President of Human Rights Party summoned to court

By Khmerization
Source: DAP News

Mr. Kem Sokha (pictured), president of the Human Rights Party (HRP), has been summoned by the Phnom Penh Court to answer charges of breach of trust, document forgery and defamation brought on by 16 former employees of Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) in 2006 when he was the president of the centre.

The lawsuits were lodged by the 16 employees when they were laid off due to restructures and due the shortage of funds caused by the cut of financial supports from some backers.

Dr. Chhim Phalvirun, former deputy president of CCHR and current president of Institute on Population, accused that Mr. Kem Sokha had withheld part of their salary, forged their signatures and had intentionally destroyed the reputation of CCHR when he gave interview to a number of media and radios in Cambodia.

At the time of this article going to press on 30th August, Mr. Kem Sokha was unavailable for comment. However, Mr. Yem Ponharith, Secretary General of the HRP and MP from Prey Veng, said he had received the letter from Phnom Penh Court’s prosecutor, Mr. Sok Roeun, requesting Mr. Kem Sokha to appear before the court at 2 pm on 6th September. He said he is trying to contact Mr. Kem Sokha who is on a visit to the United States. He said he will write to the court asking the court to delay the hearing as Mr. Kem Sokha might not be able to return on time for the court hearing on 6th September.

Mr. Sok Roeun, who is in charge of this case, cannot be reached for comment. However, a source close to the Phnom Penh Court, said the court plans to write to the National Assembly asking it to strip Mr. Kem Sokha off his parliamentary immunity to pave the way for the court to proceed with his case.

Mr. Cheam Yeap, chairman of the National Assembly’s Finance and Audits Committee, said he had not received the court’s letter yet, but said the parliament will proceed in accordance with the laws and the constitution when it received the request from the court, meaning it will proceed to lift Mr. Kem Sokha’s parliamentary immunity.

Mr. Kem Sokha (pictured), president of the Human Rights Party (HRP), has been summoned by the Phnom Penh Court to answer charges of breach of trust, document forgery and defamation brought on by 16 former employees of Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) in 2006 when he was the president of the centre.

Two opposition activists escape to Thailand

16 August 2010
By Yun Samien
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Socheata
Click here to read the article in Khmer

Two SRP activists who were accused of spreading anti-government leaflets in Phnom Penh on 11 August have fled to Thailand.

Chan Soveth, an official for the Adhoc human rights group, told RFA on 16 August that Chea Sok Cheam and Mrs. Chea Daly arrived in Thailand already in order to avoid being arrested by the Cambodian cops. The pair were accused of distributing anti-government leaflets in Phnom Penh on 11 August.

Chan Soveth added that the pair are concerned about their safety and they would like to return back to Cambodia if they receive the guarantee that the cops will not arrest them.

On 11 August, the Phnom Penh cops arrested a suspect and confiscated leaflets criticizing the government leaders, accusing these leaders’ cooperation led to the lost of Cambodian territories to Vietnam.

Touch Naroth, the Phnom Penh police commissioner, told RFA on Monday that the cops already sent the case of the two SRP activists to the tribunal already. He declined to provide details in this case.

The SRP rejected the accusation made by the cops claiming that its activists were involved in the distribution of these leaflets. He said that this is a political accusation intended to threaten SRP activists.

Kul Panha, the executive director of the Comfrel NGO, said on Monday that the Cambodian cops should educate the suspects involved with the distribution of the leaflets rather than arresting them. He said that the distribution of these leaflets is merely an expression of opinion, and the content of the leaflet does not affect significantly the government.

In Ausgust alone, at least 7 opposition activists have been accused by the Cambodian government cops of distributing false information and of sabotage.

Construction workers protest

TUESDAY, 17 AUGUST 2010 15:01
By: KIM YUTHANA
Source: Phnompenhpost

Photo by: Heng Chivoan Employees of local construction firm KC Gecin Enterprises protest in front of the company’s head office in Meanchey district yesterday.

MORE than 100 disgruntled workers staged a protest along National Road 2 in Meanchey district’s Chak Angre Leu commune yesterday, after local construction firm KC Gecin Enterprises allegedly dismissed 27 employees last week for attempting to form a union.

Chum Yean, 27, who was among the group of workers fired by the company last Friday, said colleagues had demanded they be reinstated immediately.

“It is an injustice that we were fired. The company discriminated against us because we were planning to set up a union,” he said.

The protest lasted into the evening, but participants said 10 commune police officials tore up their banners.

Chak Angre Leu commune chief Keo Sareoun, who accompanied the police, justified the destruction of the banners by calling the protest illegal.
“They are not allowed to rebel here,” he said.

“It causes traffic jams and is against the law because they did not ask authorities for permission to protest.”

Cambodia a banana kingdoom????

NOTE: Below is an email I received from Chivan who wrote to me, Khmerization, and KI-Media and my reply to him. And I would like to tell Chivan that Thailand is also “A Banana Kingdom” branded recently. You can read some of the articles here and here.

2010/8/16

Suor Sdei,

I don’t know why Sokhoeun Pang, KI and Khmerization keep defending Khmer from Thai aggressors while you all keep insulting mother land Cambodia. You called mother land Cambodia a banana Kingdom that’s what you support Thailand against Cambodia and that’s reflect yourself to what Thailand always insulting Cambodia a banana Kingdom full of crazy bad leaders like Hun Sen, Sok An, Hor Nam Hong etc…. You all don’t need to waste your time calling Thai psychopath because you are yourselves Khmer psychopath as well.

Khmer go in the battle field making war against Thai aggressors for stealing Khmer land and you all telling Thai aggressors in the battle field that Oh! Cambodia is a banana Kingdom full of crazy bad Khmer Yuan leaders!!!

Some Khmer know that Khmer leaders are bad but at least their bad are trying to protect Khmer land from Thai aggressors. We all Khmer need to reunite together fighting against Thai aggressors for stealing Khmer land and when it will be over, you can call Khmer leaders and insult them all you wanted but please just leave mother land Cambodia alone because mother land Cambodia gave birth to you all and you don’t insult mother land Cambodia. And please try not to talk bad about Khmer leaders for a while during this time defending Khmer from Thai aggressors because Thai might think that you are yourself Khmer psychopath not them.

JFK: Ask not what your country can do for you – Ask what you can do for your country.

Thank you.

Boeung Kak land reclassified

THURSDAY, 05 AUGUST 2010 15:02
By: MAY TITTHARA AND SEBASTIAN STRANGIO
Phnompenhpost

Photo by: Sovan Philong An aerial view of the south side of Boeung Kak lake, as seen from the Canadia Bank tower in October last year.

LARGE portions of the city’s Boeung Kak lakeside have been reclassified as state private property under the joint control of City Hall and the local company behind the controversial filling of the lake, according to a recent sub-decree.

The document, signed by Prime Minister Hun Sen on July 20, states that 126.85 hectares of the lake and its surroundings are to be “considered as a state private property for Shukaku Inc Company to develop based on the government’s purpose”.

“The area mentioned above is legally managed and controlled by related Ministries and Phnom Penh Municipal Hall with the cooperation of Shukaku Inc Co Ltd,” the sub-decree states. Unlike state public land, which includes lakes, rivers, roads and parks, state private land can be legally leased or sold to companies or individuals.

In February 2007, Shukaku, an obscure local firm owned by Cambodian People’s Party Senator Lao Meng Khin, signed a lease agreement with the municipality giving it the right to develop the lakeside, then a state public property. The following year, it began filling in the lake to make way for a 133-hectare housing and commercial development at the lakeside. Housing rights advocates say that more than 4,000 families will be displaced by the project.

PM takes firm stand on disease

THURSDAY, 05 AUGUST 2010 15:02
By: TEP NIMOL AND DAVID BOYLE
Phnompenhpost

Photo by: Heng Chivoan Prime Minister Hun Sen speaks at a graduation ceremony at Koh Pich Centre in Phnom Penh yesterday.

PRIME Minister Hun Sen yesterday ordered provincial authorities to suspend the importation of pigs from Vietnam and Thailand in response to an outbreak of diseases that experts said was on the verge of destroying the Cambodian swine industry.

Speaking at a graduation ceremony in Phnom Penh, the premier said an outbreak in Thailand and Vietnam of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, also known as blue-ear, had spread to Cambodia in May, and posed a threat to public health.

“I would like to appeal to provincial authorities, especially provinces near the borders of Vietnam and Thailand, to suspend pig imports,” he said.
However, Hun Sen conceded that it would be impossible to completely stop the illegal importation of pigs from neighbouring countries.

“This order is not a violation of the World Trade Organisation, but it is a measurement to protect the animals’ lives and prevent infectious disease,” he said.

He also urged pig vendors not to take advantage of any resulting supply shortfall by raising prices.

Agriculture Minister Chan Sarun said at a press conference yesterday that hundreds of pigs had died recently, but that not all had been afflicted with blue-ear. He attributed the outbreak to a recent decision by the Vietnamese government to order pig farmers to slaughter animals affected by the disease.

Instead of complying with that order, Vietnamese pig farmers “evacuated their pigs to Cambodia, the nearest place”, and a lack of regulations on imports fuelled the domestic spread of blue-ear, Chan Sarun said.

He said the government would not compensate farmers affected by the outbreak. Neither he nor Hun Sen said when the import ban would be lifted.

Curtis Hundley, chief of party at USAID’s Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise agency, said blue-ear had the potential to bring the pig industry to its knees, costing investors and farmers tens of millions of dollars.

“We’re talking somewhere between 1 or 2 million pigs, and each pig is worth about US$100 at market, so it’s a huge industry here,” he said.

Nonetheless, he said he welcomed the ban, and urged the government to retain it long enough for the industry to recover and draw investment.

“When the industry is destroyed like it is now, it’s going to take at least five months just to get the pigs ready for the market, and it’s going to take at least a year for this industry to recover,” he said.

During a similar outbreak in 2007, the government banned the importation of pigs from Thailand and Vietnam for eight months.

According to Global Trade Atlas, Thai swine exports to Cambodia rose from 2,273 pigs in 2007 to 866,199 in 2009, and were worth $45 million that year.

Thais slash jail terms for 16 Cambodians

TUESDAY, 03 AUGUST 2010 15:02
By: CHEANG SOKHA
Source: Phnompenhpost

ATHAI court has halved the jail terms of 16 Cambodians convicted of entering Thailand illegally to destroy forests a year ago, the foreign ministry said.

The 16 loggers, from Preah Vihear and Oddar Meanchey provinces, were arrested in July last year after entering Thai territory to cut down trees.

In September, a court in Ubon Rachathani province sentenced 15 members of the group to nine years and three months in jail, and a 16th man – 18-year-old San Kros – received a lesser sentence of six years and two months.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong said Ubon Rachathani provincial appeal court ruled yesterday that the 15 would have their sentences slashed to four years and nine months, and that San Kros would serve only three years and two months.

“Of course, our purpose is for them to be released, but we see that the appeal court gave them more justice than the lower court,” Koy Kuong said. “Our consular officials in Thailand and lawyers are in discussion to find a way for their release so that they can return home.”

He said consular officials based in Sa Kaeo province have not yet decided whether to file an appeal to the Supreme Court, since Thailand often reduces the jail terms of prisoners if they behave well in custody.

Café staff accused of running a brothel

TUESDAY, 03 AUGUST 2010 15:02
By: CHRANN CHAMROEUN
Source: Phnompenhpost

Un Samnang leaves Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday. He was charged with procuring prostitution after police raided a coffee shop rented under his name.Photo by: Pha Lina.

Two Vietnamese nationals appeared at Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday on charges of procuring prostitution for allegedly running a brothel out of a coffee shop in the capital’s Daun Penh district.

Chang Ty Hok, 35, and 23-year-old Un Samnang were arrested on Street 63 in Daun Penh’s Chaktomuk commune in October by police who discovered 25 Vietnamese prostitutes at the scene.

Un Samnang, who also holds a Cambodian identification card, told the court that although he had accepted US$80 to allow the coffee shop’s proprietors to rent the facility under his name, he was not involved in the sale of sex. An elderly Khmer Krom woman named Ky Nang was responsible for the criminal activity, he said.

Judge Suos Sam Ath swiftly rejected this testimony.

“Don’t deny this and put the blame on another person called Ky Nang when there’s no one with this name,” he said.

“Based on the confessions of more than 20 Vietnamese women, it was you who served as the boss of this coffee shop and who collected half the money when the women served sex to customers for $5.”

Chang Ty Hok also denied the allegations against her, saying she had only worked as a cleaner at the coffee shop. Suos Sam Ath, however, said these statements were not credible.

“Don’t deny this, because several prostitutes told police that you always collected 10,000 riels from them on behalf of Un Samnang every time they had a customer,” Suos Sam Ath said. “You were their madam.”

In written testimony read out by a court clerk yesterday, one Vietnamese woman said she had been lured to Cambodia by the promise of a job at the coffee shop earning $50 per month. She said she was then forced to become a prostitute, serving four to five customers each day and giving half her earnings to the shop’s owners.

Another woman said in her written testimony that she had come to the shop voluntarily to work as a prostitute.

Suos Sam Ath said a verdict would be announced on August 12.

Cambodian Defence Ministry to introduce military conscription soon

By Khmerization
Source: RFA

Cambodian troops based at Preah Vihear temple.

A senior Cambodian Defence Ministry official said on 1st August that the ministry is poised to introduce a military conscription soon after the military reservist conscription sub-decree was signed by the king , reports Radio Free Asia.

Gen. Chhum Socheat, spokesman for the Defence Ministry, said the conscription is necessary to prepare the military force for the defence of the country. He said the conscription will start as soon as the sub-decree was signed by King Sihamoni.

He said the military reserve conscription will include recalling of contracted soldiers, professional retired soldiers or those who retired from the military before retiring age. The new conscripts will be required to perform military duties between 3 to 4 months.

Gen. Chhum Socheat said there is no decision of how many reservists will be conscripted or recruited, saying it all depends on the budget approved by the parliament.

Tea Banh slaps the greedy Siam right on the face

Tea Banh

In the interview Tea Banh, Cambodian Defence Minister,  in his answer to the Nation reporter Panya Tiewsangwan regarding to the question asked if the joint management plan  over Prasat Preah Vihear managed by the two countries would be the best solution, responded that:

“Cambodia never thinks about violating Thailand’s sovereignty,” Tea Banh said. When asked if a joint development of the site would be a solution, he replied: “There are principles for everything. You cannot try to be co-owners of properties you don’t have rights over them.”

NOTE: It is believable that Siam still brainlessly and shamelessly dare to ask such a question. It seems that it is funny and happy  for them to make Cambodians hurt and  angry.

Thai are suggested to study law now to become a better human

‘Nothing to fear’ from heritage meet

A MUST READ ARTICLE
25/07/2010 at 12:00 AM
Bangkok Post

Thailand has nothing to fear from the World Heritage Committee meeting starting today in Brazil, a source says.

Cambodian soldiers guard Prasat Preah Vihear

The meeting will discuss Cambodia’s management plan for Preah Vihear temple and its buffer zone.

Thailand has yet to see the plan, because it has not been distributed to committee members.

However, the source said any decision by the committee to back the plan is unlikely to affect Thailand’s territorial dispute with Cambodia over land near the temple.

Preah Vihear has been on Unesco’s world heritage list since 2008.

Thailand opposes the plan on the grounds that sovereignty over the buffer zone, the 4.6 square kilometre disputed area claimed by the two countries, has not been settled.

The source, who works on resolving border disputes between Thailand and Cambodia, said endorsement of the management plan would probably have little impact on the territorial dispute.

He cited the World Heritage Convention which says the listing of a world heritage site will not prejudice concerned parties’ right to conduct territorial disputes.

The source insists the world heritage work will not affect demarcation work in the area as both sides reached agreements following a memorandum of understanding on demarcation work in 2000.

The work has made little progress so far, because they first need to identify all 73 land pegs running along the Thai-Cambodia border.

“I think we need to study the law so we can deal with the issue better. At the moment, emotions are running too high,” the source said.

However, he cautioned about possible encroachments on Thai territory by Cambodia following any plan endorsement.

Life in the Ansorm Chek kingdoom: Don’t mess with the Cee-Pee-Pee

Stories inspired by the Iron Curtain
Adapted by Lucky Unlucky

Lucky Unlucky note: Some readers were wondering whether the use of the “Ansorm Chek kingdoom” is an insult on our revered Khmer dessert or not? Well, not too long ago, the Royal Government of the kingdoom of Cambodia issued a declaration stating that Cambodia is NOT a “banana kingdoom.” In respect to this declaration, I have decided that I should use our popular Khmer dessert to denote our illustrious kingdoom instead. That’s all. Thank you!

Radio Bayon is asked:
-Was the CPP set up by our illustrious politicians or by genius scientists?

Radio Bayon answers:
-Of course it was invented by our illustrious politicians. Scientists would have tested it on monkeys in advance.
———-
Thug Kid (Khmeng C-Peal-Peal)?

Manouth, a kid in the kingdoom of Cambodia, stands up on his desk during class and starts cursing everyone of his classmates around. The teacher shouts at Manouth, tries to get him off the desk and threatens him. Manouth is not afraid of anything, he shouts to the teacher: “Go to hell you stupid witch!”

Then the teacher tells him, she’ll call the director. The nasty kid aggressively replies: “Who? The director? Oh, that ape face? Tell him to shut his stinking mouth up and wash his smelly butt!”

The teacher unable to calm him down, goes to the school director and tells him what is going on. The director is extremely angry. Opens a shelf and takes the school students’ personal data list out. “Let’s see who his parents are, we’ll call them!” As he finds that Manouth’s father is the CPP party provincial boss and his mother is the president of the local Cambodian Red Cross chapter, his speech freezes…

Teacher: “Well? What’s their phone number?”

The director (with shaking lips): “W-w-well, why don’t you go to hell, you idiot witch and I’ll shut my stinking mouth up and g-go wash my smelly butt right now!” Here and Here.

Daily deluge

FRIDAY, 16 JULY 2010 15:03
By: JULIE LEAFE

Photo by: Julie Leafe

A security guard watches from under an umbrella on Sihanouk Boulevard as sodden motorbike drivers pass through the heavy rains lashing the city earlier this week.

Police quash anti-Thai gathering

FRIDAY, 16 JULY 2010 15:02
KIM YUTHANA AND THET SAMBATH

AROUND 150 armed security forces were deployed by Phnom Penh Municipal authorities yesterday to prevent a ceremony

Rong Chhun, president of the Cambodian Watchdog Council, speaks to the press after armed security personnel disbursed a protest outside the former National Assembly building yesterday.(Photo by: Sovan Philong)

“expressing hate and demanding that Thai soldiers withdraw” from Preah Vihear temple.

On July 15, 2008, Thailand sent troops to disputed border areas close to Preah Vihear temple after UNESCO accepted Cambodia’s application to have it listed as a World Heritage site.

The ceremony, organised by the Cambodian Watchdog Council, was to take place outside the old National Assembly building near Wat Botum and mark the anniversary of the “Thai invasion” by demanding the withdrawal of Thai troops still stationed near the temple.

However, 150 soldiers and police – outnumbering the protesters – forced the gathering to disburse and relocate.

CWC President Rong Chhun expressed disappointment that authorities prevented the ceremony from going ahead as planned.

“The supporters and I wanted to hold a ceremony to remember the anniversary of the Thai invasion, but we are disappointed that local authorities prevented the gathering,” he said. “The deployment of armed forces is threatening and frightening to the patriotism of Cambodia’s children.”

He said the ceremony was moved to his office in Chamkarmon district, but remained under heavy police guard.

Sam Rainsy Party spokesman Yim Sovann said the ceremony was in “the nation’s interest”.

“Local authorities hindering the gathering is a violation of the right of expression,” he said. “This is not a democracy.”

Officials at City Hall could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Money for the renewal of invasion, but not for those poor buffaloes!

Bt10m put aside to fight Cambodia on Preah Vihear

By The Nation
Published on July 14, 2010

The Cabinet yesterday allocated Bt10 million for the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry to use in the campaign

againstCambodia’s management plan on Preah Vihear’s, which it will present at the World Heritage committee meeting in Brazil later this month.

The Hindu temple near the Thai-Cambodian border was listed in July 2008 as a World Heritage Site, but Thailand has been lobbying member countries to delay Phnom Penh’s management plan owing to disputes in areas adjacent to the temple.

The Thai authorities want Cambodia’s management plan to be delayed until the border dispute is settled, the government’s deputy spokesman Marut Masayawanit said.

The Bt10 million will be spent by a delegation representing Thailand at the meeting, which runs from July 25 to August 3, he said.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Natural Resources and Environment Minister Suwit Khunkitti would lead the delegation and present Thailand’s stance to the Unesco World Heritage committee.

“We want to delay the plan because we are still in a border dispute with Cambodia and we have not seen any documents for the management plan,” Abhisit told reporters.

Thailand is concerned that Cambodia might use the disputed 4.6-square-kilometre area near the temple as a buffer zone for the site.

Abhisit added that the committee’s decision would not affect Thailand’s boundary with Cambodia, but it was advisable that no decisions were made while the disputes remained.

According to a 1962 verdict from the International Court of Justice, the Preah Vihear temple is located in Cambodia, but Thailand claims that areas adjacent to the temple belong to Thailand. The two countries are still in the process of negotiation for boundary demarcation.

NOTE:  I think it is better for Abhishit to spare the money to help the poor Thais who this month always go to Sweden to pick blue berries, hjutron, and lingonberry to survive their living.  Please help them because their hardship to work here -Sweden, is indescribable.

Abhishit should go back to school and read the verdict of 1962 again before giving any statement as a leader of a country and I swear that the border between Cambodia and Thailand decided by the International Court of Justice in 1962 will never change. So get lost you an arrogant MP!

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.

Crashes fall, fatalities level out

FRIDAY, 09 JULY 2010 15:02

Source: Phnompenhpost

By: CHHAY CHANNYDA

ROAD collisions decreased nationwide in the first six months of this year compared with the same period last year as a result of

Two motorbike drivers receive assistance after colliding on Russian Federation Boulevard late last month. New statistics from the Interior Ministry indicate that crashes have fallen this year, though fatalities have remained level.(Photo by: Pha Lina)

stricter traffic law enforcement, though fatalities stayed level and compliance with the helmet requirement was low, an official said yesterday.

Preap Chanvibol, director of the Land Transport Department at the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, said figures released this week from the Interior Ministry’s Department of Public Order – which collates road accident data from police reports – showed a 7 percent decrease in the number of collisions between January and June of this year and the same period last year, with totals dropping from 3,257 to 3,040.

But the number of fatalities fell by just three, from 934 to 931, he said.

He added that compliance with an amendment to the Land Traffic Law requiring motorbike drivers to wear helmets had not increased sufficiently, particularly in the provinces.

The amendment, implemented in January 2009, introduced a fine of 3,000 riels for helmetless motorbike drivers.

“In Phnom Penh, around 72 percent of people wear helmets, while in the provinces only 46 percent of people comply with the helmet rule,” he said.
“Traffic police have to strengthen law enforcement on this point to reach 100 percent implementation from 2010 on.”

Preap Chanvibol said officials would continue to emphasise the importance of nighttime traffic policing – which was increased early this year – in an attempt to bolster compliance with the helmet law.

“More people do not like to wear helmets at night when they know that traffic police are not working,” he said.

Sem Panhavuth, project manager for the Road Crash and Victim Information System (RCVIS), which collects data from traffic police and health facilities, said figures for the first six months of this year and last year were not available, but noted that RCVIS often records higher numbers of accidents and fatalities than those documented by the Interior Ministry.

“Sometimes the police are not involved, and traffic accident victims go straight to the hospital,” he said.

He noted, though, that RCVIS figures for the first three months of this year had also shown virtually no change in fatalities – 493 this year compared with 492 last year – despite a dramatic drop in the number of total crash casualties, which fell 32 percent from 6,732 to 4,662.

He said the number of traffic collision casualties had been in decline since the introduction of the Land Traffic Law in 2007, and that he expects to see the trend continue as enforcement of the law is strengthened.

“In 2009 the number of casualties had decreased since the previous year,” he said. “If traffic police continue to enforce the law, I think fatalities will decrease.”

He also reiterated long-standing calls from road traffic activists for the government to focus on increasing helmet use. According to RCVIS
statistics released earlier this year, motorbike crashes accounted for around 70 percent of traffic fatalities last year, and 80 percent of the dead
succumbed to head injuries.

Officials at the Ministry of Public Works and Transport said last month that they had finalised a draft of amendments to the Land Traffic Law that includes a proposal to raise helmet fines to 21,000 riels (about $5).

On Thursday, however, Preap Chanvibol said the draft ammendments had not been sent to the Council of Ministers for approval, as the details were again being discussed.

Cambodia donates elephant pair to S. Korea

PHNOM PENH, July 8 KYODO

A pair of elephants donated by Cambodia to South Korea as way to strengthen bilateral ties were shipped there Thursday by a South Korean air force C-130 cargo plane, officials said.

Cambodia elephants

Cambodia elephants

“Chheu Chett T’bett Oss Dei” a Poem in Khmer by Sam Vichea

KI Media

Sunday, July 04, 2010

Congratulation to Chea Mony!

Chea Mony elected president of FTUWKC unopposed

By Khmerization
Source: DAP News

Chea Mony (pictured), the incumbent president of the Free Trade Union of

Chea Mony

Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia (FTUWKC) has been re-elected as president of the FTUWKC unopposed for a 5th term, reports Deum Ampil.

Chea Mony was the only candidate and was re-elected unanimously in a congress held on Sunday (27th June) morning.

Earlier in the month, he said he is stepping down and won’t seek re-election due to ill health. However, he said he changed his mind after the majority members of the union wrote letters asking him to continue to represent them.

NOTE: My worry is relieved after receiving this good  news. Of course, he wants to resign from his post for health problem. His resign surely will weaken FTUWCK’ s influence  for only a few whose commitment and qualification are at doubt, besides Bang Rong Chhun,  will dare to stand for the post and continue to commit to serving the workers’ interests  in the most dangerous political situation like in Cambodia.

Cambodia needs  more persons like him and Bang Rong Chhun to continue to fight for the rights of the civil servants and workers of the country for better living standard and dignity!

PP court says no extradition for Sam Rainsy

KI Media

Thursday, 24 June 2010
Vong Sokheng
The Phnom Penh Post

THE president of Phnom Penh Municipal Court said Wednesday that there were no plans to ask for cooperation from France in securing the return of opposition leader Sam Rainsy, who faces charges related to his claims of Vietnamese border encroachment.

Chev Keng said the court had taken no steps to expedite the return of Sam Rainsy, who was charged in March, although his lawyer has said that a warrant was issued for his arrest on May 28. Sam Rainsy is currently residing in France.

“I have not received any report related to Sam Rainsy’s case from the investigating judge, and so far I have no plans” to request that the French government hand him over, Chev Keng said.

Koy Kuong, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said on Wednesday that the government may choose to push for Sam Rainsy’s return using “diplomatic channels”, noting that there is no extradition treaty between France and Cambodia.

But he said that any request for cooperation from France would need to come from the court, and would also need approval from his ministry and the Ministry of Justice. “It’s up to the court,” he said.

Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak said Wednesday that law enforcement officials are actively working on finding a way for Sam Rainsy to be returned.

He declined, however, to elaborate on any particular methods that were being considered.

“We are the executive branch, which has to follow the court’s verdict,” he said.

Svay Rieng provincial court in January sentenced Sam Rainsy to two years in prison for his role in uprooting border posts in Chantrea district last October. Sam Rainsy and other lawmakers from his party have said that the posts were placed in Cambodian territory.

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court laid its charges in March in connection with maps Sam Rainsy released after the verdict, which he said offered proof of his encroachment claims.

A study of contrast … well, Happy Birthday Your Majesty Queen Mother!

KI Media

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Opulent offerings to dead spirits …

… when the livings are poor and hungry?

Chea Mony reconsiders resignation

phnompenhpost

THURSDAY, 10 JUNE 2010 15:02

By : TEP NIMOL

Union leader Chea Mony addresses garment workers during a rally in Phnom Penh on May 1.

CHEA Mony said Wednesday that he was reconsidering plans to step down as president of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia, saying he had been inundated with requests from members who want him to stand as a candidate in elections scheduled for later this month.

On May 16, Chea Mony announced that he would resign from his position at the end of his current term and would not stand as a candidate in the June 27 elections. He cited health reasons for his decision, and added that a change of leadership could benefit the FTU.

“I want the union to be progressive,” he said. “If we want our country to be progressive we must have a change of leader.”

On Wednesday, Chea Mony said he is still ill and physically weak, but that statements of support he had received had given him “emotional strength”.

“I have a disease, and I have held the position for two mandates already, which means six years,” he said. “In the future I have no will to be president of the union anymore, but now I have received hundreds of letters from workers requesting me to be a candidate for the president election, and the letters encourage me to consider putting myself forward again.”

Cambodian Confederation of Unions president Rong Chhun said he would put himself on the ballot if necessary, but that he would prefer for Chea Mony to continue in the post.

“Nobody wants to be president now because they would like Chea Mony to continue his work,” he said. “We will try our best to push Chea Mony to be president again. If there is no choice, I will do it, but I have not registered my name for election.”

FTU secretary general Mann Seng Hak said people who had originally intended to stand for the role of president had bowed out of the running to “leave space blank for Chea Mony to be president for the next term”.

He added that there are currently no other candidates for the position.

They Are Not Khmer Members of Parliament

KI.Media

Monday, June 07, 2010
Op-Ed by Khmer Borann
Phnom Penh

Cambidia

After the villagers in Anh Chanh Village, Chey Chork Commune, Borey Chulsa District of Takeo province complained that the new Cambodia-Vietnam border post 270 was planted on the middle of their rice field, SRP members of parliament have requested President of National Assembly Heng Samrin to visit the place. Heng Samin did not allow the SRP members of parliament to visit the place where the encroachment by the planting border post is alleged.

Until now, nobody knows the demarcation post 270 was planted on the real border of inside Cambodia’s territory. The visit, although was unsuccessful, by SRP members of parliament and Khmer border activists has shown that, as the elected representative of Cambodian people, these SRP members of parliament are responsible before the voters. Moreover, if we look at the Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia, these SRP members of parliament have followed the constitution. How about the CPP members of parliament, especially Heng Samrin? Are they following the constitution of Cambodia, especially the Oath before they took the office as Member of Parliament?

To see if the CPP members of parliament are Khmer Member of Parliament or not, I would like to invite the readers of KI Media to look at The Oath before the Constitution of Cambodia.

The Oath

WE

THE PRESIDENT, DEPUTY PRESIDENT AND MEMBERS OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE KINGDOM OF CAMBODIA, WOULD LIKE TO SWEAR BEFORE HIS MAJESTY THE KING’S FACE, BEFORE SAMDACH SANGKHAREACH’S FACE, AND THE DIVINES GURDING THE THRONE’S PARASOL, AS FOLLOWS:

During the operations of their functions and fulfillment of the missions that are conferred by the Cambodian citizens to everyone of us, we determine to respect for the Constitution, serve at all time both at present and in future, the interests of the people, nation and Cambodian motherland. We would like to swear that we will not exploit the national interests for our own or for our family or for our groups or for our respective party.

We would like to swear that we dare sacrificing our lives for always protecting, at
present as well as in the future:

• the total independence of Cambodian motherland,
• the full national sovereignty
• the legitimate territorial integrity within the land and sea boundaries which Cambodia used to have in periods between 1963 to 1969,
• the national unity, and will not allow to have any segregation or secession.

We would like to determine to always retain, now and in the future, the neutrality and the non-alignment for Cambodia, and will never allow any person, whoever wishes to interfere the internal affairs of Cambodia or give order over the national and international policies of Cambodia. We will absolutely not serve the foreign interests and cause harms to the interest of the people, nation and Cambodian motherland.

When solving any issues on the national and international arena, we will totally eliminate all kinds of violence.
However, the Kingdom of Cambodia shall reserve its rights to hold weapons and smuggle against any aggression from the outside, in order to defend its own nation and motherland.

We would like to determine to always respect for, at present as well as in the future, the Liberal Democracy which has a parliamentary regime and multi-party system, and will strictly respect for the Human Rights as stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

We determine to fight against of all sorts of corruption, social injustice and will strive for the national reconciliation, national unity, social and national peace, and for the abundance of the Cambodian citizens and for the prosperity and glory of the Cambodian motherland, the sacred and beloved ones of all of us.

SRP blocked on Takeo border visit

phnompenhpost

FRIDAY, 04 JUNE 2010 15:02 MEAS SOKCHEA

Takeo Province

Sam Rainsy Party lawmaker Tok Vanchan of Takeo province crosses a river in Borei Cholsa district’s Chey Chauk commune on Thursday, after a police blockade prevented a group of lawmakers from using the nearby bridge.

POLICE in Takeo province on Thursday prevented a delegation of Sam Rainsy Party lawmakers from visiting a site along the Vietnamese border in Takeo’s Borei Cholsa district, in the latest in a series of showdowns between the opposition and the government over alleged Vietnamese encroachment.

Last week, Borei Cholsa residents complained that newly planted border posts along the Vietnamese frontier had cut off large portions of their farmland. Provincial authorities, they said, had prevented them from examining the border posts and had threatened them with imprisonment if they were to protest. Takeo provincial Governor Srey Ben said Wednesday that Vietnamese and Cambodian authorities had only been on a surveying mission in the area, and had not yet planted permanent border markers.

On Thursday, 20 SRP parliamentarians and around 100 supporters attempted to visit the border posts in question, but were confronted in Borei Cholsa’s Chey Chauk commune by around 30 provincial and military police and about 50 local residents who prevented them from going farther. The two sides exchanged words heatedly before the SRP delegation turned back.

“The SRP does not have permission from the government, so we do not permit them to enter,” Chey Chauk commune chief Tuon Vanhorm said.

“Let me see a letter of permission first, and then we will permit the delegation to enter.”

On Tuesday, after being notified about the planned trip to Takeo by the SRP, National Assembly President Heng Samrin wrote a letter in response, saying that he “would not allow and would not be responsible” for the SRP’s trip.

SRP spokesman Yim Sovann called the restriction of the delegation’s movements “illegal” and said that the ruling Cambodian People’s Party had paid off local villagers to join the blockade.

“This is intimidation,” Yim Sovann said. “They have illegally blocked the people’s representatives from fulfilling their duty.”

The SRP has made alleged Vietnamese encroachment along the border one of its signature issues since October, when opposition leader Sam Rainsy led local residents in uprooting border posts in Svay Rieng province’s Chantrea district that he claimed had been planted illegally. In January, the Svay Rieng provincial court sentenced Sam Rainsy to two years in prison in connection with the incident, and two Chantrea residents who took part in the protest received one-year jail terms.

Sam Rainsy, who has been travelling abroad since last year, was charged in March with falsifying public documents and spreading disinformation after he staged several video press conferences arguing his case and highlighting the border issue.
Var Kimhong, the government’s senior official in charge of border affairs, declined to comment on Thursday about the SRP’s trip and about the border-demarcation process more generally.

“I gave, already, all this information,” Var Kimhong said, referring to a November appearance before the National Assembly in which he defended the government’s approach to demarcation of its eastern border. “I don’t want to repeat again, again, again.”

Var Kimhong told the assembly in November that 140 of 375 planned border markers had been planted along Cambodia’s and Vietnam’s 1,270-kilometre shared border, a process that began in 2006 and is set to be finished by 2012.

Sok Sam Oeun, executive director of the Cambodian Defenders Project, said local authorities needed to prove that the SRP members were a security threat in order to legally justify restricting their movements. The government, he added, risked drawing more attention to the Vietnamese border by continuing to stifle discussion about it.

“If they act like this, then maybe people will still be suspicious about the problems along the border, so I think it is not a good way,” Sok Sam Oeun said.

Puon Pon, a Borei Cholsa district resident who joined the group blocking the SRP delegation, said he did not believe the farmland of local villagers had been significantly affected by the new border posts.

“They were planted in rice fields, but that land does not belong to anyone – it is state land,” Puon Pon said.

But Keo Kim, a Borei Cholsa resident who joined the SRP delegation, said the border posts would cost him all 2.5 hectares of his farmland if they became permanent. Police in Takeo, he added, had unjustly prevented the SRP delegation from investigating the issue.

“If the markers that they have planted are made official, my land will be totally lost,” Keo Kim said.

Cambodian opposition barred from visit to Vietnam border

khmerization

Son Chhay talks to reporters during his visit to Khmer-Vietnamese border in Chantrea district in Svay Rieng province on 14th December 2009.

Phnom Penh – Armed Cambodian military police prevented a group of 16 opposition lawmakers Thursday from inspecting a new boundary marker on the border with Vietnam, an opposition member said.

Cambodia and Vietnam are in the process of demarcating their shared border, and the placement of some markers has proved contentious with claims they encroach on Cambodian farmers’ fields.

Sam Rainsy Party lawmaker Son Chhay said the legislators had heard that the border markerwas well inside Cambodian territory and went to inspect it but more than a dozen military police tried to prevent them from reaching the site.

“If the government has nothing to hide, they should not work so hard to stop us 5 kilometres away,” he said by telephone.

The group eventually managed to get within 150 metres of the post in the south-eastern province of Takeo before they were again turned back by local police.

The government on Tuesday warned that the trip was illegal and said it would prevent the group from reaching the area.

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy was sentenced in absentia in January to two years jail for his role in uprooting boundary posts in October on the Vietnam border.

That incident riled Hanoi, which has close links to the government in Phnom Penh.

Vietnam also has significant business interests in Cambodia, including investments in agribusiness, aviation, telecommunications and banking.

Government Bolsters Efforts Against Squatters

kI-media

Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh Friday, 28 May 2010

“This [order] is good, but we worry about the concrete implementation of it, because the government has not provided fair compensation to people in exchange for their removal.”

The Council of Ministers on Friday approved a legal circular that instructs provincial and municipal authorities to seek resolutions to illegal settlements on state property.

The order tells authorities to first meet with community representatives on state land to inform them of development projects and to then discuss compensation for residents.

The circular creates a regulation for measures already practiced by authorities, critics said Friday, and it does not address situations where residents refuse to leave.

Cambodian officials have steadily found themselves at odds with squatter communities, where land values have boomed and development projects are springing up.

The order is to “inform all provinces and municipal authorities to solve illegal construction on state land through discussion with residents,” according to the draft pass by the Council on Friday.

The order is meant “to solve the anarchic construction [done] without order on the state land, where the occupier has come to settle illegally and to construct a house without order [creating] a lack of road passage and lack of hygiene.”

The order now gives officials more authority to act against squatter communities who may not be getting enough compensation, opponents said Friday.

“This [order] is good, but we worry about the concrete implementation of it, because the government has not provided fair compensation to people in exchange for their removal,” said Yim Sovann, a spokesman for the opposition Sam Rainsy Party. “If there are effects to the people because of the [order] we would like the government to respect the constitution and to fairly compensate people through the market price.”

The measure is not clear about compensation, leaving room for authorities to offer low prices to residents, which can lead to conflict, said Thun Saray, president of the rights group Adhoc.

Thai Navy, a 39-year-old resident of the Boeung Kak lake community, which has been locked in a dispute with Phnom Penh over a giant development project since 2008, said representatives were not happy with the measure.

“The resolution to remove houses is the same as before,” he said.

The city’s policy is to pay Boeung Kak residents $8,500 per family or to offer lots of land on the outskirts of the city. Residents have said that is not enough, but there has been no forced eviction in the area to date.

The order comes as Cambodia faces increased criticism of forced evictions of the urban poor.

In an annual report issued Thursday, Amnesty International said “a wave of legal actions against housing rights defenders, journalists and other critical voices” had “stifled freedom of expression in Cambodia.”

Cambodian Cultural Celebration scheduled

khmerization

Apsara Dance is a Cambodian traditional dance.

Khmer

THE NEWS TRIBUNE
Published: 30th May 2010

The third annual Cambodian Cultural Celebration will be held Saturday at Millersylvania State Park in Thurston County.

The celebration will run from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Millersylvania State Park Environmental Learning Center, 12245 Tilley Road S., off Interstate 5 at exits 95 or 99. The festival features a selection of traditional and contemporary Cambodian music and art forms performed by South Puget Sound region’s Cambodian community.

Among the artists and performances on the schedule:

• Cambodian Classical and Folks Dance of Tacoma performing classical and traditional dances.

• The Watanakpeap Dontrey band of Olympia performing live contemporary Cambodian music.

• Traditional Cambodian instrumental music by the Cambodian Classical Musical of Tacoma.

• The United Southeast Asia Cultural Association demonstrating the martial arts of pradal serey, kun khmer, muay thai, kick boxing and taekwondo.

Getting closer: Hun Xen and Abhishit

Copied From: The Son Of the Khmer Empire

To justify this please read Charles Keyes´s opinion, op-ed in Bangkok Post to criticize the impossibility of Abhishit govt’s reconciliation plan. Read the key excerpt below:

A second factor that must be taken into account if there is really to be progress along the path to reconciliation, is the deep split in society along a combination of class and ethno-regional lines…

Negative images, especially of northeasterners, have been used often in films and TV dramas. In the past few years, people of these regions have been branded over and over again by commentators on ASTV, the television network of the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD), in many Bangkok newspapers, and in hundreds of blogs and Facebook pages as being stupid “buffaloes” and even more vulgar characterisations. Somehow those who generate such media depictions seem to believe that “villagers” are uninformed, and unaware of these characterisations.

On the contrary, they are very much aware of them, and this constant denigration has become one of the primary drivers of the conflict.

The Abhisit government has worked assiduously, although not always successfully, to shut down community radio stations and the websites which promote a red shirt perspective, arguing that such outlets have stirred up violence and hatred. At the same time, it has done nothing about controlling the hate-mongering that takes place on ASTV and in other media. Such is not only directed against the red shirts, but also against Malay Muslims in southern Thailand and Khmer in northeastern Thailand as well as in Cambodia.

Although the government cannot and should not attempt to control the content of the media, it can demonstrate even-handedness by prosecuting clear instances of incitement on both sides. It can also increase social sanctions against hate-mongering by supporting independent, quality media, boycotting media outlets on both sides that continuously spread divisions between Thais, and being more careful to avoid inflammatory language (such as casual use of the word “terrorist”) in official pronouncements.

NOTE: It is impossible for Thailand under Abhisit to carry out its reconciliation plan while its propaganda to paint the red shirt and Thaksin as terrorists and the use of the double standard to treat them are being practiced. Obviously, it took only a few days after the crackdown on the red  for arrest warrant charges against Thaksin, but it is almost  two years now still under investigation process to bring a terrorist charge against PAD who invaded airports and the govt houses 2008.

Actually, Hun Xen and Abhishit do hate each other to the bone arrogantly fueled by their different generation leaderships and background, but they have a common characteristics in leading the countries, ie., brutal, arrogant, stubborn, and biased (double standard). These two leaders have no respect for their citizens as a whole except for their group and cronies. With all these, they are now getting to close to each other in term of their leadership.

For instance in Cambodia; the assassinations of  country´s top and much loved actress Piseth Pilika (6 July 1999), venerable Sam Bunthoeurn ( 6 Feb 2003), senior advisor to Funcinpec leader Norodom Ranariddh Om Radsady (18 Feb 2003), FTUWKC’s president Mr. Chea Vichea (22 Jan 2004),  FTUWKC’ s official of Trinongal Komara garment factory Mr. Ros Sovannaret (7 May 2004), famous popular singer Touch Sreinich (21 October 2003) ), another famous singer Pao Panhapech(23 Feb 2007), FTUWKC’ s affiliates at SunTex garment factory union president, Hy Vuthy(24 Feb 2007), the acid attack on Tat Marina (9 Dec 1999), and the opposition journalists, which so far no criminal or suspect is arrested and brought to trial even some of the case the criminals are known like the cases of Chear Vichea, Tat Marina and Piseth Pilika.

In contrast, the cases will be carried out at a quick sweep if they are seen against the opposition or the poor Cambodians, except the CPP´s members,  like the cases of bomb attack at Cambodian-Viet monument, bomb planting in front of Ministry of National Defense, the charge against Hang Chakra, Mrs Sam Meas, MP Sam Rainsy, and MP Mu Sochau. They just took a few days or  weeks only. Pls observe as well that most of the charges mentioned above the the victims become the accused and vice-versa.

So to achieve the reconciliation plan in Thailand and justice, democracy and human rights respect in Cambodia , Abhishit and Hun Xen must stop their  double standard politics towards their oppositions and the poor citizens of both countries.

Invitation to Meet Opposition Leader Sam Rainsy in Philadelphia

KI Media

May 22,2010 at 6:40 pm

Hello Everyone

Just a friendly reminder, we have scheduled our SRP Public Meeting on this Sunday, May 23, 2010 at the same location – Grand King Restuarant located at 40-44 Snyder Ave. Philadelphia, PA 19148 (Snyder Ave. & Water St.). Please see flyer on the attachment.

Honor guest speakers:

• From France, Mr. Sam Rainsy, SRP President
• From Cambodia, Mr. Mardi Seng, President of SRP Provincial Council in Svay Reing
• From Pittsburgh, Mr. Mathew Sherwin, SRP-PA Editor; Former SRP Intern
• From Philadelphia, Richard Garella, Producer of the film, “Who Kill Chea Vichea”; Former SRP Foreign Press Writer

Let’s use the opportunity to come together to meet and greet our compatriots in our local communities or if you just simply wants to know more about current political issues in Cambodia . Please call/email me if you have any questions. Thank you and hope to see you all there.

Best regards,

R. Visal
Philadelphia, PA
Cell: (215) 439-1553