Comment, Phnom Penh, 23 June 2011

Media Comment: CCHR offers condolences to the family of acid attack victim In Soklda and calls for a holistic approach to acid violence

Acid attack victim Ya Sokhnim, the aunt of a prominent beauty queen In Soklyda, died in Phnom Penh yesterday (22 June 2011) of injuries resulting from a 2008 crime masterminded by her niece’s former lover Chea Ratha. On 8 May 2008, two men on a motorcycle accosted Ya Sokhnim in the capital and poured acid over her face and upper body. She suffered severe burns as a result, losing her right eye and her breast. In 2009 the Appeal Court found that Chea Ratha, a former deputy chief of staff of the military police and In Soklyda’s lover, had ordered the attack after In Soklyda fled a forced relationship. Four of the suspects including Chea Ratha remain at large and are thought to have fled Cambodia.

Commenting on the Ya Sokhnim case John Coughlan, Senior Legal Consultant at the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, a non-aligned, independent, non-governmental organization that works to promote and protect democracy and respect for human rights throughout Cambodia, said:

“I am both shocked and saddened to hear that Ya Sokhnim has succumbed to her injuries as a result of this horrific attack. My thoughts and condolences are with her family during this extremely difficult time. This wretched case reminds us of the need for a holistic approach to acid violence which goes beyond having a robust acid law, which hopefully the forthcoming law will be. The Royal Government of Cambodia needs to ensure that enforcement is effective which includes the putting in place of bilateral extradition arrangements that hold perpetrators to account for their crimes, irrespective of whether they have absconded or not. The likes of Chea Ratha should not be able to evade the justice that the victims deserve and that sadly Ya Sokhnim has now been deprived.”

For more information please contact John Coughlan at +855 89 58 35 90 or 

johncoughlan@cchrcambodia.org

Please find this media comment attached in English. A Khmer version will follow shortly.

--

The Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) is a non-aligned, independent, non-governmental organization that works to promote and protect democracy and respect for human rights throughout Cambodia. For more information, please visit www.cchrcambodia.org.

Acid victim in notorious attack dies

Ya Soknim (R) with In Soklyda (L)

Thursday, 23 June 2011
Mom Kunthear
The Phnom Penh Post

Acid attack victim Ya Sokhnim, the aunt of prominent beauty queen In Soklyda, died in Phnom Penh yesterday morning of injuries stemming from a 2008 crime masterminded by her niece’s lesbian lover.

Ya Soknim’s husband Uong Vibol, 46, said yesterday his 39-year-old wife had passed away about 9am after being admitted to the Calmette Hospital a week ago.

“I really pity and mourn my wife. She died because she was injured very seriously by acid,” he said.

On May 8 , 2008, two men on a motorcycle accosted Ya Soknim in the capital and poured acid over her face and upper body. She suffered severe burns as a result, losing her right eye and breast.

Group to screen Chea Vichea film

A screenshot from the documentary Who Killed Chea Vichea? shows the union leader moments after he was shot dead on Street 51 and Sihanouk Boulevard. (Image courtesy of Bradley Cox)

Wednesday, 28 April 2010
Meas Sokchea
The Phnom Penh Post

Unionists propose screening the documentary near the site of the labour leader’s 2004 murder

UNIONISTS plan to mark the May 1 Labour Day holiday by screening a documentary that explores the infamous unsolved murder of leader Chea Vichea near the spot where he was gunned down, union officials said Tuesday.

Rong Chhun, president of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions (CCU), said he is planning to show the film, titled Who Killed Chea Vichea?, on Saturday in an attempt to pressure authorities, who critics say have dragged their heels in finding the perpetrators of the January 2004 slaying.

“We want this case to be investigated,” Rong Chhun said. The government “should not allow this case to go unresolved”.

Chea Vichea’s family believes the murder was political, and that he was targeted because he was a prominent union leader. Two men were arrested and convicted after his death, but
Chea Vichea’s family has insisted they are not guilty.

Screening the film could prove controversial. Organisers plan to show it next to the gates of Wat Lanka, near the street corner where Chea Vichea was shot.

Filmmaker Bradley Cox said that rather than focusing on who pulled the trigger, the documentary seeks to ask the question of who ordered the murder.

“Based on the evidence and reasonable deduction, I think the movie goes a long way in answering this,” he said last week via email.

Chea Mony, who succeeded his murdered brother as leader of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia, said organisers hope the film will shine a light on the government’s failure to solve the case.

“Many well-known persons were killed, but the killers have never been arrested,” said Chea Mony, who urged authorities to allow organisers to screen the film. “The government must not prohibit the showing of this film because people have suffered greatly from this murder.”

Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said authorities would not stop anyone from showing the film for political reasons.

However, he said organisers must obtain permission from Phnom Penh municipal officials first because the screening will be in public.

“For [the government], it is no problem, but normally if you are showing it in a public spot, you must ask permission from the authorities,” Khieu Kanharith said.

“If we cannot find [the killers], let them criticise us. It doesn’t matter.”

Union organisers said they have sent an official request to City Hall asking for permission to show the film.

Phnom Penh Governor Kep Chuktema could not be reached for comment.

13th anniversary of the grenade attack

(Photo: ALG, Cambodge Soir Hebdo)

30 March 2010
By I.N.
Cambodge Soir Hebdo
Translated from French Alain de Veng
Click here to read the article in French

Sam Rainsy called in over the phone to talk to his followers who were gathered in front of the old National Assembly building to commemorate the attack on the 30 March 1997 demonstration led by Sam Rainsy.

In front of hundreds of people, including monks, who came to commemorate the event in front of a stupa erected at the Wat Botum park, the exiled opposition leader demanded that justice be provided to the victims of the 1997 grenade attack.

In a 10-minute-long speech from France, Sam Rainsy indicated that, “even if the authority was not impartial,” he hoped that one day, “justice will be delivered” and that the “main characters at the origin of this attack [would] be sent to face justice.”

Rong Chhun, President of the Cambodia Independent Teachers’ Association (CITA) which is close to the opposition, said that the Cambodian police had the mean to arrest the culprits, but, that “in this affair, if did not want to.”

Ly Vanny, President of the family of the 1997 attack victims, said that she is “unsatisfied” to see that “13 years after the fact, no one has been brought to face justice.”

“We want justice, not revenge,” Ly Vanny assured. “We asked the government to find the killers and the FBI to continue its investigation.”

On 09 December of last year, the FBI, which was involved in the investigation due to the presence of a US citizen (Ron Abney) among the people injured, had declassified a portion of the file at the request of The Cambodia Daily.

The FBI accused the CPP forces through testimonials in which soldiers who were present during the demonstration were “dressed in combat uniform” on the morning of 30 march. Witnesses described that the behaviors of the cops and soldiers seem to indicate that they knew about the imminent attack.

Of the 2,300-page contained in the FBI report, only 257 were made available to the public. Furthermore, several names were also blacked out.

The attack aimed at a procession led by the Khmer Nation Party, the precursor to the SRP, killed at least 16 people and injured over 100 people.

On Attack Anniversary, a Repeated Plea

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
30 March 2010

Families of victims in a gruesome 1997 grenade attack renewed calls for the government and the FBI to reopen a stalled investigation Tuesday, as they marked the 13th anniversary of the assault.

Thirteen years ago Tuesday, assailants threw four grenades in the midst of a political rally for the opposition, killing 16 people and leaving 150 more wounded. Each year, the families make a new plea, but no suspects have ever been arrested in the case, which was investigated briefly by the FBI when a US citizen was injured.

Addressing supporters by loudspeaker and a phone link from France Tuesday, opposition leader Sam Rainsy, who led the 1997 rally, said the dead and wounded must not be forgotten.

“Cambodian leaders were involved in the grenade attack,” he said. “It was not so long ago. The killers and the man behind the killers will be punished or condemned for the killing. The criminals cannot escape justice.”

US Embassy spokesman John Johnson said in an e-mail the FBI investigation was deemed “inconclusive, and the US Prosecutor’s Office declined to pursue the case.”

Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak said Tuesday the case was not closed.

The attack occurred in front of the former National Assembly, near today’s Ministry of Justice, where a stupa honoring the dead now stands.

At the site Tuesday, more than 100 participants, including victims’ families, Sam Rainsy Party activists and lawmakers, attended a Buddhist ceremony for the dead.

“We call on the Cambodian government and the FBI to reinvestigate the criminal case, to find and arrest the killers and the man behind the killers, for justice,” Sam Vanny, a representative of the victims’ families, said during the ceremony.

“We have been waiting for justice for 13 years,” she said. “We have not taken vengeance, and we have no intention to take vengeance, but it is a duty of law, of democracy and of social justice. So the government should be responsible for bringing the killers to justice.”

Svay Sakhon, who lost his daughter, Chanty Pheakdey, in the attack, said he would continue to wait for the killers to be caught.

“I have waited for the government to help find the killer,” he said. “I’m sorry that I’m not able to speak out. But I still want the government to work hard for justice.”

Human Rights Watch called on the FBI to renew its own investigation of the attack.

“The United States claims that human rights and the rule of law are primary policy goals in Cambodia, yet it withdrew the FBI just when it was close to solving the case and has done nothing for over a decade to resolve it,” Brad Adams, the group’s Asia director, said in a statement. “This attack has cast a shadow over Cambodia that will only be lifted when the perpetrators are brought to justice.”

Cambodia: No Justice for Grenade Victims

Source: Human Rights Watch

US Should Revive Inquiry Into 1997 Attack and Reassess Aid to Units Linked to Abuse

Related Materials: Cambodia: 1997 Grenade Attack on Opposition Still Unpunished.

"The United States claims that human rights and the rule of law are primary policy goals in Cambodia, yet it withdrew the FBI just when it was close to solving the case and has done nothing for over a decade to resolve it. This attack has cast a shadow over Cambodia that will only be lifted when the perpetrators are brought to justice." - Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

(New York, March 29, 2010) - The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) should revive its investigation into the deadly 1997 grenade attack on an opposition party rally in Phnom Penh that left at least 16 dead and more than 150 wounded, Human Rights Watch said today.

The Cambodian government has failed to take any steps to investigate or hold perpetrators accountable, despite strong evidence of complicity by Prime Minister Hun Sen's bodyguard unit in the attack. The FBI undertook an investigation into the grenade attack because a US citizen, Ron Abney, was among those wounded.

"The United States claims that human rights and the rule of law are primary policy goals in Cambodia, yet it withdrew the FBI just when it was close to solving the case and has done nothing for over a decade to resolve it," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "This attack has cast a shadow over Cambodia that will only be lifted when the perpetrators are brought to justice."

In a well-planned attack on March 30, 1997, four grenades were thrown into a crowd of approximately 200 supporters of the opposition leader Sam Rainsy, who had gathered to protest judicial corruption. At least 16 protesters and bystanders were killed, including children, with limbs torn off of nearby street vendors.

Members of the personal bodyguard unit for Hun Sen, then the co-prime minister, were deployed in full riot gear at the rally. They opened their lines and allowed the grenade throwers to escape, then threatened to shoot people trying to pursue them.

Instead of investigating and prosecuting the perpetrators of the grisly attack, Hun Sen announced that the demonstration's organizers should be arrested. In 2009, Hun Sen gave high-level promotions to two military officials linked to the grenade attack, Hing Bunheang, deputy commander of Hun Sen's bodyguard unit at the time of the attack, and Huy Piseth, who ordered the deployment of the unit to the demonstration that day.

"The Cambodian government should be investigating those implicated in the attack, not promoting them," Adams said. "Since the UN peacekeeping mission arrived in 1992, well over 300 people have died in political attacks, yet not one government or military official has been held to account. Cambodia is the textbook case of impunity for human rights abusers."

Human Rights Watch said that US assistance to military units linked to the grenade attack and other serious abuses compounds Cambodia's deeply entrenched culture of impunity for human rights violators.

Since 2006, the United States has provided more than $4.5 million worth of military equipment and training to Cambodia. US aid includes counter-terrorism training to personnel from Hun Sen's bodyguard unit and Brigade 70, who have been moved to a special anti-terrorist unit that was created in January 2008. US training has also been provided to members of Airborne Brigade 911, which has been implicated in well-documented violations, including arbitrary detentions, killings and other attacks, torture, and summary executions.

"Rather than continuing the FBI probe into the killings, the US has channelled military aid to units linked to the attack and other recent serious abuses," said Adams. "The US is sending mixed signals about its commitment to the human rights of the Cambodian people."

Cambodian garment workers threaten week-long strike

Police officers watch over a march held to mark the anniversary of the death of Chea Vichea, former president of the Free Trade Union of the Workers of Cambodia, in Phnom Penh, yesterday. The union, Cambodia's largest, said yesterday it would launch a nationwide strike unless authorities arrest those responsible for shooting dead Vichea at a news stand in the capital in January 2004. Two men were convicted of the deaths and sentenced to 20-year prison terms, but many people believed they were framed and the Supreme Court has ordered a retrial.

PHNOM PENH, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Two of Cambodia's biggest workers' unions on Friday threatened to hold a nationwide garmet-industry strike to protest over low pay and the unsolved murder of the country's most respected union leader.

Two unions said thousands of garment factory workers would halt production for a week to press the government to arrest the killers of top unionist Chea Vichea, as hundreds marched in Phnom Penh to mark the sixth anniversary of his killing.

A workers' strike would represent a rare test for the government of long-serving Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has used a parliament dominated by his Cambodia People's Party (CPP) to push through tough laws to stifle dissent.

It comes at a tricky time for Cambodia as it tries to recover from a sharp economic decline that followed an unprecedented four-year boom before the global financial crisis took its toll.

Garment factories employ 330,000 workers in Cambodia and are vital to the impoverished country's nascent economy. Garments are Cambodia's third-biggest earner behind agriculture and tourism.

It exported $1.95 billion worth of garments in 2008 to its biggest market, the United States, up from $1.27 billion in 2004, according to the Commerce Ministry. Last year's figures are not yet available.

The workers are supporters of Chea Vichea, a vocal critic of Cambodia's business and political elite who was shot dead in January 2004. Two men were sentenced to 20 years in prison for his murder.

'GRAVE INJUSTICE'

The United Nations said their conviction was a "grave injustice" and rights groups said the pair were framed.

The Supreme Court in December 2008 ordered their release on bail pending a review of the case. There have since been no new arrests.

The two unions threatening action were the Free Trade Union (FTU), which represents 78,000 garment workers and the Cambodian Labour Federation (CLF) with 50,000 members from the same sector.

"We send this message to the government that it's time to find the killers, for the family, to make us calm," said Chea Mony, brother of Chea Vichea and president of the FTA.

CLF president Ath Thon said the outspoken Chea Vihea was a "hero" among garment workers because he fought for an increase in their minimum monthly wage from $30 to $45 during the 1990s.

He said workers were having difficulty making ends meet and they would also use the strike to demand a pay increase.

"Our workers don't have enough to spend, their health is getting weaker, they eat less, live in bad places and work hard," Ath Thon added. The unions did not say whether they would stage a protest alongside the strike. Cambodia's parliament approved a law in October banning demonstrations of more than 200 people and requiring five days notice for smaller protests.

That, and a tightening of defamation laws, sparked criticism from opposition lawmakers and rights groups, which said the government was trying to intimidate its critics and crack down on freedom of expression.

Cambodian national police spokesman Kirth Chantharith declined to comment on Chea Vichea's murder investigation but said there would be no attempt to block the strike as long as workers sought permission from the authorities.

"We have laws on demonstrations and police are ready to respect them," he said.

Cambodia labor union marks killing of leader

January 21, 2010

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia's largest labor union warned Friday that it would launch a nationwide strike unless authorities arrests those responsible for the slaying of their prominent leader six years ago.

Chea Vichea, 36, founder and president of Free Trade Union of Workers, was fatally shot in front of a newsstand in Phnom Penh on Jan. 22, 2004. He was known for his outspoken efforts to organize garment workers and improve working conditions in Cambodia.

Two men were convicted in the deaths and sentenced to 20-year prison terms, but many people believed they were framed for the crime and the country's Supreme Court has ordered a retrial.

Chea Mony, the slain leader's brother and current leader of the union, marked the sixth anniversary of the killing by leading a march of nearly 100 workers and a dozen opposition legislators to the spot where the shooting took place. The march was held under heavy security but was peaceful and no one was arrested.

"Today, I wish to send a message to the government that it is time to arrest the real murderers," Chea Mony said. "If the government continues to ignore our appeals, then we will hold a one-week, nationwide strike," he said, adding that the strike would come some time this year.

In December 2008, Cambodia's highest court provisionally released the two men convicted in the Chea Vichea slaying — Born Samnang, 24, and Sok Sam Oeun, 36 — and ordered further investigation in preparation for their retrial.

The court did not give a reason, but the decision came after widespread protests over the convictions.

Chea Vichea's memorial

A Cambodian boy looks at incense in front of a portrait of Chea Vichea, former president of the Free Trade Union of the Workers of Cambodia, in Phnom Penh January 22, 2010. A ceremony was held on Friday to mark the sixth death anniversary of Vichea, who was shot dead at a news stand in central Phnom Penh in January 2004. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Cambodians burns incense while praying in front of a portrait of Chea Vichea, former president of the Free Trade Union of the Workers of Cambodia, in Phnom Penh January 22, 2010. A ceremony was held on Friday to mark the sixth death anniversary of Vichea, who was shot dead at a news stand in central Phnom Penh in January 2004. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
People carry a portrait of Chea Vichea, former president of the Free Trade Union of the Workers of Cambodia, and flowers in Phnom Penh January 22, 2010. A ceremony was held on Friday to mark the sixth death anniversary of Vichea, who was shot dead at a news stand in central Phnom Penh in January 2004. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

Filmmaker Hopes to Bring Justice in Acid Attack

Tat Marina

By Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
30 October 2009

Skye Fitzgerald, whose recent documentary, “Finding Face,” chronicles the life of acid attack victim Tat Marina, hopes support built from the film will go toward punishing the perpetrators and finding justice for his subject.

“One of our strategies with releasing the film here in the United States is to garner more support,” Fitzgerald told VOA Khmer in Washington, where he is on a tour to promote the film.

He had come to the capital, he said, “to make sure that legislators, politicians, and folks from the human rights community have a chance to access the film, learn about Tat Marina’s story, and hopefully get more fully engaged with the issues the film raises.”

Tat Marina, a young karaoke singer who was severely disfigured and nearly killed when she was doused with acid at a market in Phnom Penh in 1999, is expected to speak at the film’s launch in Washington, as she did when it showed in Portland, Ore.

Fitzgerald has also begun sending DVDs by request to Cambodia and has encouraged the distribution of copies.

“It’s not been a project that we engaged with for financial gains necessarily,” he said, “but it is a project that we couldn’t say no to.

“It was one that we felt very powerfully about, because of the nature of the story, because we knew that Marina hadn’t had a chance before to seek out any justice for herself or the family,” he said. “And so we felt very dedicated to making sure we took our resources and used them to help her and the family to tell the story.”

The film has invoked anger and sympathy in its viewers so far, from Americans and Cambodians alike. (The wife of a senior official is suspected in the attack, but no arrests have ever been made.)

“Through what I’ve heard it is injustice for her, and I want to personally see her pictures, and want to know how good the story is,” Keo Ang, a market vendor in Svay Rieng province, told VOA Khmer by phone. “Therefore I want a DVD, to show it to my family and some people so that they are able to understand more about her life.”

Military Police Kills a Girl Then Is Released Illegally

10/27/2009
ShortNews.com

Cambodia - Theng Socheata, 17, was killed when her skull was broken and her brains spilled because a military police officer ran over her head in his Lexus SUV.

The unnamed officer driving the Lexus was sent to the police station for a short time and then let go when his unit called and asked that he be released. According to the law, in a case like this, the driver must be detained until the court hearing.

According to court official, this traffic accident has not yet been reported to the court. Last week a Military Police Officer was driving his Lexus and hit and killed a girl. He fled the scene of the crime but was apprehended.

Source: cambodiamirror.wordpress.com

Documentary details violence against women

Thursday, 15 October 2009
Written by Kelcie Moseley
The Argonaut (U. of Idaho newspaper)

Imagine yourself at 16 — barely settling into middle school or high school and oblivious to most of the world around you. Now imagine you were told you were being given a recording contract with a fairly well-known record label, and you’d be able to do what you always dreamed of doing: singing. Life is going well, and people begin to recognize you for your beauty and your voice. Then suddenly a man falls in love with you, but not just any man — a much older, powerful man, one who is important and noticeable throughout the country. And with that power, he coerces you into staying with him, though you do not love him. He threatens you if you say you want to leave and keeps a gun around to make sure you don’t try. So you stay.

But it’s not long before you find out he’s a married man. And one day, with no warning, his wife — whom you’ve never met — grabs you on the street by the hair, beats you and throws a liter of acid over your face and body.

The life you knew is instantly taken away, and the people who were responsible are never brought to justice.

This is the story of Tat Marina, a Cambodian woman who was allegedly attacked by Undersecretary of State Svay Sitha’s wife in 1999. Ten years and 25 surgeries later, Marina’s appearance is still a shadow of her former self. She was lucky enough to be granted juvenile amnesty in the U.S. after she was attacked, but every morning she literally draws most of her features onto her face in eyeliner, eyebrow pencil and lip liner.

Marina wears hoods to cover her face in public, and she lives in a constant state of fear for her family, who were still living in Cambodia at the time of the film, and were threatened many times by Sitha.

“Finding Face” does not play soft with its audience. Most of the film speaks for itself through Marina’s testimonial, in addition to her family’s, but the filmmakers also let the audience watch as Marina’s family sees her on film for the first time since she was attacked. Their reaction to her appearance — which they had assumed would be closer to her former self — is one of the most heartbreaking moments of the film.

Documentaries like this one are vitally important to see, even if it’s hard to watch. Not only does it illustrate the horror Marina and her family went through, but it also profiles several other women who were attacked with acid and were not as lucky as Marina.

Their appearances are much worse than hers, but their courage is astounding. One woman whose eyes are sealed shut and has burns across her face and down her neck said she actually feels more comfortable with herself than she did before she was attacked. She said she wants people to see what happened to her to raise awareness about the growing problem of acid attacks.

“Finding Face” brings this disturbing crime that is on the rise into harsh focus. They point out the highest rates of acid attacks are in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, the United Kingdom and the U.S. — proving this is not just a third-world country issue.

The film accomplishes everything it set out to do and more – getting people talking about an issue largely ignored before, telling a powerful story of injustice, human rights violations and gender-based violence.

“Finding Face” is a film the viewer will never forget.

Acid Attack Film Debuts in Portland

By Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
20 August 2009

VOA Khmer was not able to reach Khoun Sophal, the wife of Svay Sitha, to check on her involvement in the case. Sources say she is living a normal life with Svay Sitha, who has now been promoted to secretary of state.

“Finding Face,” which examines the life of Tat Marina, a karaoke star who was terribly disfigured and nearly killed in an acid attack, will show in Portland on Sunday.

Meanwhile, members of her family have gone into hiding under the protection of UNHCR, for fear of reprisals.

Tat Marina was the mistress of a powerful official, whose wife is suspected behind the attack. Acid attacks are a common phenomenon in post-war Cambodia.

The film is narrated by Tat Marina herself, making it sound as though she is telling her story to the audience, said the filmmaker, Sky Fitzgerald.

The film was produced by SpinFilm, and organizers hope Portland’s Whitsell Auditorium screening will see thousands of attendees, including US representatives. The screening will be followed by a question-answer session with Tat Marina.

“It is my belief that it is a fundamental human right, that one has a chance to speak their mind to tell their story and not be silenced by others because simply they are in a more powerful position in a particular country,” Fitzgerald said. “So I became very committed to ensure that [Marina’s] family had an outlet in a way that they hadn’t for a very long time.”

Tat Marina was doused with nitric acid in December 1999 while feeding porridge to her niece at a market in Phnom Penh. The film demonstrates that Tat Marina had a secret affair with Svay Sitha, who was then an undersecretary of state at the powerful Council of Ministers.

“When Marina was wounded, we were pressured and threatened not to file a complaint,” said the victim’s older sister, Tat Pov Rachana, speaking to VOA Khmer by phone while in hiding. “We’ve lived in pain for nine or 10 years now.”

Eight of Tat Marina’s family, including four children, fled Cambodia the day before the film was premiered, at a human rights film festival in Geneva in March.

“I also miss my country, but the suffering and injustice clouding over my family makes us unable to stand it any longer,” Tat Pov Rachana said, sobbing.

Meanwhile, police officials in the family’s neighborhood said they were surprised the family had fled.

“They left without informing us, and I don’t even know at which location they lived,” said Yin San, police inspector of January 7 district.

The family did not go to the police for protection as the film debuted.

“They came to Licadho and other organizations for their protection and safety,” Om Sam Ath, chief investigator for Licadho, told VOA Khmer Monday. “They said they cannot go on living in Cambodia, due to a film about their true life and Marina’s and fear of threats and repression.”

VOA Khmer was not able to reach Khoun Sophal, the wife of Svay Sitha, to check on her involvement in the case. Sources say she is living a normal life with Svay Sitha, who has now been promoted to secretary of state.

Reached by phone, Svay Sitha declined to comment, and an aid said he did not want to remember the incident.

Fitzgerald said he plans to have the documentary shown in many states and on television in the US. He hopes to screen it in Cambodia but is not sure if officials will allow it. The next step is to put the film on DVD format and distribute it in Cambodia.

Cambodia's New War

July 12,2009
By Katrin Redfern
News Blaze (USA)

"Cambodia is a democracy on paper but in reality a dictatorship. Our party activists are murdered because they fight for justice-life is still cheap in Cambodia."

A new American president, many Cambodians hope, might change all that. Sochua Mu, an opposition leader and founder of the women's movement in Cambodia, recently returned to the U.S., lobbying Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to take a firmer line on democracy and human rights in her long-suffering country. "I needed to see the people in the new administration to urge them to re-assess U.S. foreign policy," says Sochua in an interview with The Daily Beast. "Cambodia is a democracy on paper but in reality a dictatorship. Our party activists are murdered because they fight for justice-life is still cheap in Cambodia. Human trafficking, drug trafficking, land grabbing, and forced evictions are all carried out under the nose of the government."

Sochua Mu's story is uniquely Cambodian. Forced to flee for her life at 18 in the early 1970s as the Vietnam War spilled over the border, she left behind her parents, who vanished, as did one-quarter of the country's population during the Khmer Rouge's reign of terror. Sochua wound up in America, won a scholarship to the University of California at Berkeley, and worked as a counselor and translator for the Cambodian refugees who began to trickle over. She eventually became a U.S. citizen.

During the 1980s, she returned to Southeast Asia, organizing schooling for children and social services for women in the refugee camps set up by the U.N. on the border between Thailand and Cambodia. In 1989, she was finally allowed to re-enter her homeland, "a country in ruins." "I would take my young children on walks in streets where I learned to bike, where I wandered with my childhood friends, where I went to school, all the years of joy, of happiness, of deep feelings of comfort came back to me," she says. "I came back to help rebuild a nation. The war and genocide also changed my people. They have lost their sense of trust for each other; they have become hard inside and desperate for just daily survival."

Sochua started the first women's organization in Cambodia, Khemera, designed to help poor urban women earn a better living. She campaigned to include women's rights and concerns into the country's new constitution, drafted in 1993, and became involved in efforts to rescue girls caught in Cambodia's thriving sex trade. In 1998, Sochua ran for election and won a seat in parliament, taking over the women's affairs ministry, which had previously been run by men. In a country that considers women inferior, Sochua mobilized 25,000 female candidates to run for commune elections in 2002. It was a first for Cambodia, and 900 of them were elected.

She negotiated an agreement with Thailand that allowed Cambodian women trafficked as sex workers to return to their home country instead of being jailed. She pioneered the use of TV commercials to spread the word about trafficking to vulnerable populations. Her work in Cambodia also supports campaigns to end domestic violence and the spread of HIV/AIDS, as well as women's workplace conditions. In 2005, she was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for her work against sex trafficking of women.

Her position in high government put her in direct conflict with Cambodia's long-ruling prime minister; Hun Sen. Rather than participate in the corruption she saw around her, Sochua Mu renounced the leadership and joined the primary opposition party in parliament. Last week, Sochua announced that she is considering legal action against the prime minister for allegedly using derogatory and threatening language against her in a speech he made last month during a visit to her parliamentary district. The speech, widely reported on Cambodian TV and other media, warned villagers not to seek help from members of the opposition party, but to approach the ruling Cambodian People's Party, and allegedly referred to Sochua using a Khmer term cheung kland-a gangster or unruly person, which has an especially insulting connation for women.

Her most frequent public disagreement with Hun Sen surrounds what she sees as a failure to prevent people in her district from suffering loss of property and livelihoods at the hands of powerful investors, often with the backing of local authorities and the military. Most Cambodians still depend on small-scale agriculture, forest exploitation, and fishing for their livelihoods but, because of the country's turbulent recent history, land ownership is generally undocumented and often contested. As a result, it is easy for the powerful to acquire land to develop. More than 150,000 Cambodians, according to Sochua, were victims of forced evictions and land-grabbing in 2007 alone. Studies have estimated that such concessions cover as much as one-third of the entire area of Cambodia.

"It is now common practice for powerful corporations and government officials to utilize armed forces to push citizens off their rightfully and legally held land," says Sochua. "These evictions are often violent, with soldiers wielding guns, tear gas and Tasers and burning houses to the ground, while citizens are beaten, maimed and arrested."

Cambodia's economy relies on three principal sources of income: tourism, agriculture, and textiles. The United States is the largest overseas market for the latter. As former U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia Joseph Mussomeli put it, "Levi Strauss or the Gap could destroy this country on a whim."

George W. Bush's policy, as Sochua saw it, focused on military and security-centered aid. According to the U.S. Agency for International Development, the U.S. provided Cambodia $54 million last year and $700 million total since the agency opened an office in the country in 1992. Other international donors, meanwhile, have done little better in holding the Cambodian government accountable on human rights, preferring "closed-door diplomacy," as she calls it, to public criticism. "This practice has yielded next to no reforms," she says, "and donors continue to be satisfied with token actions taken by the government to give a façade to democracy and social justice."

Even that oversight is at risk. Chevron discovered oil offshore several years ago, and the Cambodian government says it hopes to begin pumping oil in 2011. The IMF estimated last year that the country could earn as much as $1.7 billion from oil within 10 years of the date that pumping begins-a big deal for this poor country, which relies on donors for half of its annual budget, but also more money that won't carry any accountability.

Some aid agencies have called for a moratorium on aid until basic governance and transparency frameworks are in place. Sochua says that won't happen until there's a new regime. "That can only happen when we have a real election that is free and fair," she says. "The West should insist on that, otherwise all the aid they have poured into Cambodia will not work".

Katrin Redfern is a writer and editor at The Indypendent in New York City.

Power abuse in Cambodia: Like prime minister, like general

Justice-à-la-Hun-Sen: The gun-toting bodyguard of the 2-star general is seen threatening the truck driver and demanding that the truck company pay for the damage to the general's Land Cruiser which rear-ended the truck.

General’s Land Cruiser read ended a truck and the general’s bodyguard pulled out his gun to threaten the other vehicle

Tuesday, April 28, 2009
DAP News

Phnom Penh – A traffic accident took place along National Road 1, near Preah Monivong bridge when a Land Cruiser SUV belonging to a 2-star general rear-ended a Hyundai truck [in fact it was a Daihatsu truck] belonging to the Vattanak Co. Following the incident, the general’s side pulled out a gun to threaten the truck and demanded it to pay for the damage [KI-Media analogy note: In the case between Mrs. Mu Sochua and Hun Sen, Hun Sen insulted her and now he is suing her as well]. The incident took place at about noon time on 27 April 2009.

Witnesses said that they saw the general’s green Land Cruiser SUV driving out a street near the Chhbar Ampov 1 theater and turning into National Road 1. Witnesses also said that the general’s was wearing a name tag saying: Sam Dy. The SUV was moving toward the Monivong bridge in the direction of Phnom Penh. At the location of the accident, there was a Hyundai truck traveling from Kien Svay to Phnom Penh also. Witnesses saw the SUV swerving and rear ended the Hyundai truck on the right hand side. The accident damaged the Land Cruiser turning light and it was also dented on the front.

Witnesses added that after the SUV hit the truck, the truck driver did not stop to look at the damage because he believed that the Land Cruiser was at fault and he did not sustain too much damage, therefore, he thought he was freed to continue on his trip and he moved along on the Monivong bridge. At that time, the general’s bodyguard who was riding a motorcycle behind the Land Cruiser followed the truck and the bodyguard pulled his handgun and pointed it at the truck driver along Preah Sisovath Boulevard. It was not until the truck reached the level of Street 466 that it stopped. Then, the general’s bodyguard pulled his gun and pointed at the truck driver, wildly threatening the truck driver (see photo above).

When he got off the truck, the truck driver said that he did not understand because the general’s car hit him, and then the general’s bodyguard used his gun to threaten him on top of that.

However, the general’s bodyguard said that the problem was not the accident, but the fact that the truck driver fled the scene made him very angry. At the end, the Vattanak Co. which owned the truck decided to pay the cost to fix the general’s SUV, because the company believes that it is merely a small fry and it cannot afford to get into a loggerhead with a powerful general.

For those who saw the accident, they said that it is unreasonable for the side of the 2-star general to threaten the Vattanak Co. and forcing it to pay the damage when in fact the general’s SUV was the one that rear-ended the truck. So this is the situation in Cambodia nowadays: the rightful person becomes the victim because he wants to live in safety in the future.

Justice Still Possible for 1997 Attack: Opposition

Sam Rainsy, president of Cambodia's opposition party, SRP.

By Poch Reasey, VOA Khmer
Washington
10 April 2009

The ongoing trial for jailed prison chief Duch has demonstrated that in Cambodia, though the wait may be long, the pursuit of justice is possible, opposition leader Sam Rainsy said Thursday.

The UN-backed tribunal trial of Tuol Sleng prison chief Duch, whose real name is Kaing Kek Iev, which began March 30, was part of a trend that started some 20 years earlier to punish those responsible for Khmer Rouge crimes, Sam Rainsy said, as a guest on “Hello VOA.”

Similarly, he said, the investigation into the perpetrators of a grenade attack on opposition supporters in March 1997 is still underway.

“When the Khmer Rouge tribunal is all over, I believe we will be able to bring those responsible for the grenade attack in 1997 to justice,” Sam Rainsy said.

At least 16 people were killed and more than 100 were injured, when unknown assailants threw grenades into a crowd amassed in front of the old National Assembly building on March 30, 1997.

No one has been arrested for the attack.

Sam Rainsy Party honors the victims of the 1997 grenade attack at the 12th Anniversary Commemoration

March 30, 2009: Sam Rainsy Party honors the victims of the 1997 grenade attack at the 12th Anniversary Commemoration.

SRP marks grenade killings

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy lights candles during a ceremony marking 12 years since the March 30, 1997, grenade attack. (Photo by: TRACEY SHELTON)

Tuesday, 31 March 2009
Written by Sebastian Strangio and Vong Sokheng
The Phnom Penh Post

HUNDREDS turned out for a commemoration Monday marking the 12th anniversary of the 1997 grenade attack that left at least 16 dead and more than 100 injured during a peaceful opposition rally in Phnom Penh.

During a two-hour ceremony held at the commemorative stupa marking the site of the attack near the former National Assembly, participants lit incense and laid wreaths next to photos of 13 of those killed, while lawmakers and victims' relatives issued calls for fresh investigations into the still-unsolved case.

SRP President Sam Rainsy, who was injured and whose bodyguard was killed during the 1997 rally, slammed the government for its inaction but expressed hopes that investigations conducted by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation would succeed where it had failed.

"The criminals must not be hidden by the powerful," he told the crowd. "I believe the Obama administration has clear principles of justice [and] we hope that the US can send the people behind the grenade attack to jail."

Ly Nary, who lost her journalist son Chet Doung Daravuth in the attacks, appealed to the government to continue its investigations and said she looked forward to seeing the attackers in the dock.

"We should take [such] impunity away from our society," she said in a speech.

"We have waited for 30 years to see leaders of the Khmer Rouge face trial, so we will continue to wait [for progress on the grenade attack]."

But Peo Heng, 62, whose daughter Yung Soknov and niece Yung Srey were killed in 1997 after joining the rally to demand higher wages for garment workers, was less confident time would reveal the perpetrators of the attack.

"Twelve years on, there remains no justice," she told the Post. "My daughter and niece did nothing wrong. They just participated in the rally to call for an independent court and demand a salary rise."

On March 30, 1997, four grenades were thrown into the crowd at a rally held by the opposition Khmer Nation Party, killing and injuring scores of bystanders.

While the results of a subsequent FBI investigation of the incident have never been made public, Sam Rainsy said a copy of the report leaked to Washington Post reporters pointed to the involvement of Brigade 70, Prime Minister Hun Sen's personal bodyguard unit.

He expressed confidence that while the Cambodian government had not managed to find the killers, a new era of international legal norms could bring the country's entrenched impunity to an abrupt end.

"The President of Sudan, who is currently in power, is afraid to leave his country, and he will be arrested if he visits any European countries," he told journalists after the ceremony, referring to the leader's recent indictment by the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

"This trend will come to Cambodia."

Sustained impunity

Other observers who spoke with the Post agreed the government had demonstrated no clear commitment to the case.

"I think the fact that 12 years have passed since the grenade attacks and the government has yet to launch an independent investigation or make a single arrest is a clear indication that impunity continues to plague Cambodia," said Sarah Colm, a researcher for Human Rights Watch.

Colm added that some of the figures suspected of involvement in the attacks, including the head of Brigade 70, had since been promoted by the government, describing the appointments as a "slap in the face" for the victims.

"Rather than going after the perpetrators of political violence or human rights abuses, some of the very [military] units and people alleged to have been involved in the attacks are this year being promoted," she said.

While the trials of senior Khmer Rouge figure Duch, which reconvened Monday, was a vital step in the erosion of the Kingdom's culture of impunity, Colm said it was vital that ongoing violence and intimidation was also "promptly and fairly" addressed.

"These more recent crimes are not isolated incidents," she said.

SRP spokesman Yim Sovann agreed, saying the party would continue holding an annual commemoration on March 30 until the attack's "perpetrators and masterminds" were brought to justice.

"There is no political will or commitment to conduct a serious investigation," he said.

"With the assassinations of political opponents or union leaders, they always make up another story to cover up the truth."

Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith could not be reached for comment Monday but told the Post last week that the government was still conducting investigations with the help of the FBI, and that three suspects had so far been identified in connection with the attacks.

"As long as we can wait, we will try to shine a light on the perpetrators," he said.

However, US embassy sources said the FBI had closed its case and was "not able to reach a conclusion" as to the perpetrators of the attacks.

"We extend our sympathies to the families of the victims of the attack and note with regret that the perpetrators of the attack have not been brought to justice," embassy spokesman John Johnson said by email.

"The victims and their families deserve justice, and we urge the Cambodian government to make every effort to solve this case."