Monday, January 12, 2009
Monday, January 12, 2009
AFP
Police investigators from Southeast Asia, China and the United States met in Bangkok Wednesday to share strategies for tackling the illegal international trade in tigers, leopards and pangolins. Big cats prized for their skin and body parts and pangolins, or scaly anteaters, which are used in cooking, are under particular threat from organised trafficking gangs in Asia. Investigators from Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia and Vietnam joined representatives from China and the United States for a three-day workshop on curbing the crime. “Concerted and coordinated joint actions are required to address the illegal exploitation and trade,” said Chumphon Suckasaem, a senior officer with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Wildlife Enforcement Network. Chumphon said the trade had already taken its toll, “threatening to irrevocably damage Southeast Asia’s ecosystems.”
Sunday, January 11, 2009
PM: Cambodian rice exports to rise by 1 mln tons in 2009
Monday, January 12, 2009
Total rice production for the 2008 to 2009 harvest will reach 7million tons and over the next few years, rice exports will reach 3 to 4 tons annually, he was quoted as saying.
More irrigation and education of farmers are needed to continue expanding rice exports, he added.
"Cambodia has the ability to compete and push farmers to plant more rice," he said, adding that Thailand and Vietnam collectively export 10 million tons of rice per year.
Meanwhile, Cambodian Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Chan Sarun on Sunday said that by 2015, rice exports of Cambodia could reach 8 million tons.
Cambodia indefinitely delays launch of stock market [-Didn't Hun Sen claim that the worldwide economic crisis will not affect Cambodia?]
Monday, January 12, 2009
Its launch was originally scheduled for September, with the South Korean Exchange providing funds and technical support.
As Cambodia's economy, one of the region's most vibrant, slowed to single-digit growth last year, the exchange's future was put in doubt, said the paper.
"Cambodia has been affected by the global financial crisis, especially in terms of real estate and garment exports. Therefore, the plan to open our own stock market has been postponed, and no specific schedule is set for it," Mey Vann, director of the Department of Finance Industry of the Ministry of Finance and Economy, was quoted as saying.
"We can't push to form the stock market, as our economy doesn't have a solid foundation yet due to the impact of the crisis," he said.
"Now we will focus our efforts on establishing our economy," he added.
Cambodia enjoyed consistent double-digit economic growth rate from 2005 to 2007, which fueled the government's ambition to upgrade its financial and capital market, and the establishment of a stock exchange market was just one of its many plans in this regard.
Cambodian premier says he will attend ASEAN summit
Monday, January 12, 2009
Jan 12, 2009
DPA
Prime Minister Hun Sen said last week that attending this year's series of ASEAN meetings would be too costly and time consuming, but Foreign Minister Hor Namhong told The Phnom Penh Post newspaper that the premier definitely would attend.
'I would like to confirm that Prime Minister Hun Sen will attend the ASEAN meeting in Hua Hin, Thailand, from February 27 to 28 and March 1,' Hor Namhong said.
The meeting was originally scheduled for mid-December 2008 but was postponed and relocated due to ongoing domestic political turmoil in the Thai capital, Bangkok.
Tensions between Thailand and Cambodia have been simmering since July last year when a border d
Japan pledges more money for Khmer Rouge tribunal
Monday, January 12, 2009
Sunday, January 11, 2009
The Associated Press
The U.N.-backed tribunal is tasked with seeking justice for the atrocities committed by the communists during their four years in power in the late 1970s. The Khmer Rouge's radical policies caused an estimated 1.7 million deaths.
Japanese Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone pledged the money Sunday during a two-day visit to Cambodia, said Ieng Sophallet, a spokesman for Prime Minister Hun Sen.
The tribunal operates under both Cambodian and international law with Cambodian and foreign staff. It is under the joint administration of Cambodia and the U.N., which operate under separate budgets.
Japan's contribution is for the U.N. side of the operation.
The tribunal is mostly funded by donations from foreign donors and faces a budget crunch. The $56.3 million that was originally earmarked ran out because the tribunal had to recruit more staff and expand its work.
Japan is already the biggest contributor to the tribunal, having previously given more than $21 million for the U.N.'s operation. France, Germany and the United Kingdom are other big donors.
"Japan plays a very important role," said tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath. "The funds will be used transparently."
The pledge came two days after Cambodian judges denied paying kickbacks to government officials to secure jobs on the tribunal.
The judges were responding to a complaint filed by lawyers for Nuon Chea, one of five former senior Khmer Rouge leaders due to be tried by the tribunal on charges of crimes against humanity and other offenses. Allegations of corruption were first raised two years ago but were never publicly resolved.
The kickback dispute could further delay the tribunal's much-postponed first trial, which was slated to begin early this year.
This Hyphenated Life / 30 years after revolution, Cambodia is blossoming with tikkun olam
Monday, January 12, 2009
Sun., January 11, 2009
By Marco Greenberg, This Hyphenated Life
Haaretz (Israeal)
How can a country known for man at his very worst - genocide, land mines, sex trade, acid throwing etc. - be a source of hope and inspiration?
Looking back at my whirlwind trip last month, which included a meeting with the country's young and personable king, as well as Khmer Rouge survivors, former street children and even local Muslims, an answer begins to emerge.
Amidst the squalor and heart-wrenching beggars (Cambodia is still one of the poorest countries in Asia), Phnom Penh is bustling with throngs of smiling people - often three and four on one moped.
It's especially remarkable that a city which had all its residents forcibly evacuated to the country side by the world's most radical communist regime in the mid 70s, is now home to an uptick in foreign trade and investment, a real estate boom, gentrified French colonial buildings with hip new restaurants, and even a recent glowing profile in the travel section of the New York Times.
While veteran western visitors barely recognize the place, from my newbie perspective, Phnom Penh has retained its indigenous charm and has not yet been overrun by crass commercialism. A sign that reads 'KFC coming soon' is a warning that's about to change.
In the meantime, speaking of signs, you have to look hard to find any outward evidence of Jewish life. In total I spotted one Zim container, one homemade Israeli flag proudly flying among a row of flags along the Mekong River, and a pair of loud Hebrew speaking tourists (I'm being redundant).
Seriously, it's hard not to see the country from a very Jewish perspective. It starts with our shared experience of mass murder.
January 11th marks the 30th anniversary of the overthrow of Cambodia from the brutal forces of Pol Pot - although I was reminded that he and his troops continued to haunt the country from the periphery basically until his death in 1998. Countless comparisons to the Holocaust have been made before and for good reason.
If you haven't heard it, add the name, Tuol Sleng to Auschwitz, Bergen Belson, etc. It was the notorious prison and torture center set in a former high school in the middle of an ordinary suburban neighborhood and more than the swaying palm trees and barbed wire remain.
Not the polished floors and multimedia video displays that you'll find at Yad VaShem and the Holocaust Museums, instead clearly underfunded and understaffed with bullet marked walls, cracked tiles, shackles, and pictures of the familiar yet haunting stares of the victims.
You don't need to go to museums to hear the stories. "My father was a math teacher and for that he was murdered by the Khmer Rouge," said our tour guide as he took us through the amazingly beautiful historical ruins of Angkor Wat. A wonderful Cambodian woman returning to visit her native country, told us how her younger brother and father disappeared and that she ate rats to survive before fleeing to the US.
Yet, like Israel after the Holocaust, something special is starting to emerge out of the ashes and there is much more to the link between our peoples than genocide.
If there was an international capital for Tikkun Olam (repairing the world), aka a lab for social entrepreneurship in '08/09, this is it. Here's a glimpse of what I saw:
* Eat at Friends (and scores of other cause related restaurants and shops) and have gourmet like cuisine cooked and served by former street children.
* Visit the country's first dormitory for women college students built by author and MIT Professor Alan Lightman and his Harpswell Foundation (I'm honored to be on their advisory board).
* Meet a Cambodian ex-pat who is providing much needed psychological counseling to a country with only a handful of mental health professionals.
* See T-shirts and bumper stickers urging protection for Cambodia's children from horrific cases of pedophilia.
* Sit in a newly constructed mosque, as we did, speaking to Cham Muslims (one of the most persecuted groups under the Khmer Rouge) who are shunned by the Islamic world for embracing a moderate religious practice that would make most of us think of Reform Judaism.
Make no mistake about it, this progress is both nascent, and given the country's history and continued challenges, precarious too.
My wife and I joined five others, who are much more active than we are in helping turn Cambodia around, in an hour long meeting at the royal palace with the gracious and impressive King of Cambodia. When leaving he made a point of both thanking us for our support and expressing "the need your continued help."
While I didn't have the chance to explain the significance of the Hanukkiah we gave to King Sihamoni as a gift, later in the day I was able to play the role of Jewish emissary.
'Nes Gadol Haya Sham' (A Big Miracle Happened There) I wrote in Hebrew on the white board for students at the Harpswell Foundation's dormitory, using the familiar motto of Hanukkah.
These young women were screened and selected for their intelligence, ambition and leadership abilities. They arrived from poor rural areas and only a year or two ago first saw running water, let alone a computer, and are now ranked at the top of their respective classes at the country?s most prestigious universities.
'Nes Gadol Haya Sham' these 35 young Cambodian women enthusiastically repeated.
Not only witll Hun Sen attend the ASEAN summit, he will also shut up on Preah Vihear issue: So much for Hun Sen's pitiful bluff
Monday, January 12, 2009
PM Abhisit: Cambodia won't raise temple dispute at ASEAN summit
ASEAN members think of group spirit first, Mr. Abhisit said, adding that there was nothing given in exchange for confirming Premier Hun Sen's presence at the ASEAN summit to be held in Thailand's Hua Hin resort February 27-March 1.
Disputes are bound to occur when countries share a border, Mr, Abhisit said, but bilateral problems which could spoil ASEAN's mutual work will not be brought up.
"This principle has already been agreed and is implemented under the framework of the year 2000 memorandum of understanding," he said, adding that he would seek Cabinet approval so that the mechanism could continue functioning.
Responding to reports that Cambodian workers are now building a road leading to Preah Vihear temple, Mr. Abhisit said he had received the information and the issue needed to be discussed because the agreement clearly indicated that both countries must not change the environment in ways which could affect the border delineation.
Thailand had in the past protested to Cambodia several times and a new protest will have to be submitted in this case, Mr. Abhisit said.
Tensions between the two neighbours flared last July when the ancient Preah Vihear was awarded UN World Heritage status. The foreign ministers of the two countries also agreed in the same month to find a peaceful end to the diplomatic and military spat, centring on 1.8 square miles (4.6 sq. km.) of scrub near the temple.
Although the World Court ruled in 1962 that the historic Hindu temple belonged to Cambodia, the most accessible entrance is in Thailand's northeastern province of Si Sa Ket.
Prince Ranariddh wrote a letter to inform Hun Sen of the truth
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Prince Ranariddh talking to the press.
9th January, 2009
Translated from Khmer by Khmerization
Prince Ranariddh wrote a letter to PM Hun Sen to clarify all the suspicions by saying that he was unaware of all the issues raised by PM Hun Sen.
In a reply to Prince Ranariddh, Mr. Khieu Kanharith, the government spokesman, said that what PM Hun Sen has said was not because he was angry with the prince, but that he felt sorry for the prince that a group of people had been secretly working behind the scene without his knowledge.
(A few days ago, Mr. Hun Sen had publicly berated the prince for intending to form a council of ministers by accusing him of seeking to appoint 200 of his loyalists to work in the council by using his position as the supreme advisor of the king which has the rank equivalent to the rank of a prime minister).
Prince Ranaridhh had asked Mr. Hun Sen to provide the names of those who were working behind the scene to secure an appointment to the position in the royal palace. Mr. Kanharith said that what Mr. Hun Sen said had been backed up by sufficient evidence and that the names of those involved cannot be provided to the prince as requested.
Mr. Hun Sen said publicly during an inauguration ceremony of the Stung Meanchey Bridge that, currently, there is only one prime minister in the country. He said the Prince Ranariddh’s newly-appointed position as the supreme advisor of the king is only equivalent to the rank of the prime minister in salary only. In term of power, the position does not have the same power as the prime minister, so people must not be confused.
Mr. Hun Sen’s public attacks happened at the same when there are reports that some of Prince Ranariddh’s loyalists are working secretly to secure appointments to work in the royal palace with the prince.
In a letter to Mr. Hun Sen dated 9th of January Prince Ranariddh wrote: “I wish to thank Samdech (Hun Sen) who had always had a very good relationship with me in our capacity as brothers. Taking this opportunity, I wish to inform Samdech that I have attentively listened to Samdech’s speech, made during the inauguration of the Stung Meanchey Bridge on the morning of the 6th January 2009, which Samdech had raised a few issues related to me personally.”
“Please Samdech Dejo be informed that after I was appointed by the king to be his supreme advisor, which has a rank equivalent to the prime minister, I have never requested to appoint anyone to be my advisors, assistants, cabinet directors or spokesmen under the umbrella of the king. I only have 3-4 personal assistants who are not political appointees.”
“I wish to thank Samdech for raising the issues of someone working behind the scene to recruit people to work with me. In the past, a newspaper called “Moneaksekar Khmer” has written an article accusing me of appointing 200 of my loyalists to work in the royal palace. But later, that newspaper has written a letter of apology to me for the publication of untrue information.”
“I did not know about anyone who are working behind the scene to recruit people to work with me. What I said is the truth. In this context, I wish to ask Samdech to provide the names of those who are working behind the scene to recruit people to work with me. I reserve the rights to take legal actions against those people in the aim of protecting my honour as well as to stop the culprits‘ actions.”
At the end of the letter, Prince Ranariddh sent his best wishes to Samdech Hun Sen. Mr. Khieu Kanharith has said that Mr. Hun Sen had received the prince’s letter but added that PM Hun Sen cannot provide the names of people who had allegedly been working behind the scene to recruit people as requested by Prince Ranariddh. However, what PM Hun Sen had raised have been backed up by sufficient evidence, he said.//
Cambodia PM to attend ASEAN summit in Thailand
PHNOM PENH, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen will attend the ASEAN summit to be held in the seaside town Hua Hin in Thailand in late February, said an official here on Sunday.
"And the ASEAN meeting with other partners still plays a very important role," Hor Namhong, deputy prime minister and minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, told reporters.
Hun Sen suggested that other ASEAN members should also consider to participate in the ASEAN summit and the ASEAN meeting with other partners, he added.
On Thursday, the premier told reporters that the ASEAN summit originally scheduled to be held in Thailand in late January should be delayed to later in 2009.
"We want the ASEAN meeting, the ASEAN plus three (China, South Korea and Japan) meeting and the ASEAN plus other partners meeting to be held at the same time in order not to waste time and money. We do not need to separate such meetings," Hun Sen said at a press conference at the National Assembly.
Thailand once planned to hold the ASEAN summit in late January and the meeting of ASEAN plus other partners in April.
"And the ASEAN meeting with other partners still plays a very important role," Hor Namhong, deputy prime minister and minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, told reporters.
Hun Sen suggested that other ASEAN members should also consider to participate in the ASEAN summit and the ASEAN meeting with other partners, he added.
On Thursday, the premier told reporters that the ASEAN summit originally scheduled to be held in Thailand in late January should be delayed to later in 2009.
"We want the ASEAN meeting, the ASEAN plus three (China, South Korea and Japan) meeting and the ASEAN plus other partners meeting to be held at the same time in order not to waste time and money. We do not need to separate such meetings," Hun Sen said at a press conference at the National Assembly.
Thailand once planned to hold the ASEAN summit in late January and the meeting of ASEAN plus other partners in April.
A female voice from my trip [to Cambodia with Nicholas Kristof]
Sunday, January 11, 2009
January 10, 2009
By Kassie Bracken
The New York Times
I’d never been to Southeast Asia before, nor had I ever stepped foot in a brothel. I suppose the word summoned up grainy red images of numbered young girls for sale, but I don’t know that I really knew what to expect.
Each brothel we visited had a completely different energy and vibe, but for the most part, all of the girls seemed young - the majority looked to be in their teens. They were all tiny in stature too, which only made them seem even younger. Nick has asked me for my reflections in part to get a female perspective - and this is difficult to put into words when I think about the moments we were in the presence of these girls. I didn’t see sexy or feminine, I saw adolescent energy, and that trumped anything else.
Outside of one brothel a staunch mama-san never made eye contact with Nick and looked past him, calculating the street as they spoke. I was surprised that she continued speaking to us, knowing that it wouldn’t lead to a sale. Behind her, young girls mechanically reapplied lipstick and mascara over and over again under red lights. One woman’s face will stay with me – she kept circling lipstick around her lips with a desperation. She’d put the cap on and then open ten seconds later and do it again.
Later that night we also spoke with a younger mama-san, heavily made up in a strapless cocktail dress with multiple gold rings and bracelets and long pressed-on nails. She and said she could fulfill a request for a virgin girl with a few days’ notice, and never lost her flirty smile when she spoke. When we walked away she kept smiling and as we turned our backs she smashed three full beer bottles into the street behind us.
At both of those brothels, the girls had a deadness in their eyes that I sort of didn’t want to contemplate for fear that I would become completely depressed about the world. But at the karaoke shacks I was struck by the youth and energy in the laughter of some of the girls with whom we spoke. The mood seemed lighter and I generally couldn’t tell who the mama-sans were. For brief moments I would completely forget why we were there, and just see the enthusiasm of
teenage girls talking to what probably appeared to them to be two odd Westerners. Then it would hit me that like all of the other young women we’d met, they would have to offer sex to the next man who wanted to pay two dollars. No matter what he looked like, smelled like, or his physical
manner. It’s difficult to imagine where I would be mentally and emotionally under those conditions.
I think in general, I felt emotionally abstracted from the girls in the brothels, in part because I never directly interacted with them and let Nick handle the conversations. And in a weird way, I think I didn’t feel comfortable speaking. I had this weird feeling that to speak was to somehow expose an inexplicable inequity - namely all of the choices I’ve had in my life in a world where many women by virtue of their gender have close to none. I felt that to speak to them would somehow solidify that they were selling their bodies and I was not.
There was an older – by older I mean, maybe 20? Maybe 30? — woman in a brothel in Poipet where Nick had conducted a sit-down interview with the mama-san. During the course of the hour we were there, the woman had had sex with six men, for a total of perhaps 15 – 18 dollars. She was beautiful – high cheekbones and a slightly square face, thick black hair and dark eyes – but she also looked like a tired woman at work. As we were about to leave she looked me in the eye - we just sort of looked at each other and took one another in – and then she smiled at me. I smiled back, awkwardly. At the moment, I didn’t know why I felt nervous, but I think now it’s because it was one of the only moments of mutual vulnerability - albeit brief and innocuous - I felt on the entire trip.
I’d like to think I am a fairly strong person, but in meeting Long Pross and hearing her tell her story, I wondered if I could ever match her strength. Long Pross was the woman we did a video about who had been abducted in her Cambodian village and sold into forced sexual slavery. She’d been beaten regularly, electrocuted, and had gotten pregnant twice. She kept resisting her customers. When after a painful abortion she’d begged for a week off, the mama-san gouged her eye out with a metal shard. During the interview she sat with Sina Van, who’d also suffered sexual slavery and who seemed like a big sister to Pross – Pross very rarely looked up during the interview, and Sina would hold her and touch her hair as Pross told her story.
It’s been a week since Cambodia, and I am thinking about it every day, and talking to friends willing to listen, just telling them what I saw. I’ve always thought that the concept of selling one’s body is a tricky one – I’ve read a lot of comments on Nick’s blog saying that it’s not the worst thing these women could be doing, given the extreme poverty in Cambodia, and that he is overplaying the abuse angle. Ultimately, I wonder most not about the reality of a young girl in a sexual act with a paying stranger, but I wonder about the impact on that girl’s future – will she be able to be vulnerable to another human - will she be able to experience love?
And I think about the end of Nick’s interview with Pross. Sina was attempting to make Pross smile by saying “when we get your eye fixed up and get you beautiful again, we’re going to find you a husband.” When I watch Pross’s expression in the video footage I see light in her eyes for
the briefest moment - then it’s gone. It’s the moment from the trip that haunts me the most.
Your comments on [Nicholas Kristof's] Poipet brothel column
Sunday, January 11, 2009
January 10, 2009
By Nicholas Kristof
The New York Times
There’s been a lot of debate in the blog about how much coercion there is, and how meaningful coercion is. After a lot of interviews, my sense is that there is a steady continuum from adolescent girls who are absolutely imprisoned in brothels at one end, to adult women who freely decide that they can make more money in prostitution than in other fields. I’ve interviewed women in each category and in every shade inbetween.
On this visit, I revisited one teenage girl whom I had interviewed a couple of times earlier. She had been kidnapped and sold to a brothel in Poipet, imprisoned for a few weeks until her virginity was sold, and then she was beaten, locked up and forced to comply. To me, that was slavery. By the time I saw her in 2006, she was closely monitored and wasn’t given any cash, and she was still being beaten at times, but at times she was allowed on short trips outside the brothel. She wasn’t actually physically imprisoned and could have escaped if she had wanted. I offered to help her do so, but she hesitated for three reasons: She was afraid of being beaten up if caught; she was afraid that if she went home her parents and neighbors would figure out what had happened to her; and the brothel-owner claimed the girl owed her money and needed to repay the debt, and the girl kind of believed her. At that point, I wouldn’t exactly call her enslaved, but she certainly wasn’t free, either, and she was still a minor. When I interviewed her on this visit, the situation had evolved further: she was now free to come and go and hadn’t been beaten for a year, she said; on the other hand, she was still a minor, may have been addicted to drugs provided by the brothel, and was kept in place partly by stigma. That’s a situation that started out as slavery but evolving into something more nuanced over the years.
By the way, I do encourage you to watch the video we prepared on the brothels of Poipet; it’s right beside the column.
A Surprising Legal Turn In Cambodia [-Injustice is so bad under Hun Sen's rule]
Sunday, January 11, 2009
By Michael Sullivan
National Public Radio (USA)
All Things Considered, January 10, 2009 · In Cambodia, Born Samnang had a New Year's Eve he'll never forget: He was released after five years in prison. He'd been convicted of a crime nobody — not even the Cambodian authorities — though he committed. His release surprised almost everyone. But nobody's saying that the rule of law has returned to Cambodia.
Vietnam-Cambodia trade hit US$1.7 billion in 2008 [mainly to the benefit of Vietnam]
Sunday, January 11, 2009
10/01/2009
VOV (Hanoi)
Of the total figure, Vietnam exported US$1.45 billion worth of goods to Cambodia, the office said on January 10.
Between 2004-08, the volume of Vietnamese goods exported to the neighbouring country increased by 40 percent annually and the export value rose fivefold compared to the import value.
The leading export staples to Cambodia in 2008 were building steel, agricultural machines, fertilisers, plant pesticides, household utensils, farm produce, milk, seafood and petrol. Seafood products made up 80 percent of Cambodia’s market share, followed by building steel (68 percent) and farm produce (67 percent).
Cambodian exports were mostly wooden products, rubber latex, grains, unprocessed cashew nuts, tobacco and cassava.
By late 2008, 120 Vietnamese businesses opened their representative offices and showrooms in Cambodia.
Currently, Vietnam is Cambodia’s 10th largest foreign investor, with 19 licensed projects capitalised at US$228 million.
Complaint about corruption allegations at the ECCC: Cambodian judges offended
Sunday, January 11, 2009
10-01-2009
Ka-set in English
Click here to read the article in French
Click here to read the article in Khmer
National judges working at the hybrid court, composed of Cambodian and foreign magistrates, say they “deeply regret hearing the new reports today that co-lawyers Mr. Michiel PESTMAN and Mr. Victor KOPPE and Mr. Andrew IANUZZI have filed a complaint with the Municipal Court of Phnom Penh charging corruption within the ECCC, which states that this may infringe the fundamental right to fair trial and that a portion of national judges' salaries are used as kickbacks to government officials”.
Cambodian judges particularly reproached the lawyers for having leaked their action to “the public media”, “causing confusion and seriously affecting the honour and dignity of all individual judges and this institution as a whole”.
In the same release, they go back on the fact that all judges at the ECCC “entered into service by decision of the Supreme Council of Magistracy, chaired by His Majesty the King of the Cambodia”, who signed a Royal Decree appointing them to work in the court.
“Therefore”, the Cambodian judges argue, “there is no reason for judges to cut their salaries to pay kickbacks to government officials, as alleged. We absolutely reject such an accusation.”
Finally, the national ECCC judges state that if the accusation “stems from bad faith in putting the blame on the judges”, they reserve the right “to legal recourse against any individuals who have provoked such a problem”.
The complaint lodged by the Defence Team for former Khmer Rouge Nuon Chea on January 8th was officially registered at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court the morning after it was submitted. It is now up to the Municipal Court to decide whether an investigation on allegations of corruption concerning ECCC Cambodian staff needs to be launched or not.
Cambodia lodged a diplomatic protest with Thailand over the Jupiter Cruise incident
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Mr. Tharit Charungrat, spokesman for the Thai Foreign Ministry.Koh Santepheap newspaper
9th January, 2009
Translated from Khmer by Khmerization
Cambodia has on the 8th of January summoned the Thai ambassador to protest over the Thai denial of entry to Thailand of 269 Cambodian passengers on board the Jupiter Cruise ship who are holders of diplomatic passports and Thai visas.
The Cambodia Daily newspaper reported by quoting Mr. Soth Sophin, chairman of the Lam and Bothers company who organised the Jupiter Cruise to Thailand as saying that the Jupiter Cruise ship left Cambodia’s Kompong Som seaport for the Thai seaports of Bangkok, Pattaya and Phuket with more than 400 passengers. He added that the Thai authority barred about 269 Cambodian passengers with proper Thai visas from disembarking but allowed all the Chinese and Vietnamese passengers to disembark.
The Cambodia Daily reported that “The majority of the passengers carried Thai visas, but still the Thai authority did not allow them to enter their country (Thailand).”
Mr. Benson Samay, attorney for the Jupiter Cruise, said that most of the passengers who joined the launch of the first leg of the Jupiter Cruise are very angry with the Thai authority for not allowing them entry to Thailand.
He said: “The launch of the cruise has turned into a disaster.” Mr. Benson Samay added that the passengers include senators, military generals, judges and senior government officials who hold diplomatic passports. He added that he believe that the Thai denial of entry for the Cambodian passengers into Thailand was linked to the Preah Vihear disputes.
Mr. Tharit Charungrat, head of information and spokesman for the Thai Foreign Ministry said through an email that his ministry was unaware of the incident which took place on 25th of December, 2008. He wrote in his email: “ The Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs was unaware of the incident which took place on the 25th of December, 2008 or any discriminations by the Thai authority on the Cambodian people.” He added that it seemed that such incident did not happen.
Mr. Tharungrat’s email continued: “As a principle, the Thai immigration authority will facilitate the entry to Thailand without any discriminations against any nationality if they (tourists) have proper visas. Thailand consider Cambodia as our neighbour among other neighbours, so in a normal circumstance there is no reason for us to bar them from entering Thailand.”
Despite his defence of the actions of the Thai authority, Mr. Tharungrat said “However, the Thai authority will launch an investigation if there is a detailed diplomatic protest (from Cambodia).”
On 8th of January, the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Thai ambassador to lodge a diplomatic protest over the incident.
Mr. Ung Sean, Secretary of State of Ministry of Foreign Affairs told the Thai ambassador that Cambodia is not happy, is regrettable and cannot accept this incident and has demanded that the Thai authority investigate this incident thoroughly. The Thai ambassador did not provide prompt answers by just saying that they will make inquiry with the Thai government first before providing any answers.
Mr. Long Visalo, Secretary of State of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told The Cambodia Daily that his department has investigated and found out that the Thai authority indeed banned the 257 Cambodian passengers who hold Thai visas from entering Thailand. He added that the reasons that the Thai authority banned the Cambodian passengers from entering into their country was because they are afraid that the Cambodians will pose security concerns to their country. He added that the Thai authority demanded the passengers to pay $1500 for the permission to enter Thai territories and this bond money can only be withdrawn after 3 months. So all the passengers refused to pay the bond money and decided to return home to Cambodia.
Mr. Long Visalo added that Cambodia has lodged a complaint regarding Thailand’s violation of the Memorandum of Understanding on a visa agreement between the two countries which stated that diplomatic and official passport holders must be exempted from carrying a visa. Furthermore, under international laws if the embassy of the country had already provided the visas to the tourists, those tourists must be allowed to enter that country without obstacle.
According to Mr. Long Visalo, there are more than 10 senior government officials travelling on board the Jupiter Cruise ship, but until now no one among the more than 10 officials has lodged a complaint to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yet.//
America provides financial aid to the Cambodian army
Sunday, January 11, 2009
U.S soldiers training the Cambodian army in martial arts.everyday.com
10th January, 2009
Translated from Khmer by Khmerization
The United States plans to provide $634,000 in financial aid to the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) for the financial year 2009. This financial aid is aimed at strengthening the capability of the RCAF in combating crimes such as drug trafficking, drug productions and human trafficking.
Mr. John Johnson, spokesman for the U.S embassy in Phnom Penh, said on the afternoon of the 9th January that the U.S hopes to provide $575,000 in aid for the overseas deployments of the RCAF and $60,000 for the training in prepartion for the international missions of the Cambodian armed forces.
Mr. Johnson said that the RCAF needs assistance for the building of its capability to combate crimes of a serious nature such as drug trafficking, drug productions and human trafficking. He also said that the RCAF had also contributed in the international peacekeeping missions, especially in the field of de-mining.
In the 2008 financial year, the United States has provided $7 million in military aid and $60 million in development aid to Cambodia.//
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