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Kok Sap's Commentary: NOT Acceptable, Hun Sen Abuses UN

(Photos: The Phnom Penh Post)

22/6/2010
By Kok Sap
Originally posted at http://khamerlogue.wordpress.com/

All know the UN Human Rights Envoy meeting appointment is planned and scheduled ahead and in plenty of time. For the unexplained reason Hun Sen canceled it at the last minute. For normal business behavior, either the meeting will be rescheduled or carried on as planned with an alternative attendant. But to the surprise, with ten deputy prime ministers on duty yet Hun Sen can't delegate one to attend the meeting for him. For Hun Sen usual misinformed habit, the mishandling appointment is unimportant and an irritation to him. But in real world it reflects the national leader image and unreliability. For that alone it's an embarrassment for the entire nation.

In honesty, Surya Subedi can be Hun Sen helpful ally and personal messenger to the world diplomacy and UN General Secretary office. Unfortunately Hun Sen wrongly takes it personal in misinterpreting Surya Subedi statement to the press as disappointed for unable to meet with the Cambodia owner. It's opportune for Hun Sen to rattle on someone of his unchecked and crude remarks to impress the stupid ones. Apparently he can't see how important to delicately and discretely handle his personal crisis. This man loves to hear his own voice on stage,all the times.

To the dismay, Hun Sen shall apologize for his own shortcomings and inability to delegate an able deputy to welcome and meet with UN Envoy to ask for reschedule. In the educated society, Hun Sen behavior leaves room for bad impression and misinterpretation that Cambodia leader is seriously lack of competence and diplomatic cordiality.

In 1991 Paris Peace Accord stipulates UN Secretariat will monitor and report Cambodia human rights to the UN mission and its appropriate council. It is made UN responsibility to ensure the annual report be as accurate and transparent on Cambodia human rights. However, as one of the signatories Hun Sen seems to show his unbecoming and uncooperative nature as the Cambodia leader and lawful UN member.

Obviously the responsibility is not entirely on Hun Sen alone. To the observers, Cambodia legislative and judiciary shall bear the burden and responsibility to the nation image and representation. In this episode, the national assembly is totally unaccounted for its role to scrutinize and call on Hun Sen improper official action. Worst, Hun Sen incessant quarrel and insolences toward the previous UN human rights envoys seemed escaping the national assembly attention span and responsibility. Hun Sen has become a fixture of the Cambodian government incompetence and incivility.

Past records show often Hun Sen has been personally rude and confrontational to the volunteered UN human rights officials whose mission was to look out for Cambodia citizen interests. Conclusively in spite of time in premier office and role Hun Sen remains not an ideal advocate and voice in modern world diplomacy for the weak and poor Cambodia. The national assembly needs to reflect and uses its spine to stop Hun Sen from dehumanizing Cambodia.

In all, yet the national assembly must not allow Hun Sen to deprecate Cambodia honor and dignity when his personal is inconvenient to his duty. To the outside world it appears Cambodia has not many people who can lead the nation in decency and dignity. In that notion, if the national assembly does not correct Hun Sen habitual abuse of power and defeatism then it is a mere rubber stamp for a handsome compensation paid by donors. It is an insult and unacceptable to the nation and human intelligence in allowing an inferior and defeatist mentality like Hun Sen to stay in power and above the law too long

Thank You Note from the Cambodian Reconciliation Committee

Dear Sir/Madam,,

The Cambodian Reconciliation Committee, Inc. would like to express our gratitude for your generosity by helping the 10th Annual of the High School Commencement banquet, which was hosted by our community at the Sal Mosqueda Community Center on June 19, 2010.

We appreciate your thoroughness in supporting the graduates and their families to have a great time. Without your help, this event may not be as successful as it would be.

Again, thank you so much and we look forward to working with you in the near future.

May God bless your warm heart.

Best Regards,

CRC Team

Mr. Sopheaktra Nou
Executive Director

Cambodian Reconciliation Committee, Inc.
Non-Profit Organization
P.O. Box 1682
Fresno, CA 93717
Tel. (559) 255-9241
Website: www.crcfresno.org

Bringing the tastes of Cambodia to Fairfax

Click here for the book link at Amazon.com

Annandale resident and author of the book "A Taste of Cambodian Cuisine," Demaz Baker is teaching cooking classes each month on how to prepare traditional Cambodian meals. (Shamus Ian Fatzinger/Fairfax County Times)

Cooking teacher, author shares her passion for exotic cuisine

Wednesday June 23, 2010
by Alexandra Greeley | Special to the Times
Fairfax County Times (Virginia, USA)

Perhaps the least known of Asian cuisines, Cambodian food has been a rarity in the Washington, D.C., metro area. But cooking teacher Demaz Baker of Annandale hopes to change that.

According to Baker, no Cambodian restaurants exist in the District or its surrounding suburbs, making it a challenge for interested foodies to go out and taste the culture's traditional flavors. That doesn't make it impossible, though, says Baker, who is also an amateur chef and author of two Cambodian cookbooks -- such as "A Taste of Cambodian Cuisine," which is available on Amazon.com. With monthly classes at the Arlington County Adult Education Center and a little patience, anyone can learn how to master the culture's sweet and savory flavors.

Although it shares many similarities with Thai cuisine, Baker says Cambodian cooking is "lighter and less spicy in taste," with less reliance on coconut milk and chilis.

A U.S. resident since the mid-1970s, Baker has held daytime jobs with the Department of Defense. But in her spare time, she has indulged her passion for Cambodian food by learning the traditional recipes from her homeland and then cataloging them in her two self-published cookbooks. This has certainly been a labor of love, for Baker admits she never learned how to cook as a child in her parents' home.

"I have always liked cooking, but I never learned it in Cambodia," she said. "My aunts are really the experts in Cambodian food. I even registered in cooking school when I was a student in Australia, but I only studied there for two months."

As a newcomer to the area, Baker longed for the sweet and savory delicacies from her native country. Finding no restaurant that offered the food she craved, Baker set about learning the basics of the cuisine by calling friends and relatives all over the world.

"I gathered recipes from whomever had the expertise," she said.

Top on her phone list were two friends in Los Angeles and others in France and Canada, but because Cambodians usually never write down measurements, reconstructing the recipes required experimentation and tasting.

After gathering stacks of recipes, Baker turned to trying them all, tasting what worked and discarding the rejects.

"This was a labor of several years," she said. "But now I know how to cook properly."

As a result, Baker wrote her first cookbook, "Cambodian Cuisine," in 1999 and issued her second, "A Taste of Cambodian Cuisine," in 2009. A full-color volume, the book is available online at Amazon.com and also at Barnes & Noble.

As a complement to her culinary hobby, Baker started teaching Cambodian cooking at the Arlington County Adult Education Center, offering a month's worth of classes each semester.

"I would teach once a week for the month," she said. After eight years of offering adult education classes, Baker decided to simply teach cooking in her own home. This switch has worked out well, she says, noting that many of her former students signed up and have now formed an informal cooking club, though all newcomers are welcome to join in.

Held one night each month, the classes require student participation supervised by Baker. Afterward, all sit down to a feast.

"A typical menu includes a main-course soup and two side dishes, one with vegetables and often one with fish," she said, adding that the usual Cambodian meal includes fish, since the Mekong River running through the country is a rich source of freshwater fish. There may also be a chicken or beef curry, which is a norm here in the U.S. but is a luxurious meal back home in Cambodia, where chicken and beef are expensive for the average household.

Participants learn three dishes per class, and classes cost $55 each.

Her students are so enthusiastic about Baker's food that they have been urging her to open a restaurant. After all, she notes, all her siblings own a restaurant in Quebec. But Baker's response is simple: No way, she says.

"In my opinion, for a small restaurant to be successful, it has to be run by family members," she says. "Besides, you have no other life if you own one."

For more information, contact Demaz Baker at www.CambodianCooking.webng.com.

Recipe: Saraman Chicken

Serves four

Demaz Baker explains that Cambodian cooking is very similar to Thai cooking, which is evident in this rich chicken curry. To simplify the long and arduous process of pounding ingredients for a curry paste, the basis of all Thai and Cambodian curries, Baker uses commercial curry paste, making the preparation of such dishes relatively fast. All ingredients are available in Asian markets.

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 3 tablespoons Masaman curry paste
• one (13.5- ounce) can coconut milk
• 2 pounds boneless chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 3 tablespoons fish sauce
• 2 tablespoons sugar or palm sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 cups pearl onions, peeled
• 4 to 5 medium-sized potatoes, peeled and quartered

Heat the oil in a deep saucepan over medium heat. Add the curry paste and blend well until it becomes oily. Scoop out the creamy part of the coconut milk (about ¼ cup), and stir into the curry. Add the chicken, and sear for about five minutes. Add ¾ cup water and the remaining coconut milk, fish sauce, sugar, salt and pearl onions. Reduce the heat to medium-low, and cook 15 to 20 minutes more, or until the chicken is tender. Add the potatoes, cover and continue cooking until the potatoes are cooked

Cambodians must fight for rights

Mu Sochua (First row, center)

"I am troubled by the ... narrowing of political space for critical debate in society, due to the disproportionate use of defamation, disinformation and incitement lawsuits against journalists, human rights activists and political opponents," Subedi said. "My position as an international lawyer (is that) nobody should be sent to prison for exercising freedom of expressions."

Do you think Sen and his ruling Cambodian People's Party care?

June 23, 2010
By A. Gaffar Peang-Meth Pacific Daily News (Guam)

Egyptian sociologist and democracy activist Saad Eddin Ibrahim, a distinguished visiting professor at Drew University, wrote in the June 15 Washington Post that, "Most Americans may not miss (George W.) Bush, but a growing number of people in the Middle East do."

"Bush's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan remain unpopular in the region, but his ardent support for democracy was heartening to Arabs living under stalled autocracies," Ibrahim wrote. Reform activists in Lebanon, Egypt, Kuwait and elsewhere "felt empowered" to press for greater freedoms during the Bush years: "The methods through which Bush pursued his policies left much to be desired ... his persistent rhetoric and efforts produced results."

Ibrahim cited 11 contested elections in the Middle East from 2005 to 2006 -- "not perfect, but the advances sparked unprecedented sociopolitical dynamism and unleashed tremendous pent-up desire for democratic choice."

Democracy and rights activists in the Middle East who "listened with great anticipation" to President Obama's "promises of change when speaking in Cairo last June" found Obama "has retreated to Cold War policies of favoring stability and even support for 'friendly tyrants.'"

"Today, Egyptians are not just disappointed but stunned by what appears to be outright promotion of autocracy in their country," Ibrahim wrote. "Just as we hope for a clear U.S. signal on democracy promotion, we must hope that the Obama administration will cease its coddling of dictators."

Ibrahim's article takes me to Cambodia's June 2 events: U.S. representatives joined a group of donor countries in Phnom Penh that collectively pledged $1.1 billion in aid to the regime of Premier Hun Sen. Rights groups complained of "rampant cronyism and corruption."

On that day, Sen's Supreme Court upheld the lower courts' ruling against lawmaker Mu Sochua, who filed a defamation suit against Hun Sen. Yet the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights charged in its legal analysis that Sen's courts failed to uphold Sochua's right to a fair trial and ignored her right to Cambodia's Constitution-guaranteed freedom of expression. Sen's armed riot police blocked Sochua and her followers from a peaceful march to the "donor conference."

Sen told the nation not to be "ignorant," that the donor countries have their own projects planned that will account for the $1.1 billion -- so there is no "cronyism and corruption." On the other front, Sen's lawyer pushed for action (imprisonment) against Sochua for refusing to pay a fine associated with her failed legal action.

In an e-mail, Sochua wrote, "What I am doing now is nothing more than standing up while so many people are sitting down and feeling paralyzed by this regime." She feels alone and helpless. She keeps telling the people to condition themselves not to fear. Their votes count.

As a political scientist, I understand the usefulness of peaceful protests and petitions guaranteed by law. I am not a fan of petitioning a foreign leader to help in circumstances where Cambodians themselves must be the ones to act. The only petition I signed was to ask Premier Sen to stop land-grabbing and evicting the poor from their land and homes.

Last week, an online petition to President Obama rapidly picked up signatures from Khmers and non-Khmers. It speaks of the United States' "responsibility" as an aid donor "to denounce the court's decision (on Mu Sochua) as a threat to freedoms of speech and expression and the rights to fair judicial process, transparency, and legal representation."

The petition states: "We urge you, Mr. President, to make a strong statement against the recent Cambodian Court's ruling, in defense of our democratic values that serve to empower so many around the world."

Yet, Sochua wrote, "what difference does (the petition) really make?" She knows all dictators love the U.S. "strategy of engagement" that legitimizes them and their rule.

Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are unlikely to refrain from expressions of concern for democracy, justice and human rights. But as the United States continues to provide aid and assistance to the Cambodian government, it is abundantly clear that concern for the lack of civil rights in Cambodia won't override U.S. interests in maintaining relations with Cambodia's tyrants.

Cambodians need to fight to attain those rights for themselves. As no foreign government wants to replace the devil it knows with one it doesn't know, opposition Cambodians must present themselves as credible alternatives to those in power. The image of divided and conflicting opposition forces that lack a common strategy doesn't inspire confidence.

Last Thursday, United Nations rights envoy Surya Subedi -- mandated by the U.N. Human Rights Council to report on human rights in Cambodia -- criticized the country's land-grabbing by the powerful, cited the courts' failings in the delivery of justice for all, "especially the poor and the marginalized," and reported that some judges simply were not interested in upholding the laws.

"I am troubled by the ... narrowing of political space for critical debate in society, due to the disproportionate use of defamation, disinformation and incitement lawsuits against journalists, human rights activists and political opponents," Subedi said. "My position as an international lawyer (is that) nobody should be sent to prison for exercising freedom of expressions."

Do you think Sen and his ruling Cambodian People's Party care?

A. Gaffar Peang-Meth, Ph.D., is retired from the University of Guam, where he taught political science for 13 years. Write him at peangmeth@yahoo.com.

Anti-genocide slogans to be hung in Cambodian schools

THE THREE BELOW ARE ALL
FORMER KHMER ROUGE CADRE-KILLERS

An example of anti-genocide slogan?

PHNOM PENH, Tuesday 22 June 2010 (AFP) - Anti-genocide slogans encouraging youngsters to study the legacy of the murderous Khmer Rouge regime are to be hung in high schools across Cambodia, organisers of the project said Tuesday.

The Documentation Centre of Cambodia, which collects evidence of Khmer Rouge atrocities, said it would start hanging the government-approved messages in 1,700 schools from January.

"This is to remember and to study daily ... so that the students know we have this history," said the centre's director, Youk Chhang.

Referring to the communist movement's name for their 1975-1979 regime, one of the slogans reads: "Learning about the history of Democratic Kampuchea is to prevent genocide."

Even though five Khmer Rouge leaders are being held by a UN-backed genocide court, many young Cambodians are unaware that up to two million people died through overwork, starvation and execution under the brutal regime.

More than 70 percent of Cambodia's 14 million people were born after the Khmer Rouge were ousted in 1979 and, as the topic is sensitive among elites who were involved with the regime, little about it has been taught in schools.

Last year Cambodia unveiled its first textbook about the Khmer Rouge regime and began distributing about half a million copies to high schools.

The genocide court in Phnom Penh is scheduled to deliver its first verdict on July 26, in the case of former prison chief Duch -- the first Khmer Rouge leader to face international justice.

Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot died in 1998. The joint trial of four other senior regime leaders is expected to start in 2011, while the court is considering whether to open cases against five other former Khmer Rouge cadres

Chhun Yasith sentenced to life in prison

Chhun Yasith

Cambodia freedom fighter sentenced in fatal attacks

June 22, 2010
My-Thuan Tran and Scott Glover
Los Angeles Times

A Long Beach man convicted of orchestrating an attempted political coup in his native Cambodia that resulted in the deaths of three people was sentenced in federal court Tuesday to life in prison.

Yasith Chhun, former president of the Cambodia Freedom Fighters, was convicted in 2008 in connection with the Nov. 24, 2000, attacks in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh. Three members of Chhun's group were killed, and several Cambodian police officers and civilians were wounded.

Chhun, wearing a green windbreaker under chains around his waist, addressed the court in a tearful speech in which he talked of his suffering under the Khmer Rouge genocide that took the life of his father.

"I am not lucky like Americans who are born in this country," he said. " I was, unfortunately, born in Cambodia."

He said that after coming to the U.S. as a refugee in 1982, he felt he could no longer stand by as his native country descended into political chaos. "I had to do something for that country," he said. "I've been punished because I failed, that I'm not good enough to overthrow that government."

Judge Dean D. Pregerson said he did not believe Chhun was an "evil human being," but that the prison term was the consequence of Chhun's actions.

"I do not want to be the person who does not say to all those groups that, if you conspire against the U.S., that the U.S. will tolerate or be lenient to you," Pregerson said.

Chhun, who was convicted in 2008 of the attacks in Cambodia, plotted the assaults from his Long Beach office, prosecutors said.

After the attempted coup, he returned to the United States, took credit for the attacks in the media and said he would do it again, according to prosecutors.

The U.S. attorney's office took jurisdiction of the case based on the belief that Chhun had violated several federal laws governing the commission of crimes in foreign nations.

Prosecutors said Chhun went to Cambodia in 1998 to meet with military personnel opposed to the ruling Cambodia People's Party, headed by Prime Minister Hun Sen. After the meeting, the Cambodian Freedom Fighters group was formed and Chhun was appointed president.

The military faction in Cambodia agreed that it would acquire weapons and that Chhun's group would be responsible for raising funds "for the violent overthrow of the Cambodian government," according to the U.S. attorney's office. A fund-raiser was held at the Queen Mary in Long Beach, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors presented documents at trial in which Chhun allegedly wrote that he would "tear Hun Sen" apart. In a presumed reference to other government officials, he allegedly wrote he planned to "cut their necks" and "send them to hell to soon,"

In fact, Chhun hid on the border of Cambodia and Thailand while about 200 members of his group carried out the assault with AK-47 rifles, grenades and rockets.

Sihanouk thanked Vietnam for its support ... shouldn't it be the other way around?

Vietnam president praises Cambodia cooperation: state TV

6/22/2010
Agence France-Presse

Vietnam's president praised cooperation with neighbouring Cambodia Tuesday during a private visit by former king Norodom Sihanouk and members of his royal family, state television reported.

Sihanouk arrived in the Vietnamese capital with his wife and his son, King Norodom Sihamoni, for a four-day stay.

The ex-monarch is sometimes known as the "king-father" of Cambodia, where anti-Vietnamese sentiment is rife, fuelled by resentment at Vietnam's expansion over centuries and the perception that Cambodia is losing territory.

But communist Vietnam's President Nguyen Minh Triet said the visit showed relations between the two are close and important, state television said.

Vietnam and Cambodia, as well as their fellow neighbour Laos, are determined to maintain solidarity, Triet added.

According to the report, Sihanouk thanked Vietnam for its support.

Vietnam invaded Cambodia in 1978, overthrew the murderous Khmer Rouge regime the following year, and occupied the country for 10 years.

"Being retired and no longer doing politics nor diplomacy, my journey and trip to the glorious Socialist Republic of Vietnam will have a strictly private character," Sihanouk said in a statement dated June 14.

He was to meet other current and retired leaders of Vietnam, and attend a performance at Hanoi's Opera House, a Vietnamese source said.

Sihanouk abruptly quit the throne in October 2004 in favour of his son, citing old age and health problems. He remains a prominent figure in Cambodia and often uses messages on his website to comment on matters of state.

Cambodia and Vietnam share a 1,270-kilometre (790-mile) border, which has remained vague since French colonial times, but in 2005 they signed a border accord that has helped calm tensions after decades of territorial disputes.

Vietnamese businesses are also investing in Cambodia.

Cheat Khmer Min La-ngung Khlao - "The Khmer People are Not Dumb!": A song that should be listened by the King, the PM and all Khmers

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The "official" private visit to Hanoi

Cambodia's former king Norodom Sihanouk (L) greets officials before his plane leaves for a private visit to Vietnam at the Phnom Penh International Airport June 22, 2010. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Cambodia's government officials send off former king Norodom Sihanouk, former queen Norodom Monineath Sihanouk and King Norodom Sihamoni for their private visit to Vietnam, at Phnom Penh International Airport June 22, 2010. Chor Sokunthea
Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen speaks to officials while waiting to send off former king Norodom Sihanouk and queen Norodom Monineath Sihanouk for their private visit to Vietnam at Phnom Penh International Airport June 22, 2010. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

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King Father’s trip non-political [-Just plain good old chumming time between brother-ennemies?]

Prince Sisowath Thomico, an adviser to King Father Norodom Sihanouk, speaks with a reporter at a press conference on Monday. (Photo by: Heng Chivoan)

Tuesday, 22 June 2010
Vong Sokheng
The Phnom Penh Post

ROYAL adviser Prince Sisowath Thomico held a press conference Monday to emphasise that King Father Norodom Sihanouk will not address political issues during his scheduled visit to Hanoi this week, following appeals that the visit be used as an opportunity to discuss the administration of former Cambodian territories in South Vietnam.

“The King Father was invited by the Vietnamese president to pay a friendship visit; therefore I think that the visit will be used to boost good relations between the governments of Vietnam and Cambodia, and between the people of the two countries,” the prince said.

Sihanouk will not “interfere in political affairs”, but will instead act as an “independent symbol of the Kingdom of Cambodia, in accordance with the Kingdom’s constitution”, he said.

Yim Sovann, spokesman for the opposition Sam Rainsy Party, said Monday that Sihanouk was entitled to raise the issue of Kampuchea Krom.

“I hope that the King Father will play his role as stated in the Kingdom’s Constitution as the guarantor of territorial sovereignty,” he said.

In a statement released Sunday, Son Soubert, vice president of the Khmer People’s National Liberation Front, said Sihanouk’s visit could usher in “a new era of frank cooperation” between the two countries.

When contacted on Monday, however, Son Soubert said it was unlikely that sovereignty issues would be discussed. “As the King Father said in his statement that the visit is private and non-political, I don’t expect any of the meetings to be related to border sovereignty,” he said

Thai police arrest suspected seller of 'child ghosts' [Kaun Krork]

Bangkok - Police arrested a former nurse as a suspected seller of "child ghosts" after 14 pickled foetuses were found in an abandoned house in north-eastern Thailand, media reports said Tuesday.

Police said Naengnoi Kaan admitted to buying foetuses from a woman who performed illegal abortions in Ubon Ratchathani province on the border with Laos and Cambodia to sell as "luk krok," or "child ghosts," believed to bring good luck, the Bangkok Post reported, citing police.

The case came to police attention after a scavenger found 14 bottles of pickled foetuses in an abandoned shophouse that belonged to one of Naengnoi's relatives.

Police said the nurse had allegedly stored the foetuses in the shophouse while awaiting orders from prospective customers.

Luk krok, according to Thai superstition, are particularly helpful for winning lotteries

Their Royal Highnesses of Cambodia visit their former Comrades in Hanoi: it's a private visit ... of course ;)

February 1973: General Vo Nguyen Giap and his wife visit Norodom Sihanouk and Princess Monique in their residence located in a discrete location in Hanoi (Photo: NorodomSihanouk.info)

Cambodian Former King Leaves for Vietnam for Visit

2010-06-22
Xinhua

Cambodian King Father Norodom Sihanouk left on Tuesday to pay a four-day friendship visit to Hanoi at the invitation of the Vietnamese president.

Sihanouk was accompanied by his wife and son King Norodom Sihamoni. They were seen off at the Phnom Penh International Airport by Prime Minister Hun Sen, the National Assembly President Heng Samrin and the Senate President Chea Sim and other government officials and royal family members.

King Father Norodom Sihanouk will not address political issues during his visit to Hanoi, according to Prince Sisowath Thomico, adviser to the former King on Monday. "I think that the visit will be aimed to boost good relations between the governments of Cambodia and Vietnam and between the peoples of the two countries, " he said at a press conference.

"Being retired and no longer doing politics nor diplomacy, my trip to the glorious Socialist Republic of Vietnam will have a strictly private character," the former King said in a statement dated June 14.

The former king made his first visit to Vietnam in 1995 in his capacity as a king of Cambodia. Sihanouk abdicated in October 2004 and was succeeded by his son King Norodom Sihamoni.

During King's absence, the Senate President Chea Sim will be acting as the head of state in accordance with the Kingdom's constitution

Comrade Im Chaem: The center of attention

Im Chaem, right, 67-year-old former Khmer Rouge provincial secretary, reacts as she witnesses delivery of copies of 'A History of Democratic Kampuchea'to students in Anlong Veng, in Uddor Mean Chey province, about 300 kilometers (185 miles) north of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Monday, June 21, 2010. Cambodian students in the former Khmer Rouge stronghold were issued the textbook Monday that for the first time teaches the atrocities of the past, a little more than a decade after government forces captured the movement's last bastion. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Youk Chhang, left, director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia which published 'A History of Democratic Kampuchea', introduces Im Chaem, right, 67-year-oldformer Khmer Rouge provincial secretary, during delivery of the textbook to students in Anlong Veng, in Uddor Mean Chey province, about 300 kilometers (185 miles) north of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Monday, June 21, 2010. Cambodian students in the former Khmer Rouge stronghold were issued the textbook Monday that for the first time teaches the atrocities of the past, a little more than a decade after government forces captured the movement's last bastion. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Do We Have Pride to Be Born As Khmer?

Meas Srey Has Pride to be Born as Khmer

Monday, June 21, 2010
Op-Ed by Khmer Borann

When you are visiting Preah Vihear temple, you will see a big billboard with the writing in Khmer and English ‘We have Pride to Be Born as Khmer’. It is not known who planted this billboard near Preah Vihear temple. But the locals in the area said the Khmer authority has planted the billboard. Regardless of who planted it, the billboard is a mean to remind all Khmers that we are a nation that has dignity and pride and we have to love and protect Khmer land.

The slogan ‘We have Pride to Be Born as Khmer’ is a very good patriotic reminder for Khmers. This slogan is also coincident the provisions in the Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia, like Article 49 which says: All Khmer citizens shall have the duty to take part in the national reconstruction and to defend the homeland. To have pride to be born as Khmer means to have pride to love Khmer land and to protect Khmer land.

Do Meas Srey and Prom Chea, Khmer farmers in Svay Rieng who are being imprisioned by Hun Sen court for protecting Khmer land from Yuon encroachment, have pride to be born as Khmer? I think, of course, Mrs. Meas Srey and Mr. Prom Chea have pride to be born as Khmer and that’s why they risk their lives to protect their rice fields which are located on Khmer land. I think other Khmers also have pride to be born as Khmer such as Khmer soldiers who fight against Thai aggression on the Khmer-Thai border.

How about the Cambodian officials who jail Mrs. Meas Srey and Mr. Prom Chea? Do they have the pride to be born as Khmer? If they have pride to be born as Khmer, why they imprison Khmers who dare to protect Khmer land? What Hun Sen government is doing to Khmers people regarding the defending national border is just a mockery to the slogan ‘We have Pride to Be Born as Khmer’.

Do you have pride to be born as Khmer when Khmer leaders jail their people because they protect Khmer land?

Khmer Borann
Phnom Penh

Cambodia instructed to host SEA Games by 2015, says NOCC official

NOCC General Secretary Vath Chamroeun has revealed that Cambodia may have just five years to organise the hosting of the SEA Games, or risk waiting much longer. (Photo by: Yeun Ponlok)

Monday, 21 June 2010
H S Manjunath
The Phnom Penh Post

THE Southeast Asian Games Council has called upon Cambodia to host their regional sports biannual event by 2015 at the latest, with a faint warning that if the only founding member not to have staged the tournament in its 50-year history misses out on this opportunity, the wait for the next chance could be long and painful as bids are considered on a rotation basis.

Individual member countries have also pledged explicit support and co-operation for Cambodia to push its bid for 2015, but the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia (NOCC) argues that five years could be too short a time for the Kingdom to prepare for a sporting event of that magnitude.

“We are overwhelmed by this show of massive support, but realistically it may not be possible to mobilise resources, create infrastructure and develop human resources in a time frame of five years from now,” stated NOCC Secretary General Vath Chamroeun. “But we have already started work on human resource development as the first phase of our master plan for the SEA Games, and there are so many other big hurdles to cross before we can confidently say ‘Yes we are ready to do it.’

“We need the government’s help every step of the way for a mega event like this,” he declared. “We are in discussion with several government agencies and once the master plan is completely drawn, we can predict the time frame on our readiness.

“If not 2015, the next one could possibly be our target,” he said adding that he hoped fellow ASEAN members would respect their predicament.

Singapore relinquished their rights to host the 2013 SEA Games due to construction delays of their new US$1.87 billion Sports Hub. Indonesia will be hosting their fourth edition next year.

Vath Chamroeun laid emphasis on strengthening the NOCC base by goading the 33 affiliated sports federations to start pulling their weight. The secretary revealed that some federations were doing very well while some lay totally dormant. “We at the NOCC want those federations which are inactive to wake up, hold elections and usher in a new set of office-bearers who are enthusiastic to promote sport,” he affirmed.

Cambodia plans to take part in six disciplines – Swimming, Athletics, Boxing, Taekwondo, Wrestling and Beach Volleyball – during the upcoming Asian Games in Guangzhou, China this November. Meanwhile, the Kingdom’s involvement in the Asian Beach Games to be held in Muscat, Oman in December is confined to just Beach Volleyball.

The NOCC has inviting a volleyball expert from China and a wrestling ace from Kazakhstan to conduct specialised technical courses for local coaches

Yuon to boost investment in Kingdom's rubber industry ... at the expense of forced Khmer evictions from their land?

The Vietnamese Rubber Enterprise Federation breaks ground Sunday on a new rubber plantation in Cambodia. The group announced it would increase investment by US$200 million through 2012. (Photo by: Chun Sophal)

Vietnam to boost investment in Kingdom's rubber industry

Monday, 21 June 2010
Chun Sophal
The Phnom Penh Post

Vietnamese Rubber Enterprise Federation to increase outlay by $200 million

THE Vietnamese Rubber Enterprise Federation (VREF) announced it would invest an additional US$200 million on planting rubber trees in Cambodia from 2009 to 2012, on top of a previous $600 million commitment, officials said Saturday.

The 14-member federation intends to plant a total of 100,000 hectares of rubber trees in Cambodia, its chief of governing council Le Quang Thung said at the ceremony for rubber plantings by Vietnamese firms Dong Nai and Dong Phou in Sambor district, Kratie province.

“We are happy to increase our capital for growing rubber in Cambodia, because we hope it will help the federation form strong infrastructure for long-term rubber plantations,” he said.

Le Quang Thung said the initial announcement for $600 million might be enough for operating the plantations, but it would not be enough to improve infrastructure in the area.

“We will use the additional amount to build roads, bridges, healthcare centres, schools and houses, so workers can access the areas companies are developing,” he said Saturday.

The VREF announced the initial $600 million investment to grow rubber when it was granted 100,000 hectares of land concessions in Kampong Thomg, Kratie, Stung Treng, Ratanakiri, and Mondulkiri provinces in 2009.

Cambodian Rubber General Directorate director general Ly Phalla said the increased investment, now totalling $800 million, was a positive sign for the VREF, as it would help create a strong basis to carry out its future plans, but that cooperation is still to be worked out.

“We are not yet aware of the degree of cooperation required to help the Vietnamese Rubber Enterprise Federation succeed in its plans to grow rubber in Cambodia, as we have not worked together yet.”

The VREF first revealed plans to grow up to 100,000 hectares of rubber in Cambodia by 2012 following an agreement last year between leaders of the two countries.

It said the group’s 14 companies planted rubber on 10,000 hectares as a first step in 2009, adding 20,000 hectares in 2010, 30,000 hectares in 2011, and 40,000 hectares in 2012.

Last year’s VREF planting took place on 10,500 hectares in Kratie, Kampong Thom, and Ratanakiri provinces.
Le Quang Thung added the Federation might expand future plantations in Cambodia pending future discussions.

“We will invest more on growing rubber in Cambodia if the country is able to give more economic land concession,” he said.

Minister of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction Im Chhun Lim said the Cambodian government weighed forest loss against economic needs when granting concessions.

Firms investing in the domestic agro-industry created job opportunities, reducing poverty and boosting sources of income for the national economy, he said.

“We welcome the investment from Vietnam because it can help improve Cambodia to be as capable as other countries in the region.”
Low-quality rubber traded for $2,900 per tonne over the weekend, and high-quality rubber sold for approximately $3,800 a tonne.

The Vietnamese Rubber Enterprise Federation plans to be growing rubber on 200,000 hectares in Myanmar by the end of 2010, Le Quang Thung said.

In 2006, the federation also invested capital to grow rubber on a total of 100,000 hectares in Laos.

High temperatures over the year to date may restrict the Vietnamese federation’s planned yield, VREF’s Cambodia president Leng Rithy said.

He added that he expects a 10 percent smaller yield due to changing weather in 2010, and that the federation might be able to grow only 18,000 hectares of rubber this year.

Le Quang Thung did not mention the potential impact of hot weather when speaking Saturday.

Despite growing prices for rubber on international markets, several producers have said that poor weather and rising oil prices are slowing plans to plant the lucrative crop.

Former sex slave fights illegal trade

"Girls are taught only shame and ignorance about their bodies and men have their first sexual experience in brothels. Rape is the only thing they know." Photo: AFP

June 22, 2010
AAP

Somaly Mam emerged from a life of sex slavery in Cambodia to become a champion of women's rights and one of Time Magazine's 100 most influential people on the planet.

Abandoned by her parents, Mam was raped at 12, forced to marry at 14 and then sold into prostitution.

She suffered years of abuse before escaping with the help of a Medicin Sans Frontieres worker, whom she later married.

Mam has never had any formal schooling, yet she now speaks five languages.

She has become a tireless activist heading two organisations which fight sexual slavery, and has received international humanitarian awards.

Mam spoke about her extraordinary life during her first visit to Australia, in between a flurry of book signings, public lectures and meetings with politicians.

Her autobiography, The Road of Lost Innocence, has been reprinted many times.

It is a grim story of abuse - young lives broken by rape, torture and starvation together with betrayal by the very people who should have protected their own children.

Poverty also causes Cambodian families to sell their daughters into prostitution.

Mam says her story is symptomatic of a country with a long history of treating females worse than livestock.

"Cambodian society is about violence and submission," she told AAP.

"That smile people associate with gentle Cambodian women is a lie.

"It's always been like that. Women have been beaten slaves since before the Khmer Rouge, who killed any compassion there was.

"Although the situation is changing, 30 years later Cambodian society is still struggling. People only care about themselves."

Cambodians are a silent people, Mam says, and women's suffering is also endured in silence, compounded by a lack of education in all spheres.

"Girls are taught only shame and ignorance about their bodies and men have their first sexual experience in brothels. Rape is the only thing they know."

Up to 70 per cent of brothel clients are Cambodian men and the remaining 30 per cent are foreigners including paedophiles targeting children, she says.

Although Mam was able to escape her past by living in France for a while with her French husband Pierre, she continues to be haunted by nightmares and post-traumatic stress.

Mam says she felt driven to rescue girls like herself. Together with Pierre she started saving victims of sexual slavery in Cambodia even though police and corrupt politicians were as bad as the pimps and clients who wanted her gone.

She was one of the founding members of AFESIP (Acting for Women in Distressing Circumstances), which has rescued and rehabilitated over 4000 women since 1996.

Now divorced, Mam says her traumatic past makes it impossible for her to be in a relationship.

But becoming a mother helped her feel love for the first time.

Mam has three children aged 18, 14 and eight. The oldest girl, Ning, is her sister's daughter whom she adopted.

"I'm not a gentle girl and life has been a fight, but out of this, and becoming a mother, came love."

The motherly love she discovered now fuels her mission in Cambodia, where she lives, to maintain three shelters for rescued sex slaves where their dignity is rebuilt through nurturing and education.

"It takes five minutes to rescue a girl and then the hard work starts," she says.

"First give them love until they feel it and they feel safe. Prove to them they can trust, and then start building life skills."

Bill Livermore, the US head of the Somaly Mam Foundation, says a key to ending trafficking is empowering women.

"Access to education, law and the economy is a must. If you take 50 per cent of the population out of those areas, countries do not thrive. Cambodia is very poor".

Livermore also advocates embarrassing governments who tolerate the sex slavery scourge "because governments won't change unless they are embarrassed to change".

He says the rehabilitation success rate in Cambodia soared after survivors were encouraged to rescue other girls.

"It went up from 65 per cent to 90 per cent because they were able to bond with the prostitutes and that's the kind of skill that a PhD from Harvard will never give you," he says.

The foundation was created in the US in 2007 and has a combination of corporate and private funding - not a cent comes from the United Nations or any government body.

Mam's high international profile helps, although old enemies remain. There have been threats on her life and she has a driver and a full-time bodyguard.

"If they kill me, there will be many more to take my place," she says.

SEX SLAVERY: THE FACTS

• One in 40 Cambodian girls is sold into sexual slavery
• Human trafficking is the second-largest organised crime in the world, even bigger than the drugs trade
• 2-4 million women and girls will be sold into prostitution worldwide over the next 12 months
• Over a million will be small children
• Some girls will be sold for as little as $US10 and will be as young as five
• Profits from sexual slavery are estimated at up to $US12 billion annually

Sources: US State Department, UNICEF, UN Office of Drugs and Crime
The Road of Lost Innocence, by Somaly Mam, is published by Virago Press.
For more info go to www.somaly.org and www.projectfutures.com

Former Khmer Rouge stronghold gets first textbook about atrocities committed in the 1970s

ANLONG VENG, Cambodia — Cambodian students in a former Khmer Rouge stronghold were issued a textbook Monday that for the first time teaches the atrocities of the past, a little more than a decade after government forces captured the movement's last bastion.

Some 1,000 copies of, "A History of Democratic Kampuchea," were handed out Monday at the Anlong Veng high school, located in the last jungle holdout of the regime that became a killing machine in the late 1970s.

The textbook by a Cambodian genocide researcher was first published in 2007 and entered circulation in 2009. Since then, about 300,000 copies have been distributed to high schools elsewhere in the country.

Most books about the 1975-79 Khmer Rouge era, when some 1.7 million perished through hunger, disease and executions, have been written by foreigners or overseas Cambodians. Very few have been translated into the Cambodian language, and none are cheaply available.

The book's arrival in the northern province of Anlong Veng has special poignancy. The area was home to many of the former regime's senior leaders and almost everyone — from teachers to district officials — was once Khmer Rouge. But students here have remained virtually clueless about the subject.

"I'm so happy to get this book," said 18-year-old student Pen Mom, whose parents were Khmer Rouge cadres. "I have heard from my parents about the atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge, but now I will see how bad the regime really was."

The Khmer Rouge regime was toppled in 1979 but continued as a guerrilla force that plagued Cambodia with civil war. Anlong Veng was one of the rebels' last jungle strongholds, finally falling to government forces in 1998 after key rebel leaders surrendered.

The Documentation Center of Cambodia, an independent group that collects evidence of the Khmer Rouge and published the book, says it plans to print 700,000 more copies to distribute to high schools by the end of the year.

"All of us can draw lessons from our history," said Youk Chhang, the centre's director. "By taking responsibility for teaching our children through texts such as this one, Cambodia can move forward and mould future generations to ensure that the seeds of genocide never again take root in our country."

Earlier of this year, the government said it will preserve 14 sites in Anlong Veng as tourist attractions including homes belonging to Khmer Rouge leaders, an ammunition warehouse and the grave of Pol Pot, who died in 1998.

"I will keep this book forever," said Chhun Soklin, a 29-year-old teacher at the high school. "After I read it I will pass it to my children because this book reflects the suffering endured by all Cambodians who experienced life under the Khmer Rouge."

The country is gearing up for the first and long-awaited verdict from the U.N.-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal. The tribunal will hand down its verdict July 26 in the case of Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Duch, the Khmer Rouge prison chief accused of crimes against humanity, war crimes, murder and torture.

Four other aging Khmer Rouge leaders are facing trials expected to begin late this year or early next year.
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Associated Press Writer Sopheng Cheang contributed reporting from Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Lon Nol's regime was the cause of the large remaining number of veterans nowadays: Hun Xen's delirium

Cambodian PM says war left over 90,000 disabled people

June 21, 2010
Xinhua

Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Monday that the civil war that lasted for more than two decades had left over 90,000 disabled people and about 300,000 children who are under their dependence.

Delivering a speech at the marking of the third anniversary of the Cambodian Veteran Day, Hun Sen said that his government has to help these people for their daily survival.

He said that in his name as president of Cambodian Veterans Association (CVA), he along with his wife and other generous people have built nearly 400 homes for the disabled veterans.

Hun Sen said the civil war in Cambodia was a result of the coup staged against then Prince Norodom Sihanouk in 1970.

While talking about the individual difficulties, Hun Sen said CVA has been well cooperated with friends around the world and in particular in the regional cooperation.

He said that CVA was admitted as a full member of the ASEAN Alliance for Veterans on April 26, 2010.

In his speech, Hun Sen highly valued veterans who had sacrificed a lot for the nation.

Mr. Hun Xen, Surya Subedi will never beat the Yuons when it comes to colonizing Cambodia!

Cambodian PM deplores UN official's "disrespect"

PHNOM PENH June 21 (Reuters) - Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen called a United Nations rights official disrespectful on Monday and said in future they would meet just once a year rather than three times.

Surya Subedi, the United Nations Special Rapporteur for human rights in Cambodia, criticised the country's judiciary last week for its lack of independence and regretted being unable to meet Hun Sen during a 10-day visit as the prime minister had been unwell.

Talking to hundreds of disabled former soldiers in Phnom Penh, the outspoken prime minister said Subedi had shown disrespect by saying he was "disappointed" about his illness.

"Every time he's come here, I've met him," Hun Sen said. "From now on, I'll see him just once a year."

"I hope he will hear this: I'm ill, I don't need to report to you," Hun Sen added, accusing Subedi of wanting to "colonise" his country.

The prime minister is prone to outbursts, especially at diplomats or international organisations expressing views at odds with his own.

Recently, he expressed irritation at the World Bank and others for saying the economy contracted in 2009 -- the Finance Ministry says it grew 0.1 percent -- and for giving lower growth forecasts for this year than the government.

He pulled the plugs on a World Bank land registry project last September after the multilateral body and other aid donors asked the government to stop evictions.

At a news conference on June 17, Subedi had said he was troubled by such land disputes and the apparent inability of the poor to get a fair hearing in court.

Also, in a reference to the government's tough stand on dissent, he expressed concern about what he called a narrowing of the political space for debate.

Hun Sen also criticised Cambodian rights groups on Monday, calling them "shadowy organisations" for organising a march of about 200 people to his house on June 15 to petition him to solve land disputes.

Police halted the march. No one was hurt.

(Reporting by Prak Chan Thul; Editing by Alan Raybould)

"Can't take criticism" was Hun Xen's illness that cause the meeting cancellation with Surya Subedi

Personal health the cause for not meeting UN envoy: Hun Sen

PHNOM PENH, Jun. 21, 2010 (Xinhua News Agency) -- Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen said Monday that his health problem was the cause of cancellation in meeting with the visit of the UN special envoy to Cambodia.

Giving speech to veterans in Phnom Penh, Hun Sen said there was no other reason beside his own "health problem" that made an abrupt cancellation of the meeting.

He said he was catching cough on the day when he was about to meet with Surya Subedi, the UN special envoy on human rights to Cambodia.

Surya Subedi who was on his third 10-day working mission in Cambodia, wrapped up his work last Thursday. He said that he was " disappointed" for not meeting with Hun Sen.

But, Hun Sen on Monday said Subedi should have chosen a different term, rather than "disappointed" as it was not his intention to cancel the meeting.

Hun Sen also warned that he might consider reducing certain number of meetings with Subedi during his whole assignment in Cambodia, saying it is too often to meet with him three times in a year.

Surya Subedi was appointed as UN special envoy on human rights to Cambodia last year.

1,000 police for Seh Daeng's funeral

21/06/2010
Bangkok Post

About 1,000 police will be deployed to provide security and help traffic flows around Wat Sommanatviharn in Pomprap Satruphai district where the royally sponsored funeral for Maj-Gen Khattiya Sawasdipol, better known as Seh Daeng, will be held on Tuesday, Metropolitan Police Division 1 commander Wichai Sangprapai said on Monday.

There will be 800 police from four anti-riot companies and another 200 from Nang Lerng and Chana Songkhram police stations.

Pol Maj-Gen Wichai said he expected at least 10,000 people to attend the funeral, including red-shirt supporters of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship, Seh Daeng's former subordinates, opposition and government politicians, high-ranking police and soldiers.

It had not been decided whether inspection points would be set up for weapon checks, he said.

Maj-Gen Khattiya, who was the security chief for the UDD protest at Ratchaprasong, was shot in the head on May 13 while giving a press interview near the Sala Daeng intersection. He died on May 17.

Before the incident, Maj-Gen Khattiya had been suspended from duty as an army specialist for alleged misconduct after an army committee recommended he face criminal charges in a military court.

Maj Gen Khattiya's salary had also been suspended since Jan 4 after he was found to have offended and insulted army chief Gen Anupong Paojinda.

He also travelled to meet ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra once in Cambodia and again in Dubai without informing his superiors he was leaving the country, as required by miliary regulations.

He also led a group of about 200 former military rangers to work as security guards for the UDD and acted openly as the leader of the UDD's security team at the Ratchaprasong rally site