Tracking Suspected American Pedophiles in Cambodia

Courtesy of APLE

Reporter Goes Inside 'Operation Twisted Traveler': Coordinated International Crackdown on Alleged Sex Predators

Thursday, September 17, 2009
By DAN HARRIS, ALMIN KARAMHMEDOVIC and AUDE SOICHET
ABC News Nightline (USA)

PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA, Sept. 16, 2009 — Snaking through the streets of Cambodia's capital city, we're on the tail of suspected American pedophile Harvey Johnson. The 57-year-old failed real estate developer from Arizona has been teaching English out of his house in Phnom Penh for two years. His position has given him ample opportunity to get close to children, authorities say.

Cambodia has long been a top destination for pedophiles from the United States and all over the world, according to law enforcement officials and humanitarian groups.

Unbeknown to Johnson, he has been under surveillance by a local nonprofit group called APLE, which has made it its mission to identify suspected foreign pedophiles and to help gather enough evidence for the police to make an arrest.

Watch "World News" at 6:30 p.m. ET and "Nightline" TONIGHT at 11:35 p.m. ET for the full report

Johnson is accused of using his position as an English teacher to molest several underage girls. APLE investigators tell ABC News they first noticed Johnson in October 2007 when they claim he was behaving suspiciously with children in public.

"He was seen touching; he was seen caressing those children. That's why we opened a case against him," APLE agent Samleang Seila tells us.

APLE used an undercover "spy agent" to befriend Johnson. Its hidden cameras caught Johnson allegedly selling child pornography to the agent. The agent recorded hours of conversations in which APLE claimed Johnson talked freely about molesting young girls.


"Slipped my little finger right up her," he told the APLE agent in a hidden audio recording. "But it was snug. She's very small."

After nearly two years of building its case, APLE agents told us that they believed they'd finally provided the police with enough evidence to get an arrest warrant.

In the final days of its investigation, it agreed to give ABC News extraordinary, behind-the-scenes access.

Day One: Staking Out Alleged Pedophile

APLE officials took us to Johnson's home, where agent Rattana Rong told us that four female students had allegedly entered Johnson's home.

Investigators, who told us they had been following Johnson night and day, seemed to have surveillance down to a science. There were agents staked out in strategic locations -- some posing as motor bike taxi drivers, another as a vendor of cold drinks -- and two more agents are planted in Johnson's neighbor's house.

To our surprise, we spotted Johnson himself, sitting at an outdoor restaurant, and he struck up a conversation with us.

"How long are you in town?" he asked.

"Just a couple of weeks," I replied.

"Oh, a couple of weeks?"

"Yeah."

"You're just enjoying all the sights ... and diversions."

"Exactly."

He gives us pointers on where to stay and what to see, mentioning Martinis -- a bar in the city we are told is notorious for being a place where visitors can solicit prostitutes. Johnson gave us his phone number, and we left before he got suspicious.

APLE is now part of a coordinated international crackdown, involving the Cambodian and American police, the FBI and ICE international law enforcement, called "Operation Twisted Traveler."

One of the suspected pedophiles APLE recently helped to bust was Michael Dodd, a registered sex offender in Florida. Dodd was accused of attempting to arrange his marriage with a 14-year-old girl. We found him awaiting trial, along with the girl's mother.

Dodd was caught on undercover video by APLE's spy agent, complaining to his victim's mother that the girl was being insufficiently affectionate with him, despite the amount of money he had given the family.

"I want to ask her a question directly. Nan, do you love me?" Dodd said on camera.

"Is there a word for mannequin? When I kiss her I feel like I'm kissing a statue. There's no reciprocity. She's just like a limp pillow," he said.

After the trial, as Dodd was taken back to prison to await his verdict, he spoke to us.

"So the allegation against you is that you essentially took advantage of a vulnerable family, paying them off to have access to their very young daughter," I said.

"Yeah, that's what they're accusing me of, sure," he replied.

"And you're saying there's nothing to it?"

Dan Harris speaks with Michael Dodd.

"No because there's love. I love her. I'm crazy about her."

"How you can be in love with her? You're roughly 60 years old. She doesn't speak your language. She's very young," I said.

"Well, look at this, you know, our previous generations, before we were born, before they made the age limits, there wasn't such a -- I'm sorry," he said, before he's taken away by cops.

Outside the courthouse, we meet Dodd's alleged victim.

"Do you think Michael Dodd behaved inappropriately with you?" I asked her. "Did he sexually abuse you?"

"Yes," the translator said as the little girl nodded.

We watch as the girl is completely shunned by members of her own family, who blamed her for getting her mother in trouble. She was allowed to hug her younger brother.

Meeting Accused Pedophile

We were some of the first journalists the Cambodian government had ever allowed inside Preysar prison -- the largest in Cambodia. We talk to other alleged American sex offenders who've been busted by APLE and other organizations.

Dan Harris talks to Erik Peters.

We approached Erik Peters, a convicted sex offender back in California, who's accused of abusing several young boys here in Cambodia. They testified that Peters allegedly touched them inappropriately, sodomized them and took pictures of the acts.

"We just want to ask you about the charges against you," I said.

"Sorry, I can't speak," he told me.

"You can't speak about it at all?"

"No, if you want to talk about human rights abuses or something ..." he said.

"Are there human rights abuses?" I asked.

"Well, that would have to be interviewed at a safer location. I can't speak about it right now."

We ask Peters about the charges against he, which he denied.

"Absolutely untrue," he told us.

Peters and many other American pedophiles are accused of using a similar technique -- called "grooming" -- where they pay families in order to abuse their children. Johnson had allegedly been using the "grooming" technique as well. He's accused of talking about it openly with APLE's spy agent with his young students in the room.

"Frankly, I'm playing this for the long haul. All of these are gonna be 15 within two years, except the little one," APLE claimed Johnson said on its hidden audio recording.

Confronting an Alleged Pedophile

Day seven in Cambodia and we're called to Johnson's neighbor's house, where agents from APLE and ICE have gathered to wait. We're told the arrest is imminent.

Cambodian police approach Johnson.

But Johnson is having breakfast at a restaurant down the street, which is the same place we saw him a couple of days ago, when undercover police roll up and surround Johnson.

Suddenly, officers rush in and make their arrest. Johnson looks surprised, but stays surprisingly calm as he's asked to come down to the station.

At the station, we confront him.

"Harvey, I'm Dan Harris from ABC News. The police said you've been abusing girls here in Cambodia for the past couple of years."

"I've only been here two years. I have no idea what they're talking about," he replied.

"Yeah, they've been following you for two years. A group called APLE, which is an NGO that investigates sex tourists," I explained. "They've been following you for two years, and they said that you've been abusing girls and that they have proof of that."

"I don't know what they're talking about," he said.

Johnson claimed that there's no truth to that accusation. He denied having abused any girls in Cambodia, saying that as a teacher, young girls frequently visited his home.

"They also have you on an audio tape, you saying that you had inserted your finger into one of the girls," I told him.

"I don't know what they're talking about," he said.

"But it's your voice."

"I don't know what they're talking about."

After presenting Johnson with a warrant from anti-human trafficking and juvenile protection, the police walked him down the street to their vehicles as a crowd gathered.

Johnson told us he had no idea that APLE had been following him for the past two years.

"They've been on you pretty much every minute for two years," I said.

"I don't know what they're talking about," he said.

"You didn't know, though, I mean they had agents in the house next door to yours. They've been following you everywhere you go. You had no idea?"

"No."

"Does it surprise you?"

"Shocked. Yeah. I know a lot of people. I teach. I teach older people, I teach children. I have &"

"So you're confident this will turn into nothing?"

"Sure," he said, "sure."

They took Johnson to the police station where's he was questioned and placed in a jail cell. The next morning, police returned with Johnson to search his home, where they found stacks of porn, lubricant, Viagra and children's toys. They found cameras in his bedroom and confiscated several computers and hard drives.

When we asked him about the porn and video cameras in his bedroom, Johnson said they didn't belong to him.

"No, they're the man who owns the house," he said. "There were a lot of cameras."

He was now armed with a defense: that the girls who are accusing him of molestation are doing so to cover up for stealing his camera weeks before.

"I think she's making it all up. I think frankly, I think it was a set up," he said. "There were a lot of bad things that came down about that camera. About the telephone that was stolen. I had to make threats that I was gonna bring in the police."

Back at the police station, Johnson's alleged victims -- many in ponytails and pajamas -- had been called in to give statements. Even the APLE agents, hardened by years of investigating alleged pedophiles, seem genuinely shaken by the testimony of one of the girls, who said Johnson threatened her into engaging in sex acts.

"I have young daughter, and I am very emotionally touched and I am really sad when I hear any girl talking about sexual abuse," said APLE agent Samlean Seila. "I'm really concerned about my daughter, and I don't want my daughter to be sexually abused like that so it's really touching me."

The girl's mother said she was totally unaware of the alleged abuse -- until now.

"When I found out, I wanted to die," she said. "I only allowed my daughter to study with Harvey because we thought he was a good person, and my family is poor." And Johnson's alleged victims are just some of the thousands of Cambodian children believed to have had their innocence stolen.

Negotiating for a Young Girl
We learned it could be astonishingly easy to essentially buy a young girl from her family in Cambodia. We meet a 15-year-old girl selling water on the street. She introduced us to her mother. In broad daylight, she said, she's willing to make a deal.

They are speaking in Khmer. APLE investigators translated for us.

"So are you saying that if I wanted to marry your daughter that would be OK?" I asked.

"It's OK, it's OK," she said.

When we come back later, we put the final touches on the negotiation.

"Can I get a sense of how much that would be? Are we talking two to three hundred dollars a month?" I asked.

"It's up to you," she told us.

"Has your daughter been with a man before? Has her daughter been with any men before me?"

"No, no, no. If you don't trust, you can take her to the hospital ... for medical examination," the mother said.

Breaking the Cycle of Sexual Exploitation
How could a mother so casually agree to sell her child into sexual servitude? Poverty is part of the answer. However, evangelicals we spoke to believe there's something more at work in Cambodia: the ghosts of history.

In the 1970s, this country saw the largest genocide since the Holocaust. Under the rule of Pol Pot, Cambodia's educated, wealthy and religious communities were all wiped out. Children were forced to spy on and even execute their parents. Nearly 3 million people died.

American Pastor Don Brewster pointed out that those children were now today's parents. He said Cambodia now suffers from a "moral vacuum."

"It's materialism and greed," Brewster told us. "In a country that's so poor that has hardly any television anyways, these families will take a loan to buy a TV, which they know they can never pay. They can't feed themselves, never mind buy a TV, but they know, 'Hey I've got my ace in the hole, I can sell my daughter.'"

Brewster left his congregation in California to move to Cambodia four years ago, where he fights child sex trafficking full-time. His group, Agape Restoration Center, has opened a community center in the place of a former brothel.

"You look at those kids in there, those young girls," he said, "probably 90 percent of them are gonna be trafficked tonight ... and every night."

Brewster also runs a shelter for former child prostitutes like Bella, who told us she was forced to have sex every day.

A group called the International Justice Mission rescued Bella and brought her to the shelter, where she can attempt to regain a piece of her childhood.

"I can study and I can get love and I can have ...," she said, before breaking down in tears.

CLICK HERE to learn more about what you can do to help prevent sexual exploitation.

PAD puts pressure on govt over 'loss' of disputed land

A Cambodian settlement in the disputed territory near the Preah Vihear temple ruins.

17/09/2009
Wassana Nanuam
Bangkok Post

Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya's weekend visit to the area around Preah Vihear, a sore point in Thai-Cambodian relations, has left many wondering what the latest fuss is about.

Usually, a military standoff sends border security temperatures soaring. But this time, it's talk of the possibility of the country losing a 4.6 square-kilometre overlapping area near Preah Vihear temple to Cambodia that has roused national fervour.

While the Abhisit government was busy fending off the myriad political threats to its survival, the unresolved territorial dispute over the historical ruins has continued to put the two countries' diplomatic ties on edge.

The People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) has even turned on one of its own men, Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya, for what it views as his being complacent. Such an attitude is in total contrast to the early days in office when Mr Kasit demonstrated how fired-up he was in guarding the country's territory.

Another person who has kept a watch on the Preah Vihear development is president of the Privy Council, General Prem Tinsulanonda. Gen Prem is reportedly concerned about the possibility of tensions spinning out of control if it is not attended to properly.

A source said former supreme commander Gen Mongkol Ampornpisit, one of Gen Prem's closest aides, paid a visit to Chuan Leekpai, the former prime minister and chief adviser of the ruling Democrat Party, at the party's headquarters in August, to convey Gen Prem's concern over the border developments.

Gen Prem's worry could have been the nudge that spurred Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva into instructing Mr Kasit to organise a TV broadcast assuring the Thai public that the country has not yet lost a single inch of land area in regard to the Preah Vihear dispute.

Last week, Mr Abhisit and Mr Kasit asked Second Army commander Lt Gen Wibulsak Neepal to update them on the latest situation.

The meeting reportedly included a discussion on plans to reduce the size of Thai troops stationed at the 4.6 sqkm no man's land buffering the border. The troop reduction proposal would require parliamentary approval before it is put on the table for another round of discussions with Phnom Penh.

Mr Kasit subsequently led a trip to Preah Vihear, the first in many years by a foreign minister. The visit was widely covered by the media. Mr Kasit set off on foot to Wat Kaew Sikha Khiri temple where he met Cambodia's deputy supreme commander Gen Chea Dara, reputed to be Prime Minister Hun Sen's right-hand man. It is believed that the way to gain favourable terms with Mr Hun Sen is through this general. Securing that vital connection with the Cambodian leadership is in order, as the government seems more desperate now than ever to rebut the PAD's insistence that Thailand has tacitly ceded its sovereignty over the no man's land to Cambodia.

The PAD has argued that Cambodian soldiers have occupied much of the disputed land. Although Thai troops are also stationed in the area, it is the Cambodian team which is perceived as having a command-and-control advantage.

The PAD took matters into its own hands when, on Aug 28, core leader Veera Somkwamkid led a march of several hundred supporters on a trek up to the Mor E Daeng cliff located on the threshold of the Preah Vihear sanctuary.

The marchers were prevented from accessing the 4.6 sq km disputed zone. Eventually, the army agreed to permit eight of the group members, including Mr Veera, to enter the area. Mr Veera later concluded there were a few areas where Cambodian soldiers had indeed taken control and that the Thai military could do nothing. It was a de facto loss of our land, Mr Veera said.

He vowed to head another march to the hill-top sanctuary this Saturday, the very day when the anti-government United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) plans to hold a major rally in Bangkok to mark the third anniversary of the Sept 19 military coup.

The PAD's planned march has alarmed army chief Gen Anupong Paojinda. He is concerned that if any trekker were to be "captured" by the Cambodian soldiers, the incident would set off a chain of reaction that could have far-reaching consequences on national security and bilateral relations.

Mr Veera has reportedly distributed leaflets to villagers in provinces close to Preah Vihear in an apparent bid to drum up local support "to reclaim Thailand's rightful ownership" of the ancient Hindu temple and the disputed land.

The military has coordinated with the provincial authorities in recruiting volunteers to keep the Veera march from trespassing into sensitive areas. No military personnel will be deployed as crowd control, so as to prevent any untoward incident and preclude any claims that the military was using force against the PAD members, a military officer revealed.

The source added that, after all, the march may simply be intended to steal the public spotlight from the gathering by its rival the UDD in Bangkok on the same day.

A high-level source in the army conceded the significance of the Preah Vihear issue has been somewhat uderplayed by the government and the Foreign Ministry. The military has tried to mend fences with Cambodia and cool the bilateral heat, although any reduction of troops in the disputed area would be for the government to decide. Still, the same source maintained that the military was also wary about the Preah Vihear affair becoming further complicated by the country's internal politics.

The trouble with the disputed area is that Cambodian soldiers and villagers had constructed houses and shops there long before the Thai troops started to make a "counter-presence".

The Cambodian occupants had taken root in the area since 1999, whereas the Thai soldiers have only gone into the zone in July last year.

The source said the Cambodian occupants are uncompromising in their stand that the disputed land belongs to their country and that they were only allowing the Thai soldiers to "stay" there temporarily.

The best the Thai soldiers can do now is practice restraint, stand their ground and refuse to see the border land chiselled away.

Wassana Nanuam reports on military affairs for the Bangkok Post.

RP seals 10th ASA this year with Cambodia

Thursday, 17 September 2009

THE Philippines and Cambodia sealed on Wednesday their first air pact, fielding a total of 35 weekly flights.

Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) deputy executive director Porvenir Porciuncula said the two-day discussion among the panels of both countries was concluded in Cambodia.

Both panels agreed on seven flights per week on the Manila-Cambodia route, 14-weekly flights on Clark-Cambodia, and another 14 flights per week on points in the Philippines except Manila and Clark.

The Philippine panel is composed of officials from the departments of Transportation and Communications, Foreign Affairs, Tourism, and Trade and Industry, CAB and representatives from airline companies.

The CAB expects to clinch agreements with six more countries for the rest of the year, said CAB executive director Carmelo Arcilla.

“We have lined up a number of countries and we are just waiting for a confirmation of the schedule. These are the countries that we are coordinating with to discuss our air services agreement (ASA),” said Arcilla.

The CAB official said the panel is expected to hold bilateral negotiations with Turkey, China, Russia, Italy, Korea and Iceland to amend the Philippines’ existing ASAs with them.

The latest air pact, sealed with the United Kingdom in July, was the ninth agreement sealed by the Philippine air panel this year. In June a new deal with Singapore was finalized.

Other ASAs were sealed with Spain, Brunei, Australia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.  

In the past, the panel clinched agreements with Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Macau, Canada, Finland, Iran and the Netherlands. L. Lectura

Cambodia protests alleged Thai brutality at border

Cambodia's Secretary of State Ouch Borith speaks to the press on Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2009, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Ouch Borith said Thailand has yet to offer an official explanation on allegations of Thai forces burning a teenage Cambodian boy alive.(AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia – Cambodia sought an explanation from Thailand on Wednesday for an incident in which a Cambodian youth was allegedly shot, then burned alive by Thai paramilitary troops in a disputed border area.

Ouch Borith, a senior Cambodian Foreign Ministry official, said Thailand had yet to reply to a diplomatic letter sent Tuesday requesting an investigation into the incident.

The Cambodian letter said Thai rangers shot at a group of Cambodian villagers who were allegedly cutting down trees illegally in the border area of Oddar Meancheay Province last Friday.

It said two teenage boys from the group were badly wounded. One of them, identified as Mao Kheung, escaped, while the other, 16-year-old Yon Rith, was arrested and burned alive by Thai forces, it claimed.

"The boy was our compatriot and he has received very cruel and inhumane treatment from the Thai forces, such as should not occur in the 21st century," Ouch Borith said.

Thai foreign ministry spokeswoman Wimon Kidchob told reporters in Bangkok on Wednesday that the Cambodian villagers had crossed into Thai territory and were simply sent back.

"According to the military, there was no arrest. They were given a warning and pushed back without any incident," she said.

Ouch Borith said Cambodia officials had collected the boys remains _ a rope used to tie his hands and a pile of ashes _ from the scene of the incident.

He urged the Thai government to seriously investigate the incident and bring those responsible to justice.

Tensions going back centuries between the neighboring countries flared in 2003, when a mob burned down the Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh after a Thai actress allegedly made an insulting remark. Tensions soared again last year over the disputed border territory.

http://khmernz.blogspot.com/2009/09/krouge-jail-chief-wraps-testimony-with.html

Agence France-Presse - 9/16/2009

The chief of the Khmer Rouge's main jail gave his final testimony to Cambodia's war crimes tribunal Wednesday with an unexpected invitation to victims of the regime to visit him in prison.

"Any victim who wishes to see me, I would be very happy to do so. You are all welcome," said Duch, who has apologised for overseeing the torture and execution of over 15,000 people at Tuol Sleng detention centre.

"I open the door to them emotionally and most importantly, I would like to express my inner emotions, or my guilt admission, so they could see my true self," he told the UN-backed court.

"And I would like those victims to acknowledge that I finally accept my responsibility, admit my guilt."

Duch is being held while on trial at a detention centre within the precincts of the purpose-built court on the outskirts of the capital Phnom Penh. He also said prosecutors would be welcome to visit him at the end of proceedings.

However, as the defence attempted to depict Duch's testimony as crucial to the reconstruction of Cambodia, a court translator was overheard muttering in comments that were meant to be off-microphone: "This is a play".

The defence sought to demonstrate Duch's remorse was sincere by showing a video of his 2008 visit to Tuol Sleng, a former high school in Phnom Penh, as he cooperated with investigators and read an apology to three survivors.

The video showed the survivors sitting in chairs as Duch said he was "frozen with great terror" when he stepped on the grounds of Tuol Sleng and filled with "indisputable remorse" for the events that happened there.

"I would like to express my sincere thanks that I have been taken here. Please allow me to offer my apology to all victims who were subjected to very severe hardship at that place until they were subjected to death," Duch said in the video.

Duch is the lone Khmer Rouge cadre to have admitted guilt for atrocities, but denies several allegations he personally tortured or killed inmates and denies being a key figure in the movement, in government from 1975 to 1979.

He tried to deflect prosecution questions Wednesday about his zeal for the Khmer Rouge, saying he was effectively a prisoner of the regime from the time he joined its revolution in the 1960s.

"I was closely monitored, whether I liked it or not I had to do (operate Tuol Sleng) otherwise I would be killed. This is the reality as opposed to the analysis by experts," Duch said.

Closing arguments in Duch's trial, the first at the court, are scheduled to take place in November and the verdict is expected early next year.

Led by Pol Pot, who died in 1998, the Khmer Rouge emptied Cambodia's cities in a bid to forge a communist utopia, resulting in the deaths of up to two million people from starvation, overwork and torture.

Four senior Khmer Rouge leaders are currently in detention awaiting the next trial at the court, and judges recently ruled five more cadres should be investigated for possible prosecution.

Thai Troops 'Burned Cambodian Boy Alive'

A Cambodian soldier stands guard as Thai troops walk near the Preah Vihear temple

Wednesday September 16, 2009

Cambodia has accused soldiers from neighbouring Thailand of burning a boy alive after shooting at villagers in a disputed border region.

Bangkok has insisted the accusations were baseless.

But they come amid simmering tensions between the historic foes over jurisdiction of the land around the 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple, which straddles their common border.

Seven soldiers have been killed in the past year during skirmishes near the site.

" We have pictures of the late boy whose hands were tied, along with his remains and ashes. "
Cambodian deputy foreign minister Ouch Borith

Cambodian deputy foreign minister Ouch Borith said he had seen evidence proving the burning took place.

He urged Thailand to investigate what he said was a "brutal and inhumane" act.

Mr Borith said he had seen photographs of the charred body of a boy, but did not provide any evidence Thai soldiers were responsible.

"This is true. We have pictures of the late boy whose hands were tied, along with his remains and ashes," he told reporters.

Cambodian authorities said a 16-year-old boy was arrested by troops on September 11 for cutting down trees on Thai territory.

Soldiers shot and seriously wounded another boy as he fled, the reports said.

Cambodia's foreign ministry sent a statement to its Thai counterpart complaining that the boy's death was a "serious breach of internationally accepted humanitarian principles".

The Thai ministry replied it had been informed by the army that teenagers had trespassed on Thai territory and were given a warning by border troops.

"There was no arrest. They just warned them and pushed back into Cambodia without detention or any clashes," spokeswoman Wimon Kidchob told reporters.

Cambodia accuses troops of burning boy alive

Reuters

TVNZ
http://tvnz.co.nz/

Thursday September 17, 2009
Source: Reuters

Cambodia accused soldiers from neighbouring Thailand of burning a boy alive after shooting at villagers in a disputed border region, a claim Bangkok said was baseless.

The accusation comes amid simmering tensions between the historic foes over jurisdiction of the land around the 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple, which straddles their common border. Seven soldiers have been killed in the last year in skirmishes near the site.

Cambodian Deputy Foreign Minister Ouch Borith said he had seen evidence proving the incident took place and urged Thailand to investigate what he said was a "brutal and inhumane" act.

Borith said he had seen photographs of the charred body of a boy. He did not provide any evidence Thai soldiers were responsible.

"This is true. We have pictures of the late boy whose hands were tied, along with his remains and ashes," he told reporters.

Cambodian authorities said a 16-year-old boy was arrested by troops on September 11 for cutting down trees on Thai territory. Soldiers shot and seriously wounded another boy as he fled, the reports said.

Cambodia's Foreign Ministry sent a statement to its Thai counterpart complaining that the boy's death was a "serious breach of internationally accepted humanitarian principals".

The Thai ministry responded on Thursday, saying it had been informed by the army that the teenagers had trespassed on Thai territory and were given a warning by border troops.

"There was no arrest. They just warned them and pushed back into Cambodia without detention or any clashes," spokeswoman Wimon Kidchob told reporters. "This matter, I am certain, will not harm our good relations."

Thailand's extra-parliamentary People's Alliance for Democracy movement used the simmering temple dispute to attack the previous government. It plans to protest near the ruins this weekend to demand Preah Vihear is "returned" to Thailand.

Both sides have repeatedly pledged to exercise military restraint and work to resolve the issue, which critics say has been used by governments on both sides to stoke nationalist fervour.

Khmer Rouge crimes too big to hide, former torture centre boss says

M&C
http://www.monstersandcritics.com

Asia-Pacific News
Sep 16, 2009

Phnom Penh - Comrade Duch, the feared former head of the Khmer Rouge's main execution centre, told Cambodia's UN-backed war crimes court Wednesday that the numerous crimes committed under the regime were too big to hide.

'The elephant cannot be covered by a rice basket,' Duch, whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav, said on the final day of testimony.

Around 2 million people are thought to have died from execution, overwork and starvation under the Khmer Rouge regime, known as Democratic Kampuchea, which ruled Cambodia during 1975-79.

Duch, the former head of the Khmer Rouge's execution centre S-21, is being tried for crimes against humanity and grave breaches of the Geneva Convention. At least 15,000 people were tortured and executed at S-21 in the 1970s. Just a handful survived the prison.

The final day of testimony saw Duch answer character questions from the prosecution and his defence lawyers. His defence has sought to portray him as a man following orders, yet willing to take responsibility for those actions.

William Smith, the interim international co-prosecutor, suggested to Duch that he had remained with the Khmer Rouge movement after 1979 because he still believed in it. He said psychologists who had assessed Duch had felt he was still committed to the revolution.

'The experts' analysis took me by surprise, and I don't agree with it,' said Duch, who was arrested in 1999.

Duch told the court the Cambodian Communist party was responsible for the ruin of the nation in the 1970s. As a member of that party, he said, he took full responsibility and sought forgiveness.

'The only way to survive was to fulfil the duties assigned to us ... so I tried to survive on a daily basis,' he told the court of his actions as S-21 chief when he passed confessions up to his superiors before awaiting their orders to 'smash,' or kill, those who had confessed. 'Yes, you can say I am a coward.'

Duch again stressed that he did not personally arrest anyone, and said the ideology of the time meant that people arrested and sent to S-21 'must be seen as enemies and smashed because they were enemies of the party.'

The 72 days of proceedings in Duch's trial have heard horrific testimony from victims and former staff of S-21, as well as harrowing stories from surviving family members of people who were executed under Duch's command.

In a question framed deliberately to echo the prosecution's outline made earlier this year, Duch's foreign defence lawyer, Francois Roux, asked him: 'So, do you admit that in reality you were the man who, enjoying the trust of his superiors, implemented in a devoted and merciless way, the persecution of the Cambodian people?'

'Yes, I completely admit [that],' Duch replied.

Responding to a question from Roux, Duch later said that any of the victims - some of whom are not convinced his expressed remorse is genuine - were welcome to visit him in jail.

'I open the door to them emotionally, and most importantly I would like to express my inner emotion of my guilty admission so they can see my true self,' Duch replied.

Duch told the court that by late 1978, shortly before the Vietnamese-backed invasion that overthrew the regime, he was sure the revolution to which he had dedicated his life would fail.

'I joined the revolution to liberate my people and show gratitude to my parents and nation,' he said. 'By the end the country had fallen into complete tragedy, and more than 1.7 million perished.'

In a final flourish, Roux showed the court a video of Duch on a judicial visit to S-21 in February last year. Roux said it was the first time in the history of international criminal justice that an accused person had returned to the scene of their crimes.

In the video Duch can be seen fighting back tears and apologizing to two of the survivors of S-21 as he read out a prepared statement.

Duch, who converted to Christianity in 1996, said: 'I was determined to go in order to kneel down and seek forgiveness of those dead souls - as a Christian I had to do it.'

Sentencing is expected to be handed down next year. Cambodia does not have the death penalty, so Duch, 67, faces a maximum term of life in prison.

Four former Khmer Rouge leaders are in detention awaiting trial once Duch's trial concludes. Judges are investigating a further two.

Former chief of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge prison apologises

Khmer Rouge jailer Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Comrade Duch on trial in Phnom Penh. Duch has apologised to his victims.

The chief of the Khmer Rouge's main jail has ended his testimony to Cambodia's war crimes tribunal with a surprise invitation to victims of the former Pol Pot regime to visit him in prison.

Duch has told the United Nations-backed court that he would like to personally apologise to victims.

"Any victim who wishes to see me, I would be very happy to do so. You are all welcome," said Duch, whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav.

"I open the door to them emotionally and most importantly, I would like to express my inner emotions, or my guilt admission, so they could see my true self."

Duch has also admitted to overseeing the torture and execution of over 15,000 people at the so-called S-21 detention centre.

Admits guilt, denies torturing

He has told the court he admits his guilt and accepts responsibility.

However he denies several allegations he personally tortured and killed inmates.

Closing arguments in Duch's trial, the first at the court, are scheduled to take place in November and the verdict is expected early next year.

Governments accused of negligence over Preah Vihear dispute

http://enews.mcot.net

BANGKOK, Sept 16 (TNA) - An activist on Wednesday petitioned the anti-graft agency accusing both the previous and the present governments of negligence of duty for allowing foreign intrusion to occur in the disputed area near the ancient Preah Vihear temple.

A group of activists led by Veera Somkwamkid, chairman of the People's Rights and Liberty Protection Group, filed a petition against all governments since the Chavalit Yongchaiyut administration to the incumbent government led by Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.

The petition asked the National Counter Corruption Commission (NCCC) to investigate the charges and to take legal action against state officials found guilty for malfeasance or negligence of duty which caused damage to the state.

The petitioners accuse the previous and incumbent governments for not only failing to push Cambodian forces out of the area which they claim belongs to Thailand, but also accuse the successive governments of allowing foreign forces to occupy the area adjacent to the Preah Vihear temple--nearly 3,000 rai (1,200 acres)--since 1998.

They submit more than 10 documents and other evidence to back their claim.

In related developments, Lt-Gen Vissanu Sriyaphan, spokesman for the Royal Thai Armed Forces, reaffirmed that Thailand has not lost territory to Cambodia, but warned a group of people led by the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) who plan to carry their protest to the disputed 4.6 square kilometer-area on Saturday that they would be at their own possible risk from uncleared landmines.

"Thailand has not lost territory as understood by some people,” Gen Vissanu said, “but the pending problems is being solved through negotiations not violence. Therefore the ownership of the overlapping area has yet to be decided."

Meanwhile, the armed forces also issued a statement reaffirming that Thailand has not lost its sovereignty over the area and submitted a protest letter over the settlement of some Cambodians in the area.

Negotiations to relocate the settlements could be launched once Parliament endorses the result of the Joint Border Committee meeting. Any move by some Thais to push the Cambodian settlement out of the area would only complicate efforts to solve the problem in the long term, the statement said. (TNA)

khmer pictures update

A Cambodian boy holds burned incense sticks during the festival of the dead at a Buddhist temple on Friday, Sept. 11, 2009, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The festival, also known as the Pchum Ben festival, commemorates the spirits of the dead and almost every Cambodian takes part by visiting temples.

Cambodians offer food to celebrate the festival of the dead at a Buddhist temple on Friday, Sept. 11, 2009, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The festival, also known as the Pchum Ben festival, commemorates the spirits of the dead and almost every Cambodian takes part by visiting temples.


Cambodians cross the Tonle Sap river by ferry along a Chinese-funded bridge under construction at Prek Kdam village, some 30 kilometers (19 miles) north of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Monday, Sept. 14, 2009.

Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen, left, greets villagers during his inspection of the construction site of a Chinese-funded bridge at Prek Kdam village, some 30 kilometers (19 miles) north of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Monday, Sept. 14, 2009.

Cambodian women pray in front of food and candles during the first day of the Pchum Ben festival at a pagoda in Phnom Penh on September 5, 2009. The Pchum Ben festival is a popular religious holiday in Cambodia which consists of 15 days of prayer honouring the ancestors, visits to the temple and the cooking of food for monks.

A Cambodian woman prays in front of food and candles during the first day of the Pchum Ben festival at a pagoda in Phnom Penh on September 5, 2009. The Pchum Ben festival is a popular religious holiday in Cambodia which consists of 15 days of prayer honouring the ancestors, visits to the temple and the cooking of food for monks

Tuol Sleng prison survivors and Cambodian civil party members observe a mass grave at the Choeung Ek fields memorial in Phnom Penh on August 31, 2009. The UN-backed war crimes tribunal into the Khmer Rouge's main jail chief Duch, actual name Kaing Guek Eav, was boycotted by a group of 28 civil parties who are angry with judges for ruling last week to ban them and their lawyers from questioning Duch about his personality in the forthcoming hearings

Cambodian women leave offering of food during the first day of the Pchum Ben festival at a pagoda in Phnom Penh on September 5, 2009. The Pchum Ben festival is a popular religious holiday in Cambodia which consists of 15 days of prayer honouring the ancestors, visits to the temple and the cooking of food for monks.

A Cambodian scavenger carries recycle materials that she collected along a street in Phnom Penh on September 15, 2009. Scavenging for bits of plastic, metal and glass that earn them an average 10 dollars a month, the children of Phnom Penh's municipal rubbish dump are among Cambodia's poorest.

2nd GMS Economic Corridors Forum opens in Cambodia

Photo by DAP

2009-09-16

PHNOM PENH, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- The second GMS (Greater Mekong sub-Region) Economic Corridor Forum opened here on Wednesday, aiming to strengthen the coordination and cooperation among the six countries along the Mekong River and speed up the development of the sub-region economic corridors.

The two-day Forum include a Governor's Forum and an Economic Corridors Forum. More than one hundred senior government officials attended the meeting.

The theme of the Forum is "GMS Economic Corridors: Pathways to an Integrated, Harmonious and Prosperous Sub-region." It will focus on strengthening the platform for coordination and networking among sectors and groups involved in GMS economic corridor development and drawing attention to issues and concerns affecting economic corridor development, and to discuss strategies and measures to accelerate such development.

At the same time, all side will talk about expanding the support of provincial and local authorities to GMS economic corridor development and promote cooperation in addressing cross-border issues and increasing the participation of the private sector and promote public-private partnership in GMS economic corridor development.

The Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) comprises China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Initiated by the ADB, the GMS was founded in 1992 to boost economic growth and reduce poverty in the countries along the Mekong, Southeast Asia's longest river. The region is home to 280 million people, most of whom rely on agriculture and fishing.

The region boasts three road corridors: the north-south road between Kunming, Bangkok and Hanoi; the route from Da Nang in Vietnam and Mawlamyine in Myanmar through Cambodia and Laos; and the route connecting Bangkok and the cities in Cambodia and Vietnam.

The first GMS Economic Corridors Forum was held in Kunming in June last year after it was proposed by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao at the third GMS Summit in Laos.

Editor: Mo Hong'e

War-weary Asian nations offer new treats for tourists

Two years after the end of Nepal's brutal civil war, more tourists than ever visited the Himalayan country in 2008

Decades of civil strife ended in 1998, and tourism is now one of the few sources of foreign exchange for Cambodia

In 1988 more than 700,000 tourists visited Kashmir, but the number declined sharply as the insurgency intensified

The first Bali bombings in 2002 cut foreign tourist arrivals to the island by 70%

Sri Lanka's visitors numbers had dropped as decades of war tormented the teardrop-shaped tropical island

By Mel Gunasekera (AFP)

MIRISSA, Sri Lanka — Tempting tourists back when the bombing stops is never easy, but war-weary Asian countries are planning new treats for travellers in a bid to cash in on a "peace dividend".

Governments are scrambling to replace images of conflict with offers of dream holidays, from whale-watching in Sri Lanka to leisurely treks in Nepal, meditation in Bali and golf in Cambodia.

Sri Lanka's golden beaches, along with tea plantations and ancient religious sites, had long attracted visitors -- but numbers dropped as decades of war tormented the teardrop-shaped tropical island.

When government forces claimed victory against Tamil Tiger separatist rebels in May, tourism chiefs set to work, launching a campaign entitled "Sri Lanka: Small Miracle", to polish its post-war image.

One of the new activities designed to sell the country as a diverse destination is whale watching, focused on the giant mammals frequenting the island's shores between December and April.

British marine biologist Charles Anderson says the numbers of blue and sperm whales and their proximity to shore make the island a natural lure for the growing numbers of eco-tourists.

"Sri Lanka has enormous potential to be a whale destination," said the Maldives-based Anderson, who has been studying Indian Ocean whales for 25 years.

Dileep Mudadeniya, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau's managing director, estimates the promotional campaign will help raise tourist arrivals by at least 20 percent to 500,000 visitors in 2010.

"We have an image that has been challenged by war and travel advisories. Now the war is over. There is lot of interest in us and we will see an upswing by November," Mudadeniya told AFP.

Another country recently freed from the grip of conflict, Nepal, is also hoping that peace will bring back the tourists and is looking to tempt them with a new "Himalayan Trail" running the length of the country.

The number of tourists travelling to Nepal slumped during a 10-year civil war between the army and Maoist rebels which ended in 2006.

But last year a record 550,000 people visited the Himalayan state after foreign governments relaxed their travel warnings.

Tourism authorities say they hope to attract a million visitors by 2011 and are focusing on some of the less developed areas of the country, where few foreigners have ventured.

"We are banking on the peace dividend," said Aditya Baral, director of the Nepal Tourism Board.

"There are lots of unexplored areas in western and eastern Nepal and this time we are trying our best to encourage people to visit those areas where very few people have travelled."

One plan -- still in its early stages -- involves creating a "Himalayan Trail", taking trekkers to some of the remotest parts of the country.

The trail would link paths already used by local people to transport goods and livestock, and would take three months to complete -- with most visitors expected to walk it in stages.

Even intermittent violence can ruin a country's tourist trade, as the Indonesian resort island of Bali learnt to its cost after Islamic militant bomb attacks in 2002 and 2005 killed a total of some 220 people.

The first Bali bombings cut foreign tourist arrivals to the island by 70 percent -- and they took years to return.

Bali Tourism Board secretary general Anak Agung Suryawan Wiranatha said the island had marketed itself as a haven of peace to counter the negative consequences of the bombings.

"Now we promote Bali as a peaceful and spiritual destination. We promote yoga and meditation on the island," Wiranatha said.

"Now health tourism and spas are booming. They are the favorites of tourists from Japan and Korea."

But it is not easy to rebuild tourism in a country that has seen sustained violence, like Cambodia, where up to two million people died under the brutal Khmer Rouge regime in the 1970s.

Decades of civil strife ended in 1998, and tourism is now one of the few sources of foreign exchange for the impoverished southeast Asian nation.

Even though Cambodia now lures more than two million foreign visitors a year, most stay only briefly to see the ancient World Heritage-listed Angkor Wat temple complex.

"We need time to (change our image)," Ho Vandy, co-chair of Cambodia's tourism working group told AFP.

The government last year launched an international "Kingdom of Wonder" campaign promoting the country's beaches, eco-tourism and culture.

More than 20 islands have been designated for development, Vandy said, while a new airport in seaside Sihanoukville is expected to open later this year.

Other plans include a game park for well-heeled hunters in the remote jungle-covered northern Ratanakiri province and several luxury golf courses around the country.

Nothing illustrates the cost of violence and the value of peace in the Asian region quite as clearly as the contrasting situations in Pakistan's Swat valley and Indian Kashmir.

Tourists are returning to Kashmir, once described by a 17th-century visiting emperor as a "paradise on earth", as militant violence in the Muslim-majority region subsides to its lowest level since 1989.

In 1988 more than 700,000 tourists visited Kashmir, but the number declined sharply as the insurgency intensified. Now the tide appears to be turning again, with more than 380,000 visiting in the first seven months of 2009.

Not far away, Pakistan's Swat valley was the jewel of the country's tourism crown and known as the "Switzerland of Pakistan" -- until Taliban militants this year pushed into towns and villages in a bid to enforce sharia law.

It is not just Swat that has been hit by insurgents -- more than 2,000 people have been killed in Taliban-linked attacks across Pakistan in the last two years, scaring away all but the most intrepid foreign tourists.

Pakistan earned 16 billion rupees (200 million dollars) from 800,000 visitors in 2007. Fewer than 400,000 visitors came in 2008, bringing in just eight billion rupees, and the numbers are expected to be even lower this year.

"Terrorism has really affected us a great deal," Tourism Minister Ataur Rehman told AFP.

"We have started our endeavours to attract tourists from the world over as the situation in Swat and other areas is stable now and will enable us to again make them attractive tourist zones," he said.

But the World Economic Forum's Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2009 put Pakistan at 113 out of 130 countries, and officials say there is a long way to go until Swat is returned to its former glory.

Until then, tourists are likely to turn to the countries that have already put their conflicts behind them, to sample the new temptations on offer.

Police urge public to cooperate

Wednesday, 16 September 2009 15:03 Khoun Leakhana

Tip-offs have led to rise in arrests, officials say.

POLICE have urged Phnom Penh residents to cooperate more closely with authorities following a spate of arrests of suspected robbers that they said were the result of tip-offs from the public.

A total of 18 suspects in armed robberies of gold merchants and banks have been nabbed this month, police said, adding the three most recent arrests – made last week – were initiated by suspicious residents.

“The residents saw the suspects carrying guns,” Phnom Penh Police Deputy Chief Pol Pithey said Tuesday.

“Then they reported this to the police, and we promptly launched an investigation that collected enough evidence to arrest the suspects,” he added.

The three, who are suspected of robbing gold vendors in Prek Leap commune, were paraded before television cameras during a press conference Monday, where police said they would increase patrols and rely more on input from the public.

“We will continue to hunt for more robbers based on information we get by interrogating these ones,” Pol Pithey said.

Reported robberies decreased nationwide in the first half of 2009, compared with the same period in 2008, National Police spokesman Kirt Chantharith said last week.

Some 238 cases were reported through June this year, compared with 278 last year, he said, attributing the drop to improved cooperation between the police and the public.

More police officers are now being deployed in public areas and markets to act as a deterrents to would-be robbers, he added.

Climate crisis threatens poor

Photo by: Heng Chivoan
Khem Yeth, 28, a rice farmer in Takeo province sits in a dried-out paddy last year.

NATIONAL FOREST PROGRAMME INTENDED BY YEAR’S END

Cambodia’s forests are integral to the future of the Kingdom, senior forestry officials said Tuesday during the start of the final public consultation into a programme intended to reduce deforestation. Ty Sokhun, director of the Forestry Administration, said: “Forests are the source of the living earth. In Cambodia, forest has provided 6.9 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) to reduce human poverty.” Forests cover more than 59 percent of Cambodia, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). But though the government aims to reach 60 percent by 2015, critics say that figure has been overblown, and that rampant illegal logging continues. “We have planted more than 850,000 hectares of trees and given millions of trees seedlings to the people for planting,” Ty Sokhun said. “We also cracked down on thousands of cases of illegal logging and sent many illegal loggers to court.” With deforestation historically a significant problem in Cambodia, the government established the NFP in 2007 with the help of international aid agencies to reverse the trend. The government expects to finalise the National Forest Programme by the end of the year.

KHOUTH SOPHAK CHAKRYA

Wednesday, 16 September 2009 15:04 James O'Toole

A World Bank report argues that, without urgent action on climate change, Cambodia and other developing nations will be imperiled within a decade.

CLIMATE change could slash agricultural productivity and make famine and natural disaster commonplace across the developing world without urgent action within the next decade, climate experts from the World Bank warned Tuesday.

Though they produce only a small fraction of the world’s total carbon emissions, Cambodia and other nations in the developing world will be disproportionately affected by the warming temperatures and rising sea levels brought on by climate change, a panel of World Bank representatives told reporters in a teleconference from the US.

The teleconference coincided with Tuesday’s release of a World Bank publication titled “World Development Report (WDR) 2010: Development and Climate Change”. Climate change puts poor countries like Cambodia in a difficult position, the panellists said, because despite their tiny contribution to the world’s total carbon emissions, they will be most severely harmed in the absence of coordinated, worldwide reforms.

Poor countries typically lack the capacity to manage the fallout from climate change and also “depend more directly on climate-sensitive natural resources for income and well-being,” the WDR report said.

Any efforts to avert climate change, therefore, “[have] to start with high-income countries taking aggressive action to reduce their own emissions”.

Developing nations, though, will be major sources of emissions growth in the near future, and risk falling further behind developed countries economically if they are unable to transition to clean energy sources, the World Bank report added.

Developed countries, it argued, must provide assistance to aid poorer nations in climate-change mitigation efforts.

Justin Lin, the World Bank’s senior vice president for development economics, noted the importance of such assistance, emphasising that developing nations must not be forced to choose between climate-change mitigation and economic growth.

“I would encourage Cambodia to look into the possibility of funding and also technological assistance in order to pursue its economic development and at the same time to achieve the goal of reduced emissions,” he said.

But for this option to be realistic worldwide, donor countries must massively increase their funding. Currently, there is less than US$1 billion available for climate-change mitigation efforts in the developing world, in contrast to the $75 billion that may be necessary, the WDR report said.

Though national budgets around the world have been stretched thin by the global financial crisis, Rosina Bierbaum, the WDR co-director, said that developed-world policymakers should think seriously about this funding shortfall. “We can’t really argue that stopping climate change is not affordable,” she said. “Indeed, we can’t afford not to do it.”

‘Best Youth’ finale set to air tonight on CTN

Wednesday, 16 September 2009 15:02 Chhay Channyda

TWO finalists in Cambodia’s Youth Leadership Challenge will square off tonight in a televised debate on CTN for the chance to win an all-expenses-paid trip to the United States, organisers said at a press conference Tuesday.

In its sixth season, the challenge – more commonly known as “Best Youth” – is organised by the Youth Council of Cambodia and the International Republican Institute (IRI), with funding from USAID.

The debate, which airs from 5:45pm to 6:45pm, pits contestants Te Sivann, 23, from the Royal University of Phnom Penh, against Seng Virak, 24, of the Royal University of Law and Economics – the last of a field of eight participants that began the challenge in July.

“The [Best Youth] programme is a way to promote leadership among youth,” said John Willis, country director for IRI, at the press conference.

Also attending the press conference, Seng Virak said education is essential to helping young people develop leadership skills, while Te Sivann said sexual abuse, child labour and drug use all hindered development within the Kingdom.

French national found guilty

Photo by: Heng Chivoan
French national Jacques Bernard Rene Collinet, 61, leaves Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Tuesday after being convicted of purchasing child prostitution.

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IT WAS A VERY LIGHT SENTENCE FOR THE MAN TO RECEIVE ONLY ONE YEAR IN PRISON.
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Wednesday, 16 September 2009 15:02 Chrann Chamroeun

But the 1-year sentence imposed by the court has some anti-paedophile activists concerned that punishments for those who sexually abuse children are too lenient.

PHNOM Penh Municipal Court convicted a French national of having sex with a 16-year-old Cambodian girl during a hearing Tuesday, sentencing him to three years’ jail and ordering him to pay 2 million riels (US$481) in compensation to the mother of the victim.

But Jacques Bernard Rene Collinet, 61, is to serve only a single year in prison after presiding judge Chhay Kong suspended the remainder of his sentence, drawing complaints from local anti-paedophilia activists about the lightness of the punishment.

Collinet was arrested April 12 in Daun Penh district’s Kandal II commune and charged with purchasing child prostitution. Collinet denied the charges during a public hearing on September 9, saying he only paid the girl for a massage and was physically unable to have sex with her due to a medical condition, alibis the judge rejected for lack of evidence.

Samleang Seila, country director of Action Pour Les Enfants, an anti-paedophile NGO, told the Post after the verdict that the conviction was a positive sign, but that the group would appeal the length of the sentence.

“It was a very light sentence for the man to receive only one year in prison,” he said.

“We have prepared this week to appeal the light conviction, calling for a more severe conviction against the man to stand as a warning for other sex tourists, who may think that purchasing child prostitution in Cambodia is not prosecuted [harshly].”

During last week’s hearing, Judge Chhay Kong also strongly rejected an accusation by Collinet’s defence lawyer Dun Vibol that his client was the victim of a conspiracy between anti-paedophile NGOS, NGO shelters and police, who had ganged up to “prosecute foreigners to earn money”.

The judge described the accusation as “confusing” and lacking any credible evidence.

Samleang Seila said the accusations of a conspiracy to extort foreigners were “not only untrue but also an insult”.

Twisted path to justice
The conviction comes in the midst of Twisted Traveler, an US law enforcement operation targeting Americans who travel to Cambodia to have sex with children. As a Frenchman, Collinet would not qualify.

Under the US programme – which saw four American nationals charged in the US this month – offenders will face child sex charges under US law, which calls for sentences of up to 30 years.

US Ambassador Carol Rodley said September 1 that the harsher penalties mandated under American law would be a “powerful deterrent” to sex tourism.

“These new charges clearly demonstrate to the Cambodian people that the United States will not tolerate this type of abuse,” she said.

Adhoc activist, reporter receive lawsuit threat from R’kiri judge

Wednesday, 16 September 2009 15:02 Chrann Chamroeun

But UN rights office calls for an end to intimidation campaign by officials.

A RATANAKKIRI provincial judge has warned that rights activist Pen Bonnar and journalist Ratha Visal could face disinformation charges relating to a land dispute in the province, a day after the UN’s human rights office called for the government to end its “harassment” of rights activists in the province.

Presiding Judge Thor Saron told the Post on Tuesday that the two men could be charged with disinformation for allegedly accusing him of corruption.

Thor Saron said the two men have accused him of offering to release detained villagers in exchange for a large tract of land in Ratanakkiri, but did not say where or when the comments were made.

“These two men will face another charge of disinformation for accusing me of being a corrupt man and of [promising to] release those accused in return for 70 hectares of land, which is now being investigated by provincial authorities to find out the truth,” he said.

Pen Bonnar, the provincial coordinator of local rights group Adhoc, has already been warned that he faces incitement charges in connection with a protest over a separate land dispute in November 2007 but has not yet been formally charged by the court.

Ratha Visal also came under similar pressure from the court after covering the Pen Bonnar affair for Radio Free Asia.

In a strongly worded statement released on Monday, the UN Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights requested an end to the prosecution of Pen Bonnar and Ratha Visal.

It said that the two had been “harassed and intimidated by both provincial authorities and the court in relation to their tireless struggle to defend the rights of communities dispossessed of their land and livelihoods in the northeastern province”.

“The office reiterates its earlier call on provincial authorities to cease continued harassment and intimidation of human rights defenders in the province,” the statement said.

Mitsui delivers bid for disputed offshore area

Photo by: SOVAN PHILONG
Mitsui Oil Exploration Co met Tuesday with Prime Minister Hun Sen, shown above at a September 7 conference, to make an official application for overlapping offshore concession Area IV.

Wednesday, 16 September 2009 15:01 Cheang Sokha

Tokyo-based exploration company meets with Hun Sen after submitting application for rights to Area IV in Gulf of Thailand

JAPANESE oil and gas company Mitsui Oil Exploration Co submitted an application Tuesday to Prime Minister Hun Sen for exploration rights in an overlapping offshore area in the Gulf of Thailand, the prime minister’s spokesman said.

Ieng Sophalleth said Mitsui Chairman Yoshiyuki Kagawa led a company delegation at a meeting in Phnom Penh that applied for Cambodia’s Area IV off the coast of Preah Sihanouk province.

“Yoshiyuki Kagawa told Hun Sen that the company had already submitted its proposed documents to the Cambodian National Petroleum Authority (CNPA) in bidding for oil and gas in offshore Area IV,” said Ieng Sophalleth, adding that the prime minister welcomed the plan and highlighting the need for transparency in the bidding process.

The application follows bids submitted to CNPA late last month by two other Japanese companies – Inpec and Marubeni Oil and Gas – for oil and gas rights in Cambodia. However, the blocks targeted are not known.

Area IV lies at the southern end of an offshore area that remains at the centre of a dispute between Cambodia and Thailand.

In June 2001, the two sides agreed that the zone would be part of a joint-development agreement, meaning the countries would share revenues from its production should marketable energy supplies be found in the area. However, both sides have yet to agree the percentage split on revenues despite years of on-off negotiations.

Phnom Penh has not yet awarded Area IV; however, Bangkok has already done so: Thailand’s state-owned energy company PTTEP has signed a deal on the eastern section, and Mistui and Chevron hold rights to the remaining western part. The Japanese company has been given a 20 percent stake by Thailand in what Bangkok terms blocks B12A, B12B and B13.

Mitsui – under its local name Mitsui Cambodia Co – holds a 30 percent stake in offshore Block A, a Cambodian concession led by Chevron that lies adjacent to the disputed area. The Tokyo-based company also has operations in neighbouring Vietnam.

Mitsui’s move for Area IV comes despite a continuing delay in the signing of the Area III concession between French energy giant Total and the Cambodian government.

Also in the overlapping area, the Total block was supposed to be signed over following a verbal agreement with Hun Sen in Paris in mid-July.

However, the deal has still not been signed, as both sides are trying to work out contractual differences in a deal that would also see the company sign an agreement for onshore Block 26

Thai civil court throws out suit on Preah Vihear ‘rights’

Wednesday, 16 September 2009 15:02 Vong Sokheng

Meanwhile, officials say a planned nationalist protest near Preah Vihear this weekend will not be allowed to encroach on Cambodian territory.

THAILAND’S Civil Court has thrown out a lawsuit filed by a group of Thai academics accusing senior Cambodian government officials of “abusing the rights” of the Thai people in their continuing spat over Preah Vihear temple.

The suit, lodged by academic Thepmontri Limpaphayom and eight other Thai scholars, accused Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, his deputy Sok An and Foreign Minister Hor Namhong of violating the Thai people’s rights and liberties under the Thai constitution by encroaching on Preah Vihear temple and the 4.6-square-kilometre disputed area around the temple ruins.

The suit also requested that the court order Cambodia to withdraw its troops from the area.

The Bangkok Post reported on Tuesday that the court had rejected the suit, citing the court’s opinion that the issue was a dispute between two countries over the sovereignty of the area and was not a matter for a civil court.

Koy Kuong, spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Tuesday that he was not aware of the lawsuit, but that the outcome was not a surprise.

“I do not know, but I think that if the court rejected the suit, it means that the group of Thai academics did something wrong,” he said.

Protest threat
The rejection of the lawsuit comes as members of the yellow-shirted Peoples’ Alliance for Democracy (PAD) prepare to travel to Preah Vihear temple on Saturday to protest against its July 2008 listing as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and demand its “return” to Thailand.

Cambodian Ministry of Defence spokesman Chhum Socheat said Thai troops stationed in front of Preah Vihear temple confirmed that PAD plans to call a rally this week to demand the removal of Cambodian troops and communities from the area but said the Thais had promised the protesters would not be allowed into disputed areas.

“I met with the Thai troops in front of the Preah Vihear temple, and they told me that they would not allow the Thai protesters to enter the area near Preah Vihear temple, and they told us not to worry,” he said.

He said that Cambodian border troops would not be careless because of suspicions the protesters could include extremists who might try to provoke a fight.

“We have no intention of an armed conflict that would affect the good relationship between the two countries, but we have to prepare a strategy for preventing encroachments, and we [warn] any protester [against trying] to violate the sovereignty of Cambodian territory,” Chhum Socheat said.

Meanwhile, Thai officials have disavowed any links with the PAD protesters, saying the protest would be “not helpful” to the resolution of the border dispute.

“I don’t know what the PAD’s intentions are. They can gather and express their feelings, but they should be careful of being at odds with the Cambodian side,” the Bangkok Post quoted Thai Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban as saying.

“Everyone loves their country, and I would like everyone not to exacerbate the situation.”

Koy Kuong confirmed that the Thai government had expressed its commitment not to support the rally.

“I think that the Thai government will have the political will to prevent the rally from happening on Cambodian territory,” he said