Unsettled peace in Cambodia

By Chak Sopheap
Guest Commentary
Published: September 17, 2009

Niigata, Japan — The world will soon once again celebrate the United Nations International Day of Peace, marked every year on Sept. 21. Yet the world is far from peace as civil wars, religious conflicts, growing insurgencies and the economic downturn bring more hardship than joy and smiles to people. Cambodia is no exception.

Cambodia claims to be a peaceful state, having recovered from a series of civil wars that included horrendous acts of genocide. However, there must be a clear consensus on how the country defines peace.

Peace should not be described as merely the absence of war or violence, which is “negative peace.” It should also include communal harmony, socioeconomic cooperation and equal political representation in government for all citizens. These, along with good governance, which respects the rights of the people, constitute the positive side of peace, or rather peace building.

Even when we say “absence of violence,” we must first examine what violence is. While war is direct visible violence, there is also a kind of “structural violence,” the result of bad and harmful state policies that have long-term negative effects on people, such as hunger and poverty, which harm and put peoples’ lives at risk.

If we look at the current trend in Cambodia, negative peace has been obtained but is jeopardizing positive peace. While parts of the economy are making considerable progress, more than 30 percent of the population is still living in extreme poverty. In addition, with corruption and continuous human rights violations – especially forced evictions and land grabbing under so-called development claims – there is little hope that Cambodia can move out of poverty.

In its current pursuit of development, the government of Cambodia has abused and violated people’s rights to housing and development. The judicial system is corrupt and the state is the main violator of the law. This state of affairs has rendered poor communities voiceless and powerless.

At the same time, freedom of expression – a fundamental right – has also been abused by the government, which applies various ill-defined laws with the help of the judiciary it controls as a political tool to silence critics. It is not surprising that the government recently filed many lawsuits against political activists, journalists and human rights defenders.

Systematic structural violence has not yet affected peace in Cambodia, but it will soon if the government does not undertake and implement reforms immediately. For example, there is fear that the ongoing land grabbing and evictions by the government could lead to a peasant revolution. This would then revive the cycle of bitter agrarian revolution that brought past political regimes, like Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge, to power.

The government therefore must commit to not only maintaining negative peace, but also to building positive peace in order to attain social harmony.

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(Chak Sopheap is a graduate student of peace studies at the International University of Japan. She runs a blog, www.sopheapfocus.com, in which she shares her impressions of both Japan and her homeland, Cambodia. She was previously advocacy officer of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights.)

daily pictures from Cambodia

Former Khmer Rouge prison chief S-21, Kaing Guek Eav, better known as "Duch", is pictured in court in 2008. Duch 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.(AFP/File/Tang Chhin Sothy)

In this photo taken on July 19, 2009, a Cambodian woman points to a painting depicting torture as she tours the former Khmer Rouge S-21 prison, known as Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. On Monday, Sept. 14, 2009, the museum, formerly a prison and torture center operated by the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s, has been declared by the U.N. to be an archive of worldwide significance for its historical documents.(AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Tourists look at portraits of victims displayed inside the Tuol Sleng prison in Phnom Penh, where thousands of Cambodian died during the brutal 1975-79 regime. Cambodia's Khmer Rouge court has finished hearing evidence against the regime's prison chief, ending six months of gruelling testimony about atrocities in the jail where 15,000 people died. (AFP/File/Nicolas Asfouri)

Cambodians, along with their belongings, pile up on a pickup truck in the capital Phnom Penh's outskirts in Cambodia, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2009. Thousands of Cambodians head homes in the countryside to celebrate the traditional Pchum Ben festival for the dead. The celebrations run from Sept. 18 to 20. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Cambodian people drive motorbikes on a busy street in the capital Phnom Penh's outskirts in Cambodia, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2009. Thousands of Cambodians head homes in the countryside to celebrate the traditional Pchum Ben festival for the dead. The celebrations run from Sept. 18 to 20.(AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Cambodians, along with their belongings, pile up on a pickup truck driven in the capital Phnom Penh's outskirts, Cambodia, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2009. Thousands of Cambodians head homes in the countryside to celebrate the traditional Pchum Ben festival for the dead. The celebrations run from Sept. 18 to 20. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

In this photo taken March 13, 2009, Cambodia's famed Preah Vihear temple is seen on the Cambodian-Thai- border in Preah Vihear province, about 245 kilometers (152 miles) north of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Cambodia and Thailand have dispatched riot police to backup soldiers at a disputed border area ahead of a weekend rally by Thai protesters that risks reviving a long-standing feud between the neighbors, officials said Thursday, Sept. 17, 2009.(AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

In this photo taken March 13, 2009, a Cambodian soldier looks at the Thai border through binoculars from an entrance of Cambodia's Preah Vihear temple near the Cambodian-Thai border, about 245 kilometers (152 miles) north of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Cambodia and Thailand have dispatched riot police to backup soldiers at a disputed border area ahead of a weekend rally by Thai protesters that risks reviving a long-standing feud between the neighbors, officials said Thursday, Sept. 17, 2009. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Army denies Cambodian teenager killed by Thai military

http://enews.mcot.net

BANGKOK, Sept 17 (TNA) - A senior Thai Army officer denied a report in a Cambodian newspaper that Thai soldiers shot a Cambodian teenager and burned him alive, saying that the military units along the Thai-Cambodian border denied that such an incident happened.

Lt-Gen Wiboonsak Neephan, commander of the Second Army Region responsible for security affairs along the northeastern border told Thai News Agency that he had inquired every units along Thai-Cambodian border and the officials confirmed that nothing similar to the news report ever occurred and that he did not know why there was such a report in the media.

He affirmed that Thai soldiers would not do such a barbaric act as reported in the Cambodian newspaper and stated he thought that the information could be incorrect.

Gen Wiboonsak affirmed that the Thai-Cambodian Border Peacekeeping Committee is working closely to avoid border disputes and to offer certainty that actions are within the legal framework and agreements.

He added that Thailand and Cambodia had agreement to solve border disputes and the incident should not have happened.

The English-language Phnom Penh Post on Monday quoted Thon Nol, governor of Samrong district in Oddar Meanchey province as saying that a Cambodian teenager named Yon Rith, 16, was arrested and burned alive after Thai armed forces accused him of illegally felling trees.

Another teenager from the same village in Kon Kreal commune, 18-year-old Mao Kleung, was also shot and seriously wounded, he said, but villagers managed to carry him to Cambodian territory, and he is now in an Oddar Meanchey hospital.

Meanwhile, foreign media quoted Cambodian Deputy Foreign Minister Ouch Borith as saying that he had seen evidence proving the incident took place and 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. He did not provide any evidence Thai soldiers were responsible.

As for the planned rally of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) near the Preah Vihear temple, Gen Wiboonsak said the contested area was dangerous zone and had few accommodations to facilitate the demonstrators.

The PAD “Yellow Shirts” plan to rally at the border province of Si Sa Ket on Saturday to protest against the Cambodian government, urging the Cambodians to withdraw their military and civilians from occupying the 4.6 square kilometre contested zone surrounding the 11th-century temple.

He said the Thai military had provided an area for the protesters to gather and urged the people who joined the rally to demonstrate under the legal framework and to bear in mind safety concerns.

Gen Wiboonsak said he believed the public know about the Thai-Cambodian border disputes and it would depend on cooperation from the public to ease the problems. He added that the public should realise (the importance) oft bilateral relations between Thailand and Cambodia and admitted that the protest may cause difficulty for the border talks.

Meanwhile, a reporter in Si Sa Ket reported that police had set up barricades at Phoomsarol temple in Kantharalak district to block the road to Khao Phra Wihan National Park to inspect vehicles and people who pass the entrance to the park.

The reporter said paramilitary rangers and military personnel from the Suranaree Task Force had also set up barricades with barbed-wire and other obstacles at the Forest Fire Control Unit Office about100 metres from the national park checkpoint and did not allow anyone to enter the park, including media.

Khao Phra Viharn National Park is the Thai gateway to the ancient Preah Vihear Temple.

Twenty PAD members reportedly occupied the border cooperation office near the park checkpoint and security personnel detained them at the office.

In related developments, French news agency Agence France Presse quoted the Cambodian Defence Ministry as saying that Cambodia deployed riot police Thursday at an ancient temple on the disputed border with Thailand where Thai protesters are due to hold a protest at the weekend.

Cambodian defence ministry spokesman Chhum Socheat was quoted saying that 50 police with dogs, batons, and tear gas were deployed at Preah Vihear temple in case the Thai protesters illegally crossed the border to cause problems. (TNA)

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.

daily news

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.