Investigators Finish Blast-Site Training [offered by the FBI]

By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
15 May 2009

Police and counterterrorism forces completed a week of explosives investigation training Friday put on the by the US FBI.

The course was designed to instruct Cambodian security personnel in properly investigating a post-blast crime scene involving bombs or improvised explosive devices.

Twenty-eight students from the police, military police, national counterterrorism committee and counterterrorism special forces attended the course.

Cambodia is a willing participant in the US’s regional counterterrorism efforts. The country has a small Muslim population, and in 2003 was found to have harbored Hambali, the former head of Jemaah Islamiyah, the Islamic extremist group responsible for the 2002 Bali bombings.

The FBI maintains a legal office at the US Embassy in Phnom Penh.

Laro Tan, the FBI’s legal attaché in Cambodia, told reporters after closing training that the US investigation agency had provided technical training on researching evidence of blasts.

Hav Lay, a police officer at the counterterrorism office in Phnom Penh, said he had learned to gather evidence and intelligence at crime scenes.

Better training can improve prosecutions based on evidence obtained at crime scenes and would help Cambodian investigations meet US court standards, the embassy said in a statement.

Government Praised for Ban on Sand Export

By VOA Khmer, Sothearith Im
Original report from Washington
15 May 2009
While the Cambodian government is often criticized for poor management of its natural resources, it earned praise this week for a ban on the export of sand.

Even Global Witness, an environmental watchdog that has been sharply critical of the government’s exploitation of timber and minerals, welcomed the ban.

Cambodia was exporting sand to Vietnam and Singapore, but the practice can have a devastating impact on coastal environments. Prime Minister Hun Sen issued a directive May 8 that would halt the export of sand, while allowing dredging for local demand.

More than 120 sand-dredging companies are estimated to be operating in Cambodia, removing thousands of tons of sand from coastal and river bottoms.

Global Witness spokeswoman Amy Barry said the ban was a good measure, but it was only the first step toward sustainable management of Cambodia’s natural resources, including forests, minerals and, potentially, oil.

“We want to make sure we call on the prime minister, Hun Sen, to ensure that his decree is implemented and to monitor the sand-dredging and export,” Barry said.

Cheam Yiep, a lawmaker for the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, said the ban followed complaints by citizens and a report from the Sand Resource Management Committee.

“That’s why recently [Hun Sen] issued a decree to stop sand-exporting operations,” he said.

The ban was imposed for three reasons, he said. First, sand export was not benefiting the government; second, it was damaging personal property; and third, it was harming rivers and marine areas that legally belong to the government.

Private companies violating the ban would be sued, he said.

“We already have a law,” he said. “When the prosecutor files a complaint, the investigative judge will make a decision accordingly.”

Chan Yutha, chief of cabinet for the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology, said the ban was put into effect immediately following the order by Hun Sen. Now all sand-dredging will be re-examined, he said.

“I just want to clarify that sand-dredging operations have either positive or negative effects,” he said. “If they follow technical standards, it is a good impact, but if the technical standard is violated, it has a negative impact, such as the collapse of riverbanks.”

Dredgers in violation of the standards are warned or fined, their tools and equipment confiscated, he said.

Even with this ban in place, critics say law enforcement and policy implementation in Cambodia remain weak. The government has sold many of its assets in the past, including sand, beaches, and historical buildings, to private companies.

Global Witness has issued detailed reports on deforestation undertaken with impunity and the stripping of the country’s mineral resources. With potentially lucrative offshore oil deposits under exploration, the worry is that income from state resources will benefit only a handful of powerful elites.

Cambodian cowboy receives Heritage Award

Sichan Siv, the Cambodian Cowboy (Photo: Pampa News)

Former Ambassador Given Heritage Award

By Poch Reasey, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
15 May 2009

One of the most prominent Asian-American organizations in the US has honored a Cambodian-American from Texas who served in the administrations of both Bush presidents.

Sichan Siv was awarded the 2009 George HW Bush Heritage Award by the Asian Pacific American Heritage Association of Houston at a ceremony in Texas on May 8.

The president of the association, Alice Lee, told VOA Khmer by telephone from Houston that the award is typically given to “an individual who not only has served the community but also exemplified greatness to both the Asian culture and also the mainstream culture."

Sichan Siv told VOA Khmer by telephone from his home in Texas that he was honored to accept the award, not only for himself but for all Cambodian-Americans.

"Public service is the most important work,” he said. “As President George HW Bush has said, nothing is more important and more rewarding than public service."

The award comes with a personal letter from the 41st president and the former first lady, congratulating the former ambassador for his outstanding public service.

Sichan Siv served from 1989 to 1992 as deputy assistant to president George HW Bush from 1989 to 1992. He also served president George W Bush as the US ambassador to the United Nations’ Social and Economic Council from 2001 to 2006.

Scholar Highlights National Environmental Risks

Chak Sopheap (Photo: SopheapFocus.com)

By Nuch Sarita, VOA Khmer
Washington
15 May 2009

Chak Sopheap, who was awarded a scholarship to pursue a master’s degree in International Peace Studies in Japan, told “Hello VOA” Thursday she was concerned about two things: the environment and the health of Cambodians.
“The current practice of the Cambodian government, which neglects or bypasses regulations in approving forest concessions or filling in lakes, is not only harmful in natural resource depletion, but also to the environment, to human life, and to the survival of the whole community,” said Chak Sopheap, who studied at the International University of Japan.

She cited Japan’s outbreak of “minamita” disease, a form of methyl-mercury poisoning that affects the central nervous system, as a warning against polluting developments at Bokor mountain in Kampot province and Boeung Kak lake in Phnom Penh.

Bokor mountain has been authorized by the government for private development of palm oil and cassava plantations and livestock farms, and Boeung Kak lake was filled in before an environmental impact assessment had been approved, she said.

Chak Sopheap said she wasn’t against development projects, but she encouraged the government to provide means for interested parties to take on duties for the public interest and to avoid future risks.

Japan’s failure at risk management led to damaging side-effects in an anti-diarrhea drug containing Clioquinol in the late 20th Century, she said. The drug has since been banned in some countries.

“This [illness] should be an influential case to relevant stakeholders, including the government, policymakers, doctors, as well civil society, to be cautious about the safety and effectiveness of medical usage and other supplies which may result in harm,” Chak Sopheap said.

China, Australia to Build Final Leg of Asian Railway [in Cambodia]

Man drives homemade wooden cart on railroad in Kampong Chhnang province some 50 kilometers north of Phnom Penh (2008 file photo)

By Luke Hunt
Voice of America
Phnom Penh
15 May 2009

Chinese and Australian engineers are gearing up to build the final stretch of track in the Trans-Asian Railway, which will link Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand with Vietnam and China through Cambodia. The Cambodian government has divided the country's railway system in two. Australia's Toll Holdings takes control of old French-built lines in the east, which run from the capital to the Thai border and south to Sihanoukville, home to one of the largest ports in the Gulf of Siam.

The China Railway Group has the contract to carry out a feasibility study that will link Phnom Penh with Snoul near this country's western border with Vietnam.

This 255-kilometer stretch will complete the Singapore-to-Kunming line, a railway connecting southeast Asia to the heart of China.

Paul Power is an advisor to the Cambodian government and team leader for the Asian Development Bank's involvement in the reconstruction of Cambodia's railways. He says the railway's economic benefit for the region and Cambodia will be enormous.

"It makes Cambodia the hub of transportation between China and Singapore and you would have a port link, you would have a link to Thailand, you'll have a link through to Vietnam," Power said, "and the implications for that, for Cambodia in the region, are that Cambodia becomes the hub."

He says freight will provide the greatest economic benefits, particularly for shipping bulk goods like rice. The railway will be a cheaper alternative to ships and trucks.

However, the contractors first must deal with the thorny issue of resettling people living along the route. In Cambodia, poor landholders often are pushed out with little compensation to make way for commercial developments, causing considerable public anger.

Power says the companies working on the railway are aware of the problems that have afflicted other construction projects and thinks they can avoid similar difficulties.

If the resettlement issues are resolved quickly then authorities hope the first passengers from Singapore to China and beyond as far as London, will start boarding within the next two years.

More illegal workers being repatriated from Thailand

Illegal Cambodian workers in Thailand

Friday, 15 May 2009
Written by Cheang Sokha
The Phnom Penh Post

As many as 500 Cambodian labourers being returned each day through the Poipet border crossing alone, police say

POLICE at the Thai border say they are seeing greater numbers of Cambodian migrant workers being repatriated by Thai police.
Hun Hean, the police chief for Banteay Meanchey province, told the Post that 200 to 500 illegal migrants are being returned through Poipet's border gate by Thailand each day.

That follows the news that Thai police in Sa Keo province bordering Banteay Meanchey arrested more than 130 Cambodian illegal migrant workers on Tuesday.

Hun Hean said that previously his officers used to see between 100 and 200 Cambodian workers returned daily.

"We have seen the number of migrant workers going to Thailand has increased," Hun Hean said. "But these illegal workers are arrested by the Thai police when they cross through these gates looking for work."

Hun Hean said many residents living along the border in provinces such as Battambang, Oddar Meanchey, Pailin and Banteay Meanchey head to Thailand looking for short- and long-term work.

"Most of them go with ring-leaders," he said, adding that some of those arrested are injured by Thai soldiers and their money confiscated.

Last September Prime Minister Hun Sen appealed to illegal Cambodian workers in Thailand to come home, saying they would earn more money and would avoid the risk of being mistreated by Thai employers.

"I see that currently labour wages in Cambodia are higher than those in Thailand," Hun Sen said at that time.

"If they work in their own country they will not be looked down on by [Thai] employers or guilty of working illegally."

Thai problem
Hem Bunny, the director of the Employee and Manpower Department at the Ministry of Labour, said it is legal for Cambodians to work as day labourers in Thailand.

However, he said many Thai employers wanted illegal workers.

"This problem is caused by the Thai employers themselves - they want to use illegal workers because it costs them less money," Hem Bunny said.

"That is why the seasonal workers head to Thailand."

Hem Bunny estimates that 70,000 Cambodian workers who went illegally to Thailand are still working there.

But he said 40,000 of those have since been granted work permits, which ensures they get equal pay and are protected under Thai labour laws.

He said his department had pre-registered and sent 3,662 workers legally to South Korea in the past two years, 15,444 to Malaysia in the past decade, 8,930 to Thailand since 2006 and 42 to Japan since 2007.

Cambodia's rats welcomed by Vietnamese gourmets

Live rats are stored awaiting transport to Vietnam at Chrey Thom district in Kandal province, 65km (40 miles) south of Phnom Penh near the Cambodia-Vietnam border, May 15, 2009. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
A boy shows off a rat he caught at Khos Thom district in Kandal province, 65km (40 miles) south of Phnom Penh near the Cambodia-Vietnam border, May 15 ,2009. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

2009-05-15
Xinhua

PHNOM PENH - Vietnam has become the main importer of Cambodia's rats with 50 tons of rats being imported through the checkpoints along the border everyday, local media reported on Friday.
"We are working in the rice fields during the day and catching the rat at night. We can catch about 10 kg to 20 kg rats every night, " the Chinese language newspaper Cambodia Sin Chew Daily quoted a young rat trader as saying. The rat traders could sell them at border for about 3,000 riel (about 75 cents) to 4,000 riel (about $1.00) per kilo.

At the Chrey Thom border checkpoint, immigration police officer Roeun Narin said there was regular stream of middlemen in the rat-meat trade crossing the border, and he knew of more rat-trading at other checkpoints along the border.

Leh, the rat trader in the town of Chrey Thom, by the Vietnamese border, said she buys about one ton of rats per day during April and May from middlemen who bring the rodents from Cambodia's Kandal, Kompong Cham and Takeo provinces. From November to March the haul usually drops to between 300 and 400 kg per day, she said.

Every day there are more than 30 Vietnamese middlemen waiting at the border checkpoints to purchase the rat from Cambodia, an online Vietnamese media outlet reported. The rat sales at the checkpoint of Vietnam's An Giang province alone has reached to about 50 tons in recent days, the officials of Vietnam were quoted as saying.

"Most Cambodians only know a few ways to cook it, but in Vietnam they know many dishes, such as soups, curries and fried rat," Chhoeun, another middleman said. Vietnamese enjoy the small rice-field rats, as they think they are natural.

I believe that King Sihamoni currently is merely a rubber stamp king, to say it bluntly": Cambodian expat from Lowell

(Photo: RFA)

Cambodian expats’ opinion on the King’s role

14 May 2009
By San Suwidh
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Socheata
Click here to read the article in Khmer

On the occasion of the national holiday celebrating the 56th birthday of King Norodom Sihamoni between 13 to 15 May, San Suwidh is reporting about the opinion of a number of Cambodian expatriates regarding the role of the current king of Cambodia.

King Sihamoni is the son of King Norodom Sihanouk and Queen Monineath Sihanouk. He was born in Phnom Penh of 14 May 1953, i.e. 6 months ahead of Cambodia’s access to independence from France.

During his youth, the prince liked to study dance, music and theater. In 1971, he received an award in his competition in classical dance at the Prague national conservatory of music and dance, in communist Czechoslovakia. Between 1976 and 1979, he was detained by Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge regime along with his parents and his younger brother, Prince Norindrapong.

Following his release from the killing fields, he completed several functions involving art, mainly in France. The king is expert in language. He speaks Cambodian, French, Czech and English. While living in Paris in 1993, he directed two films involving ballet: “Soben” (Dream) and “Theat Taing Buon” (The 4 matters).

On 14 October 2004, at the age of 51, he was selected by the council of the throne as the king of Cambodia.

It has been 5 years since the king acceded to the throne. On the day of his crowning, he swore that he will abide by his father’s teaching, and he publicly announced: “What must be remembered forever is pure nationalism. We must clearly avoid all sorts of corruption, and at all time. Everything that we must apply should be aimed at serving the supreme interest, the livelihood of the Khmer nation and people.”

He also announced openly that: “I will be close to all our compatriots, uncles, aunts, brothers and sisters, children, nephews, all of you, and I will share your fate forever.”

On the occasion of his 56th birthday, various government officials sent him warm well wishes. Cheam Yeap, a member of the CPP permanent committee and chairman of the National Assembly committee on finance and economy, praised the role of the king, saying: “He has very good opinion, he never embarrass the people, the government or the legislative branch. He always smoothed out the difficult tasks of the government, as well as those of the legislative branch and the judiciary branch.”

Nevertheless, a large number of Cambodians do not know very well their king. Even though he publicly claimed that the palace will not hide anything, and he is spending several days each week to serve his compatriots and meeting the people, in the past 5 years, the king is still unknown to his subjects. More seriously is the fact that Cambodian expatriates have negative opinions of the king.

Sim Huot, a Cambodian-American living in Stockton, California who claims to be a true royalist, is still puzzled about the king’s role: “When the king ascended to the throne, he promised to the people that he will work hard and pay attention to the people in general, he will absolutely oppose corruption, he will labor for his land, such as the border issue for example. But I don’t know what he is doing or not doing. On the border issue, I keep on hearing this issue discussed on Radio Free Asia which I listen to and the people are shouting about corruption, about forced evictions, did the king strongly intervene on these cases? When he ascended to the throne, he promised that he will follow his father’s footstep and he will absolutely oppose all forms of corruption.”

Sieng Sak, a former KR who currently lives in Lowell, Massachusetts, blamed the constitution which ties the king’s hands and does not allow him to do anything. Sieng Sak said: “I believe that King Sihamoni currently is merely a rubber stamp king, to say it bluntly. This is one issue. The second issue, based on the current feelings of Cambodians who respect the king, what King Sihamoni is doing is just enough to calm down Cambodians who want to have a monarchy only, but when speaking about serving the interest of the country, serving the country future peace, he did not do anything about them. The reason I am saying he is not doing anything on these issues is because the constitution is tying him up already, he reigns but he does not rule, so he has no power, he cannot represent anything, he cannot be anybody’s shade simply because he has no power.”

In reply to Sim Huot’s question above regarding the king’s interventions to help his subjects or not, Princess Ang Duon Nim Sophine said: “Regarding the king, it’s not that he is not doing anything to protect his subjects, but it is as if he is under some intense pressure, he is being under intense pressure. What he needs to do, he must ask the authorization from the prime minister. The constitution stipulates that the king has the power to pardon people on certain occasions, such as during the Pchum Ben ceremony, during his birthday, so he must use this prerogative, but I heard that when he asked the authorization [from the PM], they rejected his request. Whatever he tried, he couldn’t do it.”

In the midst of these opinions on the king’s role, Cambodian people are sending wishes to their king on his birthday which happens to be a 3-day holiday also.

Cambodian-American teenager killed in Lowell was an 'innocent bystander'

She was an 'innocent bystander'

Lawrence mom tries to cope with shooting death of daughter shot in head

May 15, 2009
By Bill Kirk
bkirk@eagletribune.com
The Eagle Tribune (Massachusetts, USA)

LAWRENCE — Sophal Choeun spoke quietly as she leafed through a family photo album that contained pictures of her dead daughter and her other children.


"I pray to God they find who did this to my daughter," said Choeun, 45, a Cambodian immigrant who lives with her three other children and mother on the second floor of an Abbott Street multifamily house.

Her daughter, Tavaryna Choeun, 17, a Lawrence High School dropout with a history of running away from home, died yesterday in the Lahey Clinic in Burlington, where she was brought Tuesday night after she was shot once in the head in Lowell.

Police said Choeun was an "innocent bystander" — shot while riding in the front passenger seat of a car with a male friend driving and a female friend in the back seat.

No arrests were made as of last night. Authorities said they believe they know who the shooter is.

Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone said yesterday the driver and shooter, who are gang-affiliated, had an altercation earlier in the day, but the shooting was not gang-related.

Leone said a car pulled up alongside them and someone fired several shots, hitting Choeun once in the head. No one else was injured.

He said Choeun's two friends then dumped her body onto Suffolk Street in Lowell, where a passer-by saw her and called police.

Corey Welford, a spokesman for Leone, said police found Choeun on the street in front of 132 Suffolk St. at 10:14 p.m.

Choeun moved to Lowell to live with her 20-year-old boyfriend several months ago.

Leone said the driver and the other female passenger were interviewed, and that it was not known why they didn't take her to a hospital or call 911.

"I'll go see her in Boston today," said Choeun's mother, her other children and mother sitting by her side on a couch in the living room of their apartment at 184 Abbott St.

Choeun said her daughter had never been in trouble, and Lawrence police Chief John Romero confirmed yesterday that the girl had never been arrested in Lawrence.

The victim's sister, Maryanne Choeun, 18, said Tavaryna had dropped out of high school in her freshman year and had run away from home several times. She recently ran away from her foster home in Lawrence and had been living with her 20-year-old boyfriend in Lowell.

Tavaryna's father lives in California and is traveling in Cambodia, said Maryanne Choeun, adding that she hasn't seen her father in years and that he was unaware of his daughter's death.

Aside from her father, mother and sister Maryanne, Tavaryna has a younger sister, Susan, 16, and brother, Peter, 7, and grandmother, Chy.

Visitors to Cambodia down

May 15, 2009
ABC Radio Australia

The number of foreign tourists visiting Cambodia dropped in the first quarter of 2009 as the global economic crisis cuts the number of people travelling.

Visitors from South Korea and Japan are down sharply.

Presenter: Robert Carmichael
Speakers: Ell Lavy, Siem Reap tuk tuk driver; Dr Thong Khon, Cambodian Minister for Tourism

Click here to listen to the English audio program (Windows Media)

CARMICHAEL: Leave the famous jungle temple - known as Ta Phrom - outside Cambodia's tourism capital of Siem Reap and - as you can hear - you are surrounded by vendors selling cold drinks, musical instruments and postcards. Cambodia has relied for a decade on the expanding tourist trade as one of its pillars for economic growth. A record 2.1 million people visited the country last year.
So the news that tourism numbers have dropped in the first quarter of 2009 from the same period last year is not good. Overall the number is down just three and a half percent to 622,000 which is better than the government had feared. But the headline figure tells only one part of the story. Tourists from richer countries such as Japan and South Korea have dropped by a third, with short-term visitors from neighbouring Vietnam making up the numbers.

And that is why tourism worker Ell Lavy - a 25-year-old driver of a motorised rickshaw around the temples of Angkor Wat - has seen his monthly earnings drop from one hundred US dollars to just seventy. Previously he would get two or three tourists a week - now he is lucky to have one.

LAVY: You know last year when I recommend them to another place they say no problem for them. But this year when I invite them to somewhere they say they that no - they have no money to pay everything. [CARMICHAEL: So you have noticed they are spending less money, and there are less tourists?] Yes, less tourists also.

CARMICHAEL: Government figures show the number of visitors from South Korea and Japan, which last year provided the largest and third-largest number of foreign visitors respectively, dropped by one-third to around 100,000 in the first quarter of this year.

Gregory Anderson is the general manager of the upmarket Le Meridien Angkor hotel in Siem Reap. He has noticed there are fewer Japanese tourists in town, and says occupancy rates are down 20 percent for Siem Reap's upmarket hotels. He blames the global economic situation, as well as political volatility in Thailand and an ongoing border dispute between Cambodia and Thailand.

So in the face of lower spending on travel and tourism in the current global downturn, what can Cambodia do to boost visitor numbers? Tourism Minister Dr Thong Khon says he is targeting countries that are less affected by the global slump. And he is optimistic that 2009 could yet prove better than last year. But he says Cambodia is not helped by problems in Thailand.

KHON: Because you know Thailand is a main gate to Cambodia. Thirty three percent of total arrivals to Cambodia come from Thailand by air, by water, by land. When Thailand is affected, so it affects Cambodia too.

CARMICHAEL: To minimize that problem, the ministry is trying to boost short-haul flights from within the ten-member ASEAN nation and China, Japan and South Korea. Cambodia has already scrapped visa requirements for nationals within a number of ASEAN states. And he says the private sector must work to make the country more attractive - including using discounts for hotels and restaurants.

But making Cambodia more attractive isn't helped by the trickle of reported crimes against foreign tourists, some of them serious. The most high-profile was that a friend of Britain's Princess Eugenie had her handbag stolen in Phnom Penh recently. What does he think of the incident?

KHON: In Cambodia the whole country is completely safe and secure. But the thing that happened is not everywhere. Sometimes like this or like that. But the case of the princess - we checked with the police, we checked everywhere - they have no information. If the case really happened, why did they not report it to the police?

CARMICHAEL: Dr Thong Khon says the global crisis has seen Cambodia downgrade its estimate of tourist arrivals for 2015 by around one-fifth to 4 million visitors. So what message will he take to the region to try and boost visitor numbers?

KHON: Many tourists come to stay in home-stay, in the countryside, on some islands, for one month, for two weeks with the family. From Scandinavia, from Australia. They come from everywhere. No problem. Come. Come to stay in Cambodia.

Cambodian Stories' kicks off Novel Dance's 10th anniversary

The 60-year-old Japanese Koma, left, dances alongside the dancing painters, dressed in traditional Cambodian clothes. (Courtesy of Novel Hall)

Friday, May 15, 2009
By Paul Nieman
Special to The China Post (Taiwan)

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Tonight Cambodian Stories, the first performance of the tenth anniversary of the Novel Dance, will take place in the Novel Hall in Taipei. The performance will run through the weekend.

The dance's choreography was created by Japanese dancers Eiko and Koma, who feature in the play along with several dancing Cambodian painters. They are painters, so they have already had the 'inward eye,' Eiko explains, so it wasn't that hard for them to use their knowledge of the human body to perform well with the dancing. Cambodian Stories is about love, loss and hope, three topics that are very recognizable for the players of the piece, of whom most are affected by the low standards of life and the troubled history of Cambodia.

The painting dancers have only performed abroad in the United States so far. Taiwan is the second country in their international campaign. The dancers will paint on stage during their performance, making it a unique combination between painting and dancing.

“These young artists are full of dreams, just like everybody else. Everybody has dreams, even old people such as Eiko and me, and we are 57 and 60,” Koma said. Since participating in the performances, they do not only paint the traditional style that they have learned to paint, but just whatever they want to paint. Later on in the novel dance series there will be Wayne McGregor's Random Dance in Entity from May 22 through May 24 and the 10-year-old El Yiyo, who will star in the New Flamenco Generation from June 5 to 9, both at the Novel Hall in Taipei City.

Catholics remember Khmer Rouge victims amid war-crimes trial

Bishop Emile Destombes, apostolic vicar of Phnom Penh, blesses what used to be the bed of the late Bishop Joseph Chhmar Salas
You Prakort, younger sister of Bishop Joseph Chhmar Salas, tells the story of her brother’s death at the hands of the Khmer Rouge at a memorial service on May 7 at Taing Kauk Parish. Behind her is a picture of her brother

May 14, 2009

KOMPONG THOM, Cambodia (UCAN) -- As the U.N.-backed trial of former Khmer Rouge leaders continues in the capital, Catholics gathered to remember a bishop, priests and laypeople killed by the brutal regime about 30 years ago.
About 40 people from across Cambodia came together on May 7 for a special Mass at Taing Kauk, 100 kilometers north of Phnom Penh, a place Cambodian Catholics call Memorial Place or Land of Hope. Here they prayed on a day specially dedicated to remembering all the Catholics who died during the Khmer Rouge's reign of terror which ended in 1979.

Bishop Emile Destombes, apostolic vicar of Phnom Penh, said in his homily that they were there to remember Khmer Bishop Joseph Chhmar Salas, former apostolic vicar of Phnom Penh, and all the priests, brothers and sisters who died during the religious persecution then.

Bishop Destombes gave thanks to God for their missionary work, which laid the foundations of the Catholic Church in Cambodia. "We have to continue this mission," to be "witnesses of Jesus" in Cambodia, he said.

Om Lan, 63, a Catholic living in Taing Kauk, told UCA News he was very proud of Bishop Salas. "Because of him we have a Catholic community here," he said.

According to Father Gnet Viney, a Khmer priest, the local Church chose this place as a memorial site as it is closely connected with the lives of Bishop Salas and some priests. They were forced to leave Phnom Penh Khmer when Khmer Rouge soldiers marched into the city on April 17, 1975, and eventually came to the Taing Kauk area.

According to You Prakort, a younger sister of Bishop Salas who also attended the memorial, the new arrivals in the area faced immediate discrimination by the local people. She said the Khmer Rouge forced her brother and his priests into hard labor by working in the fields. Bishop Salas later died from a combination of exhaustion and malnutrition, she said.

The prelate reportedly died in Taing Kauk in September 1977 at the age of 39.

In the Land of Hope compound, the church has erected a cross dedicated to Bishop Salas and reconstructed the hut where he and his priests used to live and celebrate Mass, said Father Viney.

Thirty years after the Khmer Rouge's reign of terror, alleged surviving leaders of the regime are now being tried for crimes against humanity by a joint U.N. Cambodian government court.In his Easter message, Monsignor Enrique Figaredo, apostolic prefect of Battambang prefecture, said the trial will conclude an era in Cambodian history. "Any justice from the trials may not impact much on peoples' lives now, but at least we will be able to look toward the future with some healing of past hurts and injustices," he said.

"We can hope that those who act with impunity now, will be brought to justice," he added.