U.S. Seventh Fleet Commander Visits Cambodia

2012-05-01
Xinhua

U.S. Seventh Fleet Commander Vice Admiral Scott Swift visited Cambodia from April 30 to May 3 to develop closer military ties between the two countries, according to a press release from the U.S. embassy in Cambodia on Tuesday.

During his stay, Swift will meet with officials from the Royal Cambodian Navy and the Ministry of National Defense to discuss bilateral and regional issues of mutual concern as well as Cambodia's participation in this year's Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) exercise.

Swift will also discuss with Cambodian officials mutually beneficial exchanges in the areas of maritime security, search and rescue, humanitarian and disaster relief and seamanship and navigation.

Cambodia, US Start Another Joint Exercise To Boost Military Ties [-US traning soldiers involved in land-grabbing?]

This is what the Cambodian military police are good at: Forced evictions, land-grabbing and violence

PHNOM PENH, Dec 12 (Bernama) -- Royal Cambodian Armed Forces and the US marines on Monday began another humanitarian assistance and disaster relief exercise to boost the two countries' military relations, Xinhua news agency reported, citing a press release from the US Embassy here.

The joint exercise was made just days after a similar one ended last Friday between Cambodia's military police and US marines from the III Marine Expeditionary Force.

The press release said that the joint exercise will be held in the vicinities of Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville until Dec 18.

Cambodian, U.S. Armies vow to intensify defense cooperation

PHNOM PENH, Aug 29, 2011 (Xinhua) -- Senior defense officials of Cambodia and the United States of America on Monday pledged to intensify bilateral ties on military cooperation in the areas of peacekeeping, maritime security, humanitarian assistance, and counter-terrorism.

During a meeting with Neang Phat, Cambodia's Secretary of State for Defense, the visiting Brigadier General Richard Simcock, Principal Director for South and Southeast Asia in the Office of the U.S. Secretary of Defense, said that the U.S. would continue to help Cambodia in the above-mentioned areas in order to build a stronger tie between the U.S. and Cambodian armies.

"The assistance of the U.S. Department of Defense to Cambodia would help to develop a professional force that contributes to regional and international peace and stability," (sic!) he said.

U.S. senior defense official to visit Cambodia to boost ties

Brigadier General Richard L. Simcock II, United States Marine Corps, Principal Director (Asia Pacific), Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Asia & Pacific)

PHNOM PENH, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Brigadier General Richard Simcock, Principal Director for South and Southeast Asia in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, will visit Cambodia on August 29-31 to boost Cambodia-U.S. defense relationship, according to a press release from the U.S. embassy in Phnom Penh on Friday.

During the visit, Simcock will have a series of meetings with the Cambodian Ministry of National Defense and representatives of the U.S. Embassy to discuss the growing U.S.-Cambodia bilateral defense relationship, it said.

Discussions will focus on opportunities for future cooperation in the areas of peacekeeping, maritime security, humanitarian assistance, defense reform and counter-terrorism.

During the trip, Simcock will underscore the Department of Defense's continued commitment to working with the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) to develop a professional force that contributes to regional and international peace and stability.

US Navy Admiral Visits Cambodia [-US operation to woo a dictatorial regime?]

Vice Admiral Scott Van Buskirk

Thursday, August 4th, 2011
Voice of America

A top U.S. naval officer is holding talks with high-ranking Cambodian military officials aimed at improving naval cooperation between the two nations.

Vice Admiral Scott Van Buskirk, the commander of the U.S. Seventh Fleet, arrived in Phnom Penh Wednesday for a two-day visit. A Cambodian military spokesman says Van Buskirk met with deputy naval commander Vice Admiral Soa Sarin and Lieutenant General Noun Samnang to discuss bilateral and regional issues. Samnang is deputy for the ministry's foreign affairs office.

1,500 U.S Soldiers to Join Drill in Cambodia

2009-09-27
Xinhua

About 1,500 U.S. military men are expected to join military exercise which is planned to take place in Cambodia in the middle of next year, Cambodian military official said Saturday.

Gen. Chhum Socheat, spokesman of National Defense said that more than 2,000 military men are reserved for the first-ever event in the country and they will come from more than 20 countries, of which 1,500 will be from the United States.

The military exercise which is to be supported by the United States under a program titled "Global Peace Operations Initiative or GPOI" will take place in June or July next year.

According to the plan, the military exercise will be conducted in Phnom Penh and in Phnom Sruoch district in Kompong Speu province, about 90 kilometers from the capital, the officials added.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh issued a statement saying during a four-day visit to Washington D.C. , Tea Banh, Cambodia's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense had met with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg and discussed security cooperation between the United States and Cambodia.

During the meeting, they also highlighted Cambodia's ongoing support for international peacekeeping operations and Cambodia's commitment to hosting the 2010 Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI) regional capstone exercise.

GPOI is a U.S.-funded G-8 program to expand global capacity to train and equip 75,000 peacekeepers by the year 2010, the statement said.

Peace Operations Initiative was established after the 2004 G8 Sea Island Summit to address growing gaps in international peace operations. The goals of GPOI expand upon the goals of the Sea Island Action Plan. GPOI built policy based on previous peace operations capacity-building programs.

I told him that one country, or one district, needs to have its own laws (sic!): Tea Banh on the lack of uniformity in the Cambodian law?

US Defense Secretary Vows Enhanced Ties

By Taing Sarada and Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington and Phnom Penh
23 September 2009

“His concern is an issue that we are also taking care of and monitoring closely ... I told him that I accept some matters that he raised with me. I told him that one country, or one district, needs to have its own laws. As we watch closely, Cambodia has improved a lot, including in the respect of human rights” - Tea Banh inadvertently confessing that he had to address human rights issues with US govt officials?

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates stressed a commitment to enhancing Cambodian peacekeeping, maritime security and counter-terrorism, following talks in Washington with Cambodian Defense Minister Gen. Tea Banh.

The two senior officials met on Monday in talks unprecedented since the 1970s, as military relations between the two countries have steadily improved.

“In the meeting we were talking about how what we have done so far has had very good success,” Tea Banh said in an interview in Washington after the meeting. “They will encourage us further to monitor closely what needs to be done in order to complete it.”

The US resumed military aid to Cambodia in 2006; it had revoked aid following the 1997 coup, when Prime Minister Hun Sen and the ruling Cambodian People’s Party seized power from its government partner, Funcinpec.

“Since 2006, Cambodia has received approximately $4.5 million worth of equipment and technical assistance through the Foreign Military Financing program,” the US Embassy in Phnom Penh said in a statement.

The program funds grants of excess military transport equipment and technical assistance to the Ministry of Defense; training materials and technical assistance to the RCAF English Language Training Program; and maritime security and professional development training to the navy, the embassy said.

Cooperation with the US increased when Cambodia became a willing partner to the US’s post-9/11 war on terror, culminating in the establishment of military attachés this year.

“The United States is interested in providing scholarships for military students to study in other countries,” Tea Banh said, but he added that US assistance remains smaller than that of China.

The general also met with Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg, who he said expressed concern over human rights and democracy.

“His concern is an issue that we are also taking care of and monitoring closely,” Tea Banh said. “I told him that I accept some matters that he raised with me. I told him that one country, or one district, needs to have its own laws. As we watch closely, Cambodia has improved a lot, including in the respect of human rights.”

Cambodia’s rights record has come under pressure in recent months, following a string of lawsuits and at least one prison sentence against government dissenters, and earlier this month the US House of Representative’s Human Rights Commission called three public leaders from Cambodia to testify.

Tea Banh pays US official visit

Wednesday, 23 September 2009
Jacob Gold and Vong Sokheng
The Phnom Penh Post

Meeting with the US defence secretary addresses greater military cooperation, though concerns linger about alleged rights violations by Cambodian soldiers.

CAMBODIAN Defence Minister Tea Banh met with US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates at the Pentagon in Washington during an official visit on Monday, Defence Ministry spokesman Chhum Socheat told the Post on Wednesday.

The agenda included improving military cooperation during humanitarian assistance scenarios and strengthening the capacity of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces. The discussion also focused on regional security issues and cooperation in the fight against terrorism.

“We expect that the relationship between the RCAF and the US military will move close together after this high-level visit by the Cambodian defence delegation,” Chhum Socheat said.

The US has promised to sponsor Cambodia’s role in defence exercises scheduled for July 2010 and slated to involve more than 2,000 military personnel from countries across the Asia-Pacific region, he said.

Tea Banh is expected to arrive back in Cambodia today. The US embassy declined to comment further on the outcome of the meeting pending an official statement due to be released today.

US-Cambodian military relations have come under scrutiny from US congressmen following testimony by Human Rights Watch to the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission hearing in Washington earlier this month.

The NGO reported that since 2006 the US has provided training and material assistance totalling approximately US$4.5 million to Cambodian military units such as Prime Minister Hun Sen’s personal bodyguard unit, Brigade 70, Special Airborne Brigade 911 and Brigade 31 of the RCAF. Eight congressmen sent a letter last Friday to Gates inquiring about the connection between and US military aid and these units’ alleged human rights abuses, which the Cambodian military denied.

The meeting of the two nations’ defence chiefs comes ahead of a bilateral agreement, due to be signed by the US and Cambodia today, under which the US Agency for International Development (USAID) will provide Cambodia with US$7.79 million to help stimulate broader economic growth.

The additional funding will finance an expansion of USAID’s Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises 2 and Business Enabling Environment programme, aimed at alleviating rural poverty by making family-owned businesses more productive, the organisation said in a statement released to the media on Tuesday. USAID expects to commit a total of $61.8 million in assistance to Cambodia this year.

A commie celebrates the Pchum Ben religious ceremony in the US?

Tea Banh (R) and Hem Heng (L) (Photo: Sam Borin, RFA)
According to Wikipedia, Tea Banh is of Sino--Thai descent, His father named Tea Toek, a Thai-Chinese, and his mother Nou Pengchend, a Thai descendant.

Tea Banh joined the Pchum Ben celebration with Cambodian-Americans

21 September 2009
By Sam Borin
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy
Click here to read the article in Khmer

About 1,000 Cambodian expats, especially those who live around Washington DC, celebrated the last day of the Pchum Ben festival in a ceremony where a high-ranking Hun Xen’s regime official joined in.

In his participation in the Pchum Ben celebration with Cambodian Buddhists at the Puthikaram Pagoda, Washington DC, Tea Banh, the Cambodian vice-PM and minister of Defense, expressed his emotion to see the similarities of the various [religious] buildings and the Pchum Ben celebration activities held by various Cambodian Buddhist followers from various states around Washington DC, USA.

Tea Banh who was accompanied by Hem Heng, the Cambodian ambassador to the US, joined with more than 1,000 Cambodians to celebrate the last day of Pchum Ben.

During the celebration, Tea Banh told reporters that he is happy to join in this national celebration. “It’s very good, it’s extremely good, even if they left the country, but we still preserve our good national customs, this is a good thing for our people. I am very proud for our people, even they live far away, they still maintain their traditions very well. It’s very similar, the ornaments [on the temple] are also similar, the rituals are exactly the same. I am moved to see that we maintain our [customs]. Nobody can detract the beliefs that we have and we still maintain them very well,” Tea Banh said.

Layman Koy Moeun, who is also the vice-president of the pagoda, said about the Pchum Ben celebration: “In the last two days, the pagoda is completely crowded. The situation is the same on both days: Saturday and Sunday, up until now. The Cambodian ambassador in Washington DC and 9 delegate members from Cambodia came along, they gathered at the pagoda to celebrate the festivals with us and me as the layman here. They donated money to monks and to support the pagoda.”

Like other Buddhist followes, Tea Banh [a former communist Khmer Rouge soldier] and Hem Heng, the Cambodian ambassador to the US, joined in the religious celebration to commemorate the last day of the Pchum Ben traditional festival.

Tea Banh is currently visiting Washington DC. According to his schedule, Tea Banh will meet Adam West, the Cambodia Desk Officer of the US Department of State, and James Steinberg, the US Deputy Secretary of State. In the afternoon, Tea Banh will meet with Robert Gates, the US Secretary of Defense, and General [Kelly K.] McKeague, the Chief of Staff of the National Guard Bureau, and General Craig McKinley. He will also participate in the 2009 and 2010 US Quadrennial Defense Review meeting.

Human Rights Watch Testimony provided to the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission

Left to Right: Hing Bun Heang, Sao Sokha and Mol Roeup (Photos: Global Witness)

Source: Human Rights Watch

I. Summary

Relations between the US and Cambodia have warmed considerably since the US withdrew direct aid to the Cambodian government in 1997, after a coup by the Cambodian People's Party (CPP) of Prime Minister Hun Sen against their coalition government partner, the FUNCINPEC party.

In addition to deeply entrenched impunity for human rights violators, other key human rights issues include the lack of integrity and independence within Cambodia's court system, attacks on freedom of expression and pluralism, and the government's chronic inaction on legal reform. Those who speak out to defend their homes, their jobs, and their rights increasingly face threats and physical attacks, including trade union leaders, opposition party members, journalists, activist Buddhist monks, and community activists defending their land and natural resources.

In addition, the gap has widened between wealthy city dwellers and impoverished farmers in the countryside, exacerbated by large-scale forced evictions of tens of thousands of urban poor, illegal confiscation of farmers' land, and pillaging of the natural resources on which people in the countryside depend for their livelihood. Military units are often wrongfully deployed to carry out forced and violent evictions of villagers whose ownership claims to the land have never been properly or fairly dealt with by a court.

To make matters worse, the Cambodian government announced this week that it is terminating the World Bank's $24 million land titling program after the Bank and key donors, including the United States, called on the government to stop forced evictions until fair and transparent land dispute and resettlement policies are in place.

While Cambodia has experienced significant economic growth during the past 16 years, the government has rejected a rights-based approach to development. Economic growth would have been much greater if the rule of law would have been established and voracious corruption by Prime Minister Hun Sen and those around him had not drained so many resources from the country.

In October 2008 the US announced that it would be making its first financial contribution (US$1.8 million) to the hybrid trial of former Khmer Rouge leaders (the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia), which has been plagued by credible reports of corruption and government interference and manipulation. Ongoing statements by Prime Minister Hun Sen calling for the court not to engage in additional prosecutions seriously undermine the court's integrity, independence, and credibility. In helping Cambodia to address legacy issues lingering from the Indochinese wars, the US should be at the forefront of advocacy with the UN, other donors, and the Cambodian government itself in insisting that Cambodians deserve the highest standards of justice for the crimes committed by the Khmer Rouge.

With the resumption of direct government aid, the US has begun to send mixed signals as to how seriously it takes Cambodia's legacy of impunity, political violence, and high-level involvement of government officials in human trafficking and other rights violations. US funding currently includes training and material assistance to members and units of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces that have been implicated in gross human rights abuses. It has strong counter-terror cooperation with some of the same individuals. The FBI has even given awards to some of the most notorious human rights abusers in the country, making many Cambodians wonder which side the US is on.

As one of the signatories to the 1991 Paris Peace Accords, one of Cambodia's biggest donors, and with great influence in Cambodia, the US should play a consistent role in insisting that Cambodia address its poor human rights record. The US government has to remember that its first priority is to stand with the Cambodian people. Good relations with the Cambodian government are a secondary priority.

II. The US and the Cambodian Security Forces - Impunity and Vetting

The US has provided training, material assistance and even awards to military, police, counter-terror units or related individuals with track records of serious human rights abuses. Since 2006, the US has provided approximately US $4.5 million worth of military equipment and training to Cambodia through the Foreign Military Financing program.

Training has been offered to elite units that are notorious for the impunity enjoyed by their members, as well as to personnel from Prime Minister's Hun Sen's bodyguard unit, which has been implicated in countless rights abuses including a political massacre, under the cover of a newly-created special anti-terrorist unit. The US has given the impression that it has forgotten or lost interest in the human rights record of some of these units or individuals.

While the US may have policy reasons to work with the Cambodian security forces on subjects such as counter-terror, it should work just as hard on holding abusers accountable and ending the culture of impunity that exists for high ranking members of the security services and those close to Hun Sen.

a) Prime Minister's Bodyguard Unit/Brigade 70 and New Counter-Terrorism Special Forces

Hun Sen's Bodyguard Unit, also known as Brigade 70, has a long history of impunity for its personnel who commit crimes, and well-documented involvement in smuggling and environmental crimes. Soldiers from Hun Sen's Bodyguard Unit, Brigade 70, were implicated in the March 30, 1997 grenade attack against the opposition Khmer Nation Party (now the Sam Rainsy Party), protecting the grenade throwers and allowing them to escape. At least 16 people were killed and more than 100 others (including an American) were wounded. The results of an FBI investigation into the attack found that the Bodyguard Unit was complicit in it, but the full results of the investigation have never been made public.

Outside of the normal RCAF chain-of-command, Brigade 70 is controlled directly by the Prime Minister. Reportedly comprising some 2,000 or more soldiers, the Bodyguard Unit was long commanded by General Hing Bun Heang, who is now deputy chief of the Prime Minister's Cabinet and reportedly remains in de facto control. The Bodyguard Unit has been implicated in political violence, most notably in a 1997 grenade attack on an opposition party rally. The Bodyguard Unit, mobilized outside of the normal chain-of-command of RCAF, also played a key role in fighting FUNCINPEC troops on the streets of Phnom Penh during CPP's July 1997 coup. In subsequent years, UN and NGO rights workers investigated several cases of individuals being unlawfully detained and tortured at the Bodyguard Unit's headquarters inside the Prime Minister's heavily-fortified residential compound. On or off duty, Brigade 70 personnel enjoy virtually unlimited impunity to commit.

Brigade 70 has an atrocious human rights record. Impunity enjoyed by its members is highlighted in the US State Department's annual human rights reports. In addition to the grenade attack, there are countless examples over recent years. A few examples include:

• In July 2008, Brigade 70 soldier Dy Sothearith, moonlighting as a security guard at a factory, shot an unarmed factory worker over a minor dispute. The victim was paid $1,000 in compensation, on the condition he not pursue a criminal complaint. Dy Sothearith, who reportedly went into hiding at B-70's HQ, was not prosecuted.
• In April 2006, Brigade 70 members Major Phat Sophal and Captain Sim Ry opened fire and shot a waitress whom they complained had brought them ice too slowly. Arrested by military police, the two were released hours later when their commander Mao Sophann intervened. The general subsequently said he punished the two officers by shaving their heads. No legal action was taken against them.
• In July 2005, Brigade 70 member Sen Kok Heang, a former in-law to Prime Minister Hun Sen, attempted to kill two forestry activists in Kampong Thom's Sandan district. Brigade 70 soldiers were mobilized in that area to give protection to a Cambodian logging syndicate in the area.
• In addition, B-70 has long been implicated in smuggling and the pillaging of Cambodia's environment; there is considerable evidence that cargo trucks belonging to the unit have systematically been used to transport illegally-felled logs and smuggled goods. In 2007, environmental watchdog Global Witness estimated B-70 was making between $2 million and $2.7 million from these operations, with a large cut of the proceeds given to Bodyguard Unit commander Hing Bun Heang.

b) Special Airborne Brigade 911

Brigade 911 has been implicated in gross human rights violations (including murder and torture) allegedly committed by brigade soldiers in the past. Paratroopers from 911, under the command of Major-General Chap Pheakdey, have been accused of gross human rights violations. In 1997, 911 personnel were implicated by UN investigators in the executions of FUNCINPEC military commanders captured during the CPP's coup, and the torture of other prisoners. No-one was brought to justice for these crimes. 911 members, disguised in civilian clothes, were also allegedly used to break up peaceful post-election demonstrations by the opposition in 1998. Subsequently, 911's commander Chap Pheakdey has maintained his reputation for acting with impunity. In 2006, he unlawfully detained one of his soldiers for more than a month, allegedly over a property dispute; no prosecution or other sanctions were taken against the general.

c) Brigade 31

Some material assistance has gone to military units with abysmal rights records. The commander of Brigade 31, for example, has confirmed that his unit used US-donated trucks to move villagers forcibly evicted by soldiers under his command in Kampot Province in 2008.

Brigade 31 (formerly known as Division 44 and then Battalion 44), under its long-time commander Brigadier-General Srun Saroeun, has an abysmal rights record. Its soldiers are alleged to have executed FUNCINPEC soldiers during the 1997 coup and fired gunshots over the heads of UN human rights officials investigating the killings. Headquartered in Kampong Speu province, the brigade has also long been accused of involvement in illegal logging throughout southern Cambodia. In recent years, its commanders have also been implicated in grabbing land from poor villagers. This raises serious questions about the quality of vetting done by the State and Defense Departments.

Brigade 31 assumed a "maritime security" mandate in late 2006 or early 2007 - the same time as an October 2006 joint defence assessment by RCAF and the US Pacific Command which identified maritime security as one of the areas for US support. This raises the question of whether RCAF deliberately gave the brigade a naval mandate in order to obtain US assistance. If so, this is a clear case of a military unit with a poor human rights record (but a record of loyalty to the ruling party) being rewarded and legitimized by US aid. Although US military aid is intended to improve the professionalism of RCAF forces, there are disturbing signs that RCAF is becoming more politicized and less professional, and that known human rights abusers are gaining increasing power within the RCAF structure. For example, General Huy Piseth, now an Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Defense, is former commander of Brigade 70. In January 2009 the government announced the appointment of seven new deputy RCAF commanders-in-chief, including military intelligence chief Mol Roeup; military police chief Sao Sokha; and Hing Bunheang, Brigade 70 deputy commander at the time of the 1997 grenade attack. All of these men have clear records as human rights abusers.

U.S. destroyer Mustin visits Cambodia to build up bilateral military ties [-Can the US help Cambodia retrieve her Koh Tral (Phu Quoc) Island back?]

SIHANOUKVILLE, Cambodia, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- Destroyer USS Mustin arrived here Saturday in the latest U.S. effort to strengthen its military relations with Cambodia, especially in the navy sector.

The warship's visit will beef up the bilateral relationship between the two governments, particularly in the military field, said ship commander James T. Jones.

In the future, we can join each other to conduct military exercise here, he said.

During the five-day visit, the Mustin crew will focus on humanitarian affairs, and carry out medical and dental treatment for the local people as well as maintenance work for some community schools, he added.

Meanwhile, acting ambassador of the U.S. Embassy Piper Campel told reporters that the warship's visit has "developed positive signs" and become the bridge of strong relationship between Cambodia and the United States.

We have become partners to fight against terrorism and help maintain stability and security of the region, she added.

Governor of Sihanoukville Sbaung Sarat said that the presence of the warship has expanded and strengthened the bilateral cooperation between the two countries.

Mustin has been the third warship visiting Cambodia since 2007.