CCHR Concerned By Removal Of Pen Bonnar From Ratanakiri Province

CAMBODIAN CENTER FOR HUMAN RIGTHS

PRESS RELEASE
Phnom Penh - 9 August 2009

CCHR CONCERNED BY REMOVAL OF PEN BONNAR FROM RATANAKIRI PROVINCE

The Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) is deeply concerned by the role played by a Provincial Municipal Judge in the recent removal of Cambodian Human Rights and Development Organisation (ADHOC) activist Pen Bonnar from his position as Ratanakiri provincial coordinator. The CCHR calls on Judge Thor Saran to clarify his recent comments in relation to charges against Mr. Pen and to explain his role in the removal of the provincial coordinator from Ratanakiri. The CCHR is concerned that the case of Pen Bonnar represents evidence of a practice in Cambodia whereby the threat of legal charges is used to silence the voices of human rights activists and to curtail freedom of expression.

The removal of Mr. Pen from Ratanakiri follows an extrajudicial and ultra vires request by Judge Thor to the administration of ADHOC that they remove Mr. Pen from the Province. In so doing, Judge Thor advised, ADHOC would remove Mr. Pen from the jurisdiction of the Provincial Municipal Court of Ratanakiri thereby ensuring that charges of incitement against him would be dropped; “it is easy to end the case and the court can compromise, drop his case and avoid [his] detention”.

Although ADHOC deny that the decision to remove Mr. Pen from the province was made at the suggestion of Judge Thor, the timing of the decision tends to suggest otherwise. Since the removal of Mr. Pen and his reassignment to Svay Rieng Province, Judge Thor has stated that charges of inciting terrorism have been initiated against Mr. Pen. The Ratanakiri Provincial Police and Prosecutors have denied any knowledge of the existence of such a charge against Mr. Pen.

The campaign against Mr. Pen Bonnar arises from his role in a 4 year land dispute in Lumphat district between the developer DM Group and ethnic minority villagers in Ratanakiri Province. In November 2007, violence broke out when members of the ethnic community, who had congregated at the courthouse in Banlung to protest the land dispute at the suggestion of ADHOC, clashed with armed police. Judge Saran has since alleged that Mr. Pen Bonnar had orchestrated the violence in order to facilitate the escape of two men from police custody. Mr. Pen has denied these allegations stating that although he had told the villagers to protest at the court he had told them not to resort to violence.

The CCHR opines that the extent of Mr. Pen’s role in the November 2007 incident was to encourage the ethnic villagers to exercise their fundamental and democratic freedoms of expression and assembly. By alleging that these actions are tantamount to terrorism Judge Thor has displayed a distinct misunderstanding of democracy and the law. Furthermore, by threatening legal action against Mr. Pen so as to ensure his removal from Ratanakiri and his replacement by an individual who can develop “a good relationship with and work with all levels of the provincial authorities”, Judge Thor has usurped his constitutional function to fulfill his duty with respect for the laws, wholeheartedly and conscientiously and to uphold impartiality and to protect the rights and freedoms of Cambodian citizens.

The case of Ben Ponnar represents a serious threat to the work of civil society in Cambodia. The CCHR calls on Judge Thor to clarify his statements and his role in the removal of Pen Bonnar from Ratanakiri Province. The CCHR calls for an end to the practice of using the threat of criminal charges to suppress freedom of expression and to curtail the legal activities of civil society. The CCHR calls on the government to ensure the necessary environment for a viable civil society In Cambodia in the interests of democracy and human rights.

For more information, please contact:
Mr. Ou Virak, President, CCHR
Tel: +855 12 404051
Email: ouvirak@cchrcambodia.org

Sam Rainsy's interview on RFI

On 07 August 2009, opposition leader Sam Rainsy gave an interview to Radio France International in Phnom Penh where he discussed about the political and economic situation in Cambodia, as well as the SRP political goals.

Click here to listen to Sam Rainsy (MP3 in Khmer)

45% of Cambodia is estimated to have been "sold off" to foreign interests

‘Obscene’ agri investments

08/10/2009
Philippine Daily Inquirer

"In fact, the situation in Cambodia (where about 45 percent of the country is estimated to have been “sold off” to foreign interests through various agricultural deals) might come off as worse, and far more obscene, than in the Philippines."

Much appreciation for Ceres Doyo’s recent column on the land grab issue. (Inquirer, 7/30/09) Finally someone has written about it in a major broadsheet. I hope other journalists will follow suit. We have been flagging this issue to different groups and journalists in the Philippines since last year, pointing out to them a global report we compiled. This can be found at http://www. grain.org/briefings/?id=212. We also maintain a collaborative, open-publishing blog that keeps track of what’s happening: http://farmlandgrab.org/.

If I may just share a few thoughts:

The thing with this “agricolonialism” (as you aptly call it) is that it comes in the form of agricultural investments—which makes it seem “appealing” rather than repulsive to the ordinary public. Often negotiated between governments at the behest of private companies, the “deals” often talk of millions of dollars in investments without much regard for its consequences. A year ago, at the height of the rice crisis, the Bahraini government was negotiating with the Department of Foreign Affairs to lease about 40,000 hectares in the Philippines to grow rice for export back to Bahrain. Someone from the DFA reasoned that it’s a win-win deal since the country needs more investments so that it can afford to import the rice that it needs.

This trend is not an isolated case. In fact, the situation in Cambodia (where about 45 percent of the country is estimated to have been “sold off” to foreign interests through various agricultural deals) might come off as worse, and far more obscene, than in the Philippines. In Pakistan, some of the land deals directly compete with local food security. But if Asia has been hit bad, Africa is being hit worse. Indeed this “colonialism” is a global phenomenon. Just over a month ago, there was a private sector meeting in New York City focused on farmland investment, called “Global AgInvesting 2009: Commodities/Land/Infrastructure.”

In the meeting, most of the participants were convinced that they could take over cheap farmlands and, by converting them into modern, high-yield farms, they could increase their values and sell the lands at substantial profits. For some, this was their central business plan; for others, it was their exit strategy—but in all cases land values were sources of profit. They all seemed to think that the increasing demand for food was going to drive up farmland prices (and water prices!), and they wanted to cash in on this.

Certainly this trend has to be stopped.

Anyway, this is a long and winding way of saying thanks to Doyo for drawing attention to this issue. Keep up the good work.

NTT DoCoMo shows interest in Mobitel stake (Cambodia)

August 9th, 2009

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: NTT DoCoMo, the Japanese mobile operator, has reportedly shown interest in acquiring stake in Millicom International Cellular’s (MIC) Combodian subsidiary, Mobiltel, Toshinari Kunieda, senior vice president and managing director of DoCoMo’s global business, reportedly unveiled. The acquisition, according to DoCOmO will boost its presence in the South-East Asia. Kunieda added that DoCoMo is also considering investing in Sri Lanka, and could look at Luxembourg-based MIC’s Sri Lanka asset Celltel among other possibilities.

Montebello Regional Library hosts book talk with author Navy Phim

08/09/2009
Whittier Daily (Whittier, California, USA)

The Asian Pacific Resource Center at the Montebello Regional Library, 1550 W. Beverly Blvd., is sponsoring a book talk at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

The book being discussed is "Reflections of a Khmer Soul" and author Navy Phim will join in the discussion.

Phim was born in Cambodia in 1975, the year that the Khmer Rouge took over the country. Four years later she fled with her family to Thailand, then immigrated to the United States in 1984.

The event is free and open to the public.

For more information call (323) 722-6551.

Video of the 60th Kampuchea Krom Loss Memorial Buddhist Service

Source: Khmer Kampuchea Krom Community

The 60th Kampuchea Krom Loss Memorial Buddhist Service to honor past heroic Khmer Buddhist leaders, clergies, heroes and fallen armed forces personnel and Commemorate June 4, 1949 France gives Khmer land, Kampuchea Krom, to authorities of a new imperialist Vietnam until today

Click here to watch the videos

Cambodia: Law On The Statute Of Judges, Not Their Retirement, Is The Right End From Which To Tackle Judicial Reform

Sunday, 9 August 2009
Press Release: Asian Human Rights Commission

Cambodia: Law On The Statute Of Judges, Not Their Retirement, Is The Right End From Which To Tackle Judicial Reform

Last June the Cambodian government ignored the jurisdiction of the nomination and discipline of judges and prosecutors of the Supreme Council of the Magistracy (SCM) when it bypassed the court and got the King, who is chairman of this supreme judicial council, to retire and replace half of the eight SCM members. The retired members were Ouk Vithun, Prosecutor General of the Supreme Court, 62, an ex-officio member; Henrot Raken, 68, Prosecutor General of the Appeal Court, another ex-officio member; Khieu Sameth, 62, President of Kandal Provincial Court, an appointed member; and Sin Dim, 66, President of Preah Sihanouk Provincial Court, another appointed member.

The government’s infringement upon the SMC’s jurisdiction is unconstitutional as it violated the independence of the judiciary of which the SCM is an integral part. Apparently the government was not happy with the lack of the SMC’s swift disciplinary action against a provincial prosecutor whose alleged faults had been widely reported in the press.

Perhaps more importantly, the government was not happy with the SCM when the latter had not retired the judges and prosecutors it had proposed. The SCM had its own reasons for not heeding the government’s proposal. It wanted to uphold its independence and exercise its authority over the nomination and discipline of judges and prosecutors.

Even more importantly, there was no law on the statute of judges and prosecutors which should set the retirement age for them. The government has not yet enacted this long overdue law and also the law on the organization of the judiciary when the country‘s Constitution has specifically stipulated the need to enact both laws since 1993. Like the law on the statute of civil servants and the law on the statute of members of the armed forces, which have not been specifically stipulated in the Constitution and which had both been enacted in the mid-1990s, this law on the statute of judges and prosecutors would determine, among other things, the age of retirement for judges and prosecutors. Without this law, the SCM would have no legal basis to retire judges and prosecutors.

The SCM did not comply with a government decree (not a law) which has been echoed by subsequent government circular letters and which fixes the retirement age of 60 for judges and prosecutors when this decree was based on no law on the statute of judges and prosecutors. This inaction has led the government to accuse the SCM of defending certain members of the judiciary who have wished to remain in active service.

Now with a new composition more amenable to the government’s wishes, the SCM sets out to retire some 27 elder judges and prosecutors, retirement which some have seen as part of the long overdue judicial reform.

However, the retirement of the four members of the SCM in June and the planned retirement of a big batch of judges and prosecutors are but palliatives to defuse mounting pressure for judicial reform. These measures have tackled this reform at the wrong end and have in no way come to address the real issue of the legal foundation of Cambodia’s entire judiciary. They have further violated the constitutional principle of the separation of powers, judicial independence and consolidated the executive control of the judiciary.

If the government is not happy with the functioning of the SCM, the Prime Minister should raise the issue with the King who is its chairman when he has an audience with him twice a month (Art.20 of the Constitution). The government should not delay any further the enactment of the law on the statute of judges and prosecutors and the law on the organization of the judiciary so that judges and prosecutors, who belong to the same body of magistrates, would have proper legal status, which they don’t have at the moment, and all courts of law would be duly established by law, which they are not at the moment. Everyone would thus be entitled to be tried by an independent, competent and impartial tribunal established by law, a right which is specifically stipulated under Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Cambodia is a party.

The government cannot apply the law on the nomination of judges and on the functioning of courts of law enacted in the communist days, prior to the promulgation of the current Constitution, and any decree enacted thereof when they are not among the “Laws and standard documents in Cambodia that safeguard State properties, rights, freedom and legal private properties and in conformity with the national interests, (which) shall continue to be effective until altered or abrogated by new texts” under the transitional article 158 of the current Constitution.

The absence of the law on the statute of judges and prosecutors poses a big problem of legitimacy for the composition of the SCM itself whose three judge members should be elected by their peers, an election which has been held up for 16 years, which is too long. The lack of the legitimacy of the composition of the SCM in turn questions the legitimacy of the composition of the country’s Constitutional Council which is a sort of a constitutional court, whose three members are appointed by the SCM.

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) urges the Cambodian government to prioritise the building of the legal foundation and framework of the country’s entire judiciary, its organization and the status of judges and prosecutors by enacting the law on their statute, including their retirement age, in tandem with the law on the organisation of the judiciary, two of the important laws that are specifically stipulated in the country’s constitution. This is the right end from which it should tackle judicial reform in Cambodia.

About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights issues in Asia. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.

Cambodia launches an ultimatum to Thailand to remove all barbed wires from Phnom Trop and borderline by 10 August

08 August 2009
By Sopheak
Khmer Sthabna news
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

Following the negotiation meetings between high level Cambodian and Thai army officers on 06-07 August regarding Thailand’s construction of concrete fences and the installation of barbed wires at Phnom Trop zone and along the border, Thailand is currently removing these concrete fences and barbed wires out of the disputed zone.

A RAFC officer indicated on 08 August that Thai troops are removing the 2-meter high concrete fence and the barbed wires installed at Phnom Trop after Cambodia launched an ultimatum for them to do so by 10 August.

General Chhum Socheat, spokesman of the Cambodian ministry of Defense, said that, following the 2-day negotiations (06-07 August), Thai troops stationed in Phnom Trop agreed to the order to remove the barbed wires and the concrete fences they built.

General Chhum Socheat confirmed that Thai troops have already removed some out already because they affect the border and nobody is allowed to do anything there yet.

General Srey Doek, commander of Cambodian battalion 3, stationed in Preah Vihear temple, indicated that Thai troops removed almost everything out already as of today (08 August).

The construction of the concrete fences and the installation of barbed wires by Thai troops in Phnom Trop and along the disputed border areas affect the 2000 MOU between Thailand and Cambodia.

It has been more than one year that Thailand’s aggression on Cambodia started and up to now, Thai troops have not all pulled out yet.

Cambodia to register 12th century temple as World Heritage Site

PHNOM PENH, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia will submit the application form to list 12th century Banteay Chmar temple as World Heritage Site with the heritage committee of UNESCO soon, the local media reported on Sunday.

"Listing of the temple is aiming at conservation of the heritage site and its value is humanitarian heritage," according to khmer language newspaper Kampuchea Thmey Daily.

It added that Cambodia delegation led some experts from UNESCO,and delegation from Foundation for World Heritage to visit the temple on Saturday.

The temple located in Banteay Mean Chey province, about 60 km distance in northern area of provincial town.

Cambodia has already registered Angkor Wat temple, Royal Ballet, Khmer shadow theater and Khmer temple Preah Vihear as World Heritage Sites.