Hun Sen Praises Tribunal Verdict in Duch Case

Wednesday, 04 August 2010
By: Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer | Phnom Penh
Source: VOA News

Prime Minister Hun Sen on Wednesday praised the Khmer Rouge tribunal’s sentencing of torture chief Duch, in the premier’s first public statement since the decision last week.(Photo:AP)

Prime Minister Hun Sen on Wednesday praised the Khmer Rouge tribunal’s sentencing of torture chief Duch, in the premier’s firstpublic statement since the decision last week.

Victims have said they are unsatisfied with the commuted sentence of the prison chief, under whose supervision more than 12,000 people were tortured and executed.

Hun Sen said the courts had made an independent decision free of political influence.

“The Royal Government of Cambodia respects the Khmer Rouge tribunal’s decision because the court is independent,” he said in public remarks. “We respect the independence of the court. The court sentenced Duch to 35 years in jail. It is up to the court, which the Royal Government of Cambodia must respect.”

In fact, Duch was handed a commuted sentence of only 19 years, following leniency and time served.

And tribunal observers say the court risks being tainted by political influence, with a number of senior officials refusing to cooperate with the international investigating judge and public statements by the premier against further indictments at the UN-backed court.

“The tribunal is facing problems of independence…relating to summonses of witnesses and progress on Case Nos. 003 and 004,” said Long Panhavuth, a tribunal monitor for the Cambodian Justice Initiative. “The government has not allowed the arrest of more suspects.”

Bu Meng, a former prisoner in Duch’s S-21, was not convinced of the court’s independence.

“The tribunal verdict seems to have had pressure from some circle or someone,” he said. “But [Prime Minister] Hun Sen said the court has independence and non-interference. That’s his right. The rights of the victims are different.”

Tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath said the verdict had the support of donor countries in a decision that was jointly arrived upon by international and national judges.

Solar future for Cambodia

FRIDAY, 09 JULY 2010 15:03

Source: Phnompenhpost

By: JEREMY MULLINS

Experimental aircraft Solar Impulse, with pilot Andre Borschberg onboard, flies above Payerne’s Swiss airbase during the first around-the-clock sun-driven journey. The breakthrough solar-powered flight opens a new chapter in aviation history.(Photo by: AFP)

Khmer Solar marketing sales manager Nob Makara stands behind some of his company’s panels at the office in Phnom Penh on Wednesday.(Photo by: Julie Leafe)

CAMBODIA’S rural electrification fund is planning a bulk purchase of 12,000 solar panel systems next month to help spread green power to rural villagers who are not connected to the national grid, its executive director said.

The REF – a World Bank-supported public institution aiming to provide electricity to every Cambodian village by 2020 – plans to sell the solar panels to rural households on a monthly payment basis, executive director Loeung Keosela said.

Foreign and domestic vendors will be invited to submit bids next month to supply the REF with 12,000 sets of solar panels, batteries and wiring, he said, which will then be sold individually to rural Cambodian households.

“If we procure in bulk sizes, hopefully the cost of individual systems will come down,” he added.

To obtain the new solar equipment, Loeung Keosela said rural families would be required to make a down payment, as well as monthly payments of around US$3 or $4 depending on the size of the system.

Many rural households already spend a similar amount per month on batteries or diesel generators, he said.

The project is funded by the World Bank’s $67.92 million Rural Electrification and Transmission project loan, which is set to expire on January 31, 2012.

The REF previously experimented with grants directly subsidising the cost of solar panels for households, he said, but the plan had limited success. “Only about 90 systems were sold,” he said.

Privately owned supplier Solar Energy of Cambodia director Mao Sangat said that private companies are increasingly selling solar power equipment in Cambodia, taking over from nonprofit organisations who began to provide renewable energy about a decade ago.

“Over the last decade, it seems demand for solar home systems are growing,” he said.

At the first Asian Solar Energy Forum held in Manila earlier this week, Asian Development Bank (ADB) officials said Asia’s developing nations were in a perfect position to harvest power from the sun, and added that assistance from development institutions was crucial to growing the industry.

Margaret Ryan, part-owner of the Kingdom’s oldest solar firm, Khmer Solar, said she welcomed nonprofit assistance from development bodies, provided it was well-structured. That firm has already extended $300,000 in credit from its Battambang office for households to purchase solar panels.