Combodia-Post

By Jon Fernquest

Medicine is getting better so people are living longer.

Less pressure to have babies at an early age allows more freedom for women to pursue higher education and careers.

This also means fewer children are born each year.

Following these patterns the global population trend in many countries has moved towards fewer young people and more old people.

Today's article, the Bangkok Post editorial from last Friday, discusses this trend as found in Thailand.

Today's article is about demography and population changes and there is a lot of interesting supplementary reading available in this area.

Watch a fascinating data visualization of how improvements in public health and medicine have improved global life expectancies over several decades.

Climate change will impact certain global populations more than others according to the State of the World's Population 2009 issued last week.

In the past several Bangkok Post articles have also dealt with demographic change in Thailand:


[Background Note: Back in the 1970s and 1980s large numbers of young people entered the workforces of Asian economies. Women were also entering the workforce for the first time (Read Paul Krugman article). The number of children dropped and ratio of working people to dependent population (dependency ratio) fell and output per capita rose (See chart below). This is called the demographic dividend and typically happens late in the economic development of a country from a pre-industrial to an industrialized economy. This demographic situation is slowly changing.]

Preparing for social upheaval

21/11/2009

Several years have passed since Cambridge University geneticist Dr Aubrey de Grey astounded the world by declaring that "the first person to live to be 1,000 years old is certainly alive today... whether they realise it or not".

Although he still believes it to be true, his view is not shared by gerontologists who dismiss the idea of medical science being able to achieve such vastly extended lifespans. But now Danish scientific researchers have come up with a more believable prediction. They claim that more than half the babies born in rich nations today will live to be 100 years old if current life expectancy trends continue. This is based on several factors, not the least of which is the increase in longevity of more than 30 years seen over the course of the 20th century.


The downside is that smaller workforces will have to shoulder an ever greater burden of ballooning pension and healthcare requirements of the old, critically overloading social and health systems in what will almost certainly be a global trend affecting both rich and poor nations. The upside is that while people will live longer, they are also likely to stay healthier in their later years. For those who are currently middle-aged, it will be comforting to think they can live well past 80. But this could one day bring about a role reversal as 70-year-old "kids" take care of their centenarian parents.


Just to complicate the lives of policy strategists even more, the UN Fund for Population Activities this week issued its annual report which says that unless the causes of climate change are brought under control, the outlook for future generations is unpredictable and could turn out to be very bleak indeed.

Population and social planners have a difficult and unenviable task as they contemplate an uncertain future with each successive generation being smaller than the last. According to the Department of Health, the Thai fertility rate has fallen from a peak of 6.8% in 1965 to 1.5% today due to expanded health services and the greater prevalence of contraception that allows women and their partners to plan their families. Our falling birth rate means an ever-decreasing share of the young in the overall population because the fertility rate is now below the replacement level of 2% where a death is equally matched by a birth.


The average age when people get married is rising, with more choosing to stay single due to economic factors and modern lifestyle trends. Mahidol University demographers predict the number of children below 15 will decrease from the 2005 figure of 14 million to only nine million in 2035. At the same time, the workforce is expected to increase from the 41 million employed in 2005 to 43 million in 2015, but then fall to less than 38 million by 2035. The dependency rate between working people and the elderly will undergo drastic changes. In 1970, 12 working people took care of one elderly citizen, but by 2035 there could be just two working people bearing the tax burden for each senior.


So many other factors will come into play over the next few decades that these figures can only be interpreted as guidelines, but clearly a government task force should be thinking and planning ahead.

There is much to do. The country's pension system is not only underfunded at present, but limited in scope. Only about one-third of the labour force and under a quarter of the population are covered by formal pension programmes, including the Social Security Fund, private provident funds and the civil service's Government Pension Fund. This shortcoming will become increasingly costly to society as the number of elderly grows and the number of taxpayers diminishes.

other factors will come into play - other things start to affect a situation or decision
guidelines - useful rules or advice to help you perform some task or engage in some activity
task force - a special group that has been given the responsibility and authority to deal with and solve a problem
underfunded - does not have enough money to operate properly
Social Security Fund - a social insurance program run by the government that provides protection against certain conditions including poverty, old age, disability, and unemployment (See Wikipedia)
civil service - the group of permanent government employees
a shortcoming - something that is not as good as it could be, something that could be improved

Cambodia-Americans protested in front of Cambodian Embassy in Washington DC
Click here to listen to the audio program (MP3)

Supporters of opposition leader Sam Rainsy demonstrated in front of the Cambodian Embassy in Washington Saturday, upset over recent criminal charges against him and the suspension of his parliamentary immunity.

Nearly 100 protesters met around 10:30 am, carrying placards in support of Sam Rainsy, who faces charges for allegedly inciting villagers in Svay Rieng province to pull border markers from the ground.

Sam Rainsy has said the villagers were upset at perceived Vietnamese encroachment onto their rice fields.

One banner read, “No Sam Rainsy Immunity, No Democracy.” Others showed figures in Vietnamese-style hats embracing and biting Cambodia.

“This non-violent demonstration shows that Cambodians are against the stripping of Sam Rainsy’s immunity, pressure on democracy in Cambodia and the loss of Cambodian territory,” said Chhan Touch, an organizer of the protest.

Demonstrators were not met by embassy officials.

“We are very upset that we have an embassy in this country,” said a protester named Men Vannak. “It is supposed to respond to the people’s call for help. But now no one came out to take our petition. We are very upset.”

Embassy officials could not be immediately reached for comment. At least one figure appeared to be filming the demonstration from an embassy window.

Chhan Touch said he would continue to communicate with the embassy and would try to send the petition by e-mail.

Sam Rainsy addressed the protesters, from France, via a telephone amplified by a megaphone.

“Our brothers and sisters in Washington, DC, are protesting to show a spirit of nationalism and support for democracy,” he said. “I am happy and excited…. I am not scared… A million thanks, and goodbye for now.”

Demonstrators replied with cries of “Long live Sam Rainsy!”

Reached in Cambodia, Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan said Sam Rainsy’s policies aimed at inciting unrest and creating a conflict between Cambodia and Vietnam.

He praised a recent request by Sam Rainsy Party lawmaker Son Chhay requesting government officials to appear before the National Assembly to be questioned over border issues.

Cambodia’s relationship with Vietnam is politically difficult. The Vietnamese ousted the Khmer Rouge, in 1979, but then undertook a decade-long occupation that rankles many Cambodians today.

Sam Rainsy supporters were angered by the removal of his immunity by the National Assembly on Nov. 16, less than two weeks after Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung called on the Cambodian government to take “due measures” in dealing with the opposition leader’s alleged role in the border marker event.

Sam Rainsy has called the suspension proof of Cambodia’s inferior position to Vietnam.

Nguon Nhel, vice president of the National Assembly, denied the allegation.

“The Cambodian government was not frightened by the Vietnamese government,” he said by phone from Cambodia. “The border demarcation was decided on by a committee from both countries. If any lawmaker or committee has questions about the border, they have the right to invite the concerned government officials for questioning by the National Assembly or by committee.”

Post-war Cambodia only saw its first insurance agency in 1990, when the state-owned Caminco opened. Nearly 20 years later, a number of private companies have established themselves, but experts say they still face challenges in a market where few understand the benefits and many can’t afford premiums.

“Compared with other countries, our market is very small, because many people have limited knowledge about this sector,” said Chhay Rattanak, president of the Association of Insurance Companies in Cambodia.

There are seven companies now in the country: the private companies Forte, Asia, Campubank Lonpac, Infinity and Vietnam; and the state-owned Caminco and Cambodia Re.

Each seeks to help people and businesses manage risk, which in turn promotes economic growth. And while the number of insurance customers is increasing—premium payments rose from $8 million in 2003 to $20 million in 2008—only about 1 percent of Cambodians have it.

“I don’t understand insurance, and I don’t know how they could compensate us,” said Phnom Penh car salesman Lem Meng Lim, who has not considered insurance in the four years he’s been running his business.

In Cambodia, companies offer insurance on motors, property, marine cargo, personal accident and healthcare, engineering and construction and other eventualities. (There is no life insurance.)

Even if they did understand it, with more than 30 percent of Cambodians living on less than a dollar a day, many can’t afford it.

“Because they have such a low income, what is important for them is their daily life,” said Youk Chamreoun Rith, director of Forte Insurance, the largest company here with nearly half the market.

Mey Vann, director of financial industry at the Ministry of Economics, said his ministry is working to educate people and reform some of the insurance law, including all vehicles have insurance.

Now may be a hard time to grow the industry, however. Premiums fell in 2009 for the first time, by about 10 percent, following growth of 20 percent to 30 percent in prior years.

The downturn caused many factories to close, “so that number of customers will decline and premium [numbers] will fall,” he said.

“We know that our customers are looking to save on their expenses,” said David Carter, CEO of Infinity Insurance. “In some cases, they are cutting back the level of insurance they buy.”

That kind of thinking can lead to increased business risk, he said.

“What can happen in a financially difficult time such as this is customers may not be careful in management of their business,” he said, “because they are looking to cut costs.

[Editor’s note: Last month, the International Finance Corporation invited Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh to its offices in Washington, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of preferential trade agreements between Cambodia and the US. On his visit, Cham Prasidh testified before the Trade Subcommittee for the US House of Representatives’ Committee on Ways and Means. He also sat with VOA Khmer for an interview at a hotel in Washington. What follows is an excerpt of that interview, in the first segment of an eight-part series.]

Q. What gains has Cambodia received from 10 years of trade agreements with the US?

A. The trade agreement in 1999 provided us with a big opportunity to export clothes for sale to American over other countries. As you know, countries usually export their products within a limited quota by the US. For some countries the US would increase this by 6 percent after the first export. But because Cambodia has this agreement, Cambodia had the 6 percent increased to 14 percent. We exported more than other countries, and around 20 garment factories in Cambodia grew quickly to almost 300 factories.

Q. What is the next strategy to improve Cambodian trade and people’s daily lives?

A. Overall, we need an open market. That means that if the US grants us duty-free and quota-free status, we will have the possibility of selling more products, and we also have the possibility of attracting investors to agriculture. So we’re trying very hard to get the US market. The US market is the biggest market for Cambodia.

Q. You requested that US Congress remove taxes on every product, including clothing. Do you believe this request will be fulfilled?

A. It is our request, but we’ve only come here to lobby them to draft a bill to submit to Congress. I came to lobby them in 2004, and there was a bill in 2005 submitted to Congress. But the bill hasn’t gone further. Among more than 200 Congressmen, 40 of them supported us, but hundreds more still have not yet looked at our bill. Now, in 2009, we started lobbying and submitted it again, but it has not progressed yet because of, as you know, the economic downturn in the US.

We’ve come here this time to reaffirm [our position] as America prepares to review its [generalized system of preferences]. And I’ve come here to express to them that Cambodia needs to have free taxes on our products exported to America, as America considers which countries should be provided the GSP and which countries should be cut back on the GSP. If the US market opens for us, then all the products that come to America will be tax free. Then we will also have to attract many investors to our country, and our people will have better living conditions.

Q. According to your report, Cambodia paid $407 million in tariffs to America on exports worth $2.4 billion. That’s a tariff of 16.7 percent, which is much higher than that for developed countries like the United Kingdom, Thailand, Russia or South America. Do you think it’s fair for Cambodia to pay such a large tax, when its sales are so small?

A. It is extremely unjust for us as an impoverished country. After we told them these tax statistics, they seemed to feel embarrassed. We are also a poor country, like Africa, but they have not allowed us free duty, while some poor countries in Africa can access America’s market with free duty. It is not fair when a small, poor country pays taxes greater than rich countries like France and the UK. They export more products to America but pay less tax. Cambodia exports a small amount of products, but pays a higher tax. So our struggle here is to lobby the US to lower the tax. Then we can export more.

CPP Marks Anniversary of ‘United Front’

National Assembly President Heng Samrin on Wednesday praised Cambodian soldiers deployed to the Thai border, as he marked the 31st anniversary of the formation of a front that helped oust the Khmer Rouge and led to the creation of today’s ruling party.

Speaking at the Chaktomuk Theater in Phnom Penh, Heng Samrin said soldiers were defending more than just temples on the Thai border, and he thanked the government officials, monks and laymen who had made donations to keep the soldiers entrenched in their positions.

Cambodia and Thailand have had troops deployed in a border dispute since July 2008, where tense moments since have been centered around the temples of Preah Vihear, Ta Mon and Ta Krabey.

The two sides are also engaged in a deepening diplomatic row over the hiring of ousted Thai premier Thaksin Shinawtra as an economic adviser to Hun Sen.

Heng Samrin on Wednesday cautioned “peaceful negotiation based on the basic constitution and law, as well as the spirit of friendship and close cooperation.”

The Kampuchea United Front for National Salvation was formed Dec. 2, 1978, and was comprised of Cambodian soldiers loyal to Heng Samrin and others, including the would-be prime minister, Hun Sen. The group had the support of the Vietnamese government, which ousted the Khmer Rouge from power but carried out a decade-long occupation.

Members of the front became senior leaders of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party after they were installed by the Vietnamese administration. The group changed its name last year, to the Solidarity Fronts of Cambodian Development, which is presided over by Heng Samrin and remains under the CPP.

The tribunal, created in 2006 to prosecute leading Khmer Rouge members, recently held its first trial
Cambodia's Khmer Rouge war crimes court has named Andrew Cayley as its new international prosecutor.

The genocide tribunal appointed British-born Mr Cayley several months after the resignation of his Canadian predecessor, Robert Petit.

Mr Cayley recently defended the former Liberian President Charles Taylor at his war crimes trial.

Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni formally appointed Mr Cayley, according to a court statement.

American Nicholas Koumjian was appointed reserve co-prosecutor.

Disagreements

Mr Cayley has spent the last two years in private practice, during which time he defended Mr Taylor.

Before this he worked for the International Criminal Court investigating crimes in Darfur, and served at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

His appointment was welcomed by court observers who stressed the importance of having a permanent international prosecutor in place.

Critical decisions "should be made by the international prosecutor who will have the responsibility for carrying them out," Heather Ryan, court monitor for the Open Society Justice Initiative, told the French news agency AFP.

The UN-backed tribunal incorporates mixed teams of foreign and Cambodian judges, prosecutors and defenders.

Disagreements among the legal teams have been known to lead to frequent delays, whilst allegations of corruption have damaged the tribunal's credibility.

Indeed, the resignation of Mr Petit came after a dispute with Cambodian co-prosecutor Chea Leang over whether to pursue more suspects of the late 1970s communist regime.

Mr Petit denied any connection, saying personal reasons were behind his resignation.

Senior leaders

The tribunal, created in 2006 to prosecute leading Khmer Rouge members, recently held its first trial of prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Duch, with Australian Bill Smith serving as interim international prosecutor.

He was convicted and sentenced to 40 years in jail. A term of 45 years should be imposed but five years had been deducted to take account of Duch's co-operation and time he had already served, Mr Smith said.

Duch is the first of five leading Khmer Rouge figures to face the UN-backed tribunal.

The joint trial of four other - more senior - Khmer Rouge leaders is expected to start in 2011.

The court is also investigating whether to open more cases against five other former Khmer Rouge officials.

Up to two million Cambodians died under Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge rule in the 1970s.

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — The Khmer Rouge genocide tribunal said Wednesday that it has appointed a new international prosecutor whose most recent job was defending former Liberian President Charles Taylor at his war crimes trial.

Andrew T. Cayley of Britain, who has also served as a prosecutor at international war crimes courts, was named to the post left vacant in September by the resignation of Canadian co-prosecutor Robert Petit, the tribunal said in a statement.

The tribunal, known as the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, incorporates mixed teams of foreign and Cambodian judges, prosecutors and defenders. Political wrangling between the two sides has led to many delays, and allegations of corruption among the tribunal's Cambodian staff have hurt the tribunal's credibility.

A verdict is expected early next year in the tribunal's first trial, of Khmer Rouge prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Duch, who is charged with crimes against humanity, war crimes, murder and torture.

The brutal 1970s rule of the Khmer Rouge left an estimated 1.7 million people dead from torture, execution, disease and starvation.

The tribunal is also holding four former senior Khmer Rouge leaders in custody, and they are expected to be tried next year or later.

Cayley has spent the last two years in private practice, during which time he defended Charles Taylor, the tribunal said. Taylor, accused of providing arms to Sierra Leone rebels in exchange for diamonds mined by slave laborers, ended 13 weeks on the witness stand earlier this month at the Special Court for Sierra Leone.

Cayley earlier served as senior prosecuting counsel for the International Criminal Court investigating crimes in Darfur and the International Criminal Tribunal investigating war crimes in the former Yugoslavia, it said.

The tribunal also said American Nicholas Koumjian was appointed reserve co-prosecutor.

PHNOM PENH, Dec. 2 (Xinhua)-- The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia announced Wednesday that Andrew T. Cayley was named as a new international co-prosecutor for the UN-backed court in Cambodia .

In the statement, the ECCC said Andrew T. Cayley, from the United Kingdom , has been appointed as a new international Co-Prosecutor.

Robert Petit, former international co-prosecutor resigned some six months ago and left the seat for William Smith, Australian, as acting international co-prosecutor since then.

The ECCC's statement said over the last two years, Mr. Cayley, has been in private practice, defending Charles Taylor before the Special Court for Sierra Leone and Ivan Cermak before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

Prior to this he served as Prosecuting Counsel at ICTY from 1995-2001, the first three years being seconded from the British army by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to the ICTY.

Cayley holds an LL. B and LL.M. from University College London and is also a professional officer graduate of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.

TRAT, Dec 2 (TNA) – Operators of some 200 Thai trawlers on Thursday will seek licences to fish in Cambodian waters at a temporary office opposite Cambodia's Koh Kong Resort, said Thitikorn Lohakup, chairman of the Trat Fisheries Association.

Cambodian fisheries concession applications procedures will resume beginning Thursday following finalisation of regulations by the Koh Kong authorities, who agreed Tuesday to allow Thai fishermen to seek and renew their licences.

Mr Thitikorn said that the newly-appointed Koh Kong governor set up a committee to be responsible for issuing and renewing the licences. The committee will review relevant details and categorise the type of trawlers as well as the fishing equipment they use.

The chief of the Trat fisheries association added that this period is appropriate for fishing. If the procedure is completed quickly, it will be beneficial to Thai fishermen.

Last week, Cambodian Defence Minister Gen Tea Banh gave assurances that Cambodia has not closed its waters near Koh Kong as earlier reported. He explained that fisheries concession procedures were being amended and that it would not affect the livelihoods of either Thais or Cambodians.

The family of a pregnant woman detained in connection with a land dispute in Oddar Meanchey province say they are worried about her health while in custody. Huoy Mai, 46, was arrested on Saturday after being accused of illegally cutting down trees on land at the centre of an ongoing dispute with the Angkor Sugar Company, owned by CPP Senator Ly Yongphat. An Srean, Huoy Mai’s husband and a community representative, said he was worried about the health of his wife, who is five months pregnant. “Before her arrest she was reluctant to eat, so I don’t know what will happen to her while she is detained in prison,” he said. In early October, armed authorities bulldozed the property and burned the houses of 214 families living on a 1,500-hectare plot claimed by Angkor Sugar. Ty Sovinthal, a Siem Reap court prosecutor, said Huoy Mai would be remanded into custody pending further investigation. “Nobody knows that she is pregnant, but it doesn’t matter because in the prison they have good health services,” he said. “If she has any problems, they will report it to me.”

PHNOM PENH, Dec. 2 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia hosts a regional meeting of officials and stakeholders from the four new members of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Wednesday to discuss how to improve the economic status in the region.

The one-day meeting is co-organized by Cambodia's Ministry of Commerce and Cambodian Institute for Cooperation and Peace (CICP) with the support from Economic Research Institute for the ASEAN and East Asia.

Prince Norodom Sirivudh, founder and chairman of CICP said the meeting was necessary to seek ways on how to curb with the impact of global economic crisis.

He said the four countries, including Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam, are the new members of the ASEAN and are still poor.

He added that the economic downturn has affected economic growth, tourism and the garment sector.

At the forum, Pan Sorasak, secretary of state of Ministry of Commerce said that the Cambodian government is now working with the United States to open more markets for Cambodian products.

He said that agriculture is another potential resource for Cambodia to help boost the country's economy. But at the same time, the government is not ignoring its capacity building and the human resource development.

As an ambassador for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), actor Angelina Jolie has journeyed extensively around the world and has been privy to countless unfathomable plights that some desperately ‘unfortunate’ and ‘ungodly’ people go through for sheer survival.

She’s been to some places where not many ‘privileged’ people have cared to visit, places where the people for decades have suffered silently, with no ‘kindly’ ear to call out to for help!

Whether it be in the ‘dark continent’ (read: Africa) racked by poverty, illness, gross apathy and neglect or the distant Cambodia where millions suffer still from the ravages of the Khmer Rouge guerillas, Jolie’s eyes have soaked in lot’s of unshed tears around the world.

And now in a bid to raise global awareness about the desperately sorry state of women in Third World countries, the sensuous actor has brought out a special video narrating the ‘horror’ excesses committed on a hapless Cambodian ‘sex slave’.

The video, aired on Oprah Winfrey’s Talk Show on Tuesday, recounts the mind numbing horrors committed on the hapless 13 year old Cambodian girl.

Feeding in some more chilling details of the excesses that this poor girl has had to suffer, Jolie said that the girl was forcefully picked up from her home when a tender 13 and pushed into the dark world of prostitution and sex slavery!

And what’s more, despite suffering such horrors silently over decades, the girl has actually lived on to tell her tale!

Jolie further revealed, “Virgins bring in hundreds of dollars for brothel owners and are high in demand for men with aids, who believe having sex with a virgin will cure their disease. Because these enslaved girls are forbidden to request condoms, they are vulnerable to STD’s (sexually transmitted diseases) aids and pregnancies.”

Cambodian PM Hun Sen, left, talks with supporters as ousted Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra looks on in Siem Reap, Cambodia, 13 Nov 2009 (Photo: AP)

Relations between Bangkok and Phnom Penh sunk to their lowest ebb in recent years after Cambodian PM Hun Sen recently offered, former Thai leader Thaksin Shinawatra a home and a job as an economics adviser


Cambodia will cancel all loan agreements with Thailand as a diplomatic crisis between the two countries spreads into economic development. The dispute could delay a railway through Southeast Asia.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen says all loans from Thailand will be canceled. His transportation department will annul a $40 million loan from Bangkok for road repairs.

This week he ordered provincial authorities to cancel all loans and suggested student scholarships from Thailand should be scrapped. Mr. Hun Sen says Cambodians are prepared to die for the country but would not be looked down upon by Thais.

The orders came as speculation rises that the rift between Phnom Penh and Bangkok threatens the completion of the Trans-Asian railway.

At risk is a six-kilometer track needed to connect the Cambodia side of the border within Thailand. It is crucial to a 5,300-kilometer railroad that will run from China to Singapore.

The State Railway of Thailand and sources close to the Cambodian leadership say negotiations about the link are on hold due to the diplomatic tensions.

Paul Power, a railway engineer and an advisor to the Cambodian government, says any decision to scrap the rail link has significant regional implications.

"Well this is a very important link in the rail network from Bangkok to Kunming," he said. "If that link is not constructed, I think it calls into question the viability of the track from Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Minh City. So it's very important that the link be built."

The route passes from China's Kunming down through Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia, to Singapore. Spur lines will connect to Laos. The railway uses both new and abandoned routes that need to be rehabilitated.

Australia's Toll Holdings has the contract to reconstruct old French lines from the Thai border to Phnom Penh and then south to Cambodia's port at Sihanoukville.

China Railway Group is doing a feasibility study on building a new line linking Phnom Penh with Vietnam.

Relations between the Bangkok and Phnom Penh sunk to their lowest ebb in recent years after Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen recently offered his friend, former Thai leader Thaksin Shinawatra a home and a job as an economics adviser.

Cambodia also rejected a Thai extradition request for the former prime minister, who fled his country last year to avoid a two-year jail term for corruption.

The dispute has already resulted in the cancellation of agreements on oil reserves in the Gulf of Siam. Both countries have withdrawn their ambassadors.

A “historic” event — in the words of some experts and observers — finished its first momentous phase in Cambodia a few days ago, but it doesn’t seem as though many in the United States know or care.

To be sure, a few newspapers have provided continuing coverage of the nine-month trial in Phnom Penh of Kaing Guek Eav, known as Comrade Duch, who was the director of the notorious Tuol Sleng prison during the years the Khmer Rouge was in power. He supervised the systematic torture and execution of some 14,000 alleged enemies of the revolution, including hundreds of children.

That overused word “historic” does legitimately apply to the trial of this man — which is to be followed in a year or two by a separate trial of the four highest-ranking surviving leaders of the murderous Khmer Rouge regime. In the century-long history of Communist revolutionaries from Lenin to Mao, Kaing Guek Eav is the first to have once wielded power and then to face justice before an internationally recognized and sanctioned tribunal, this one composed of both Cambodian and foreign judges and prosecutors.

One frequent observer at the trial, David Scheffer of the Center for International Human Rights at Northwestern University Law School, provides this perspective: “People don’t realize that the number of dead in Cambodia exceeded the total number of dead in Bosnia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Darfur combined — about 1.2 million to 1.7 million, so this should be of interest.”

But while there has been some excellent ongoing reporting of the Duch trial by Seth Mydans of The New York Times and a few others, it plainly has not been of much interest to the general public in this country, or to the broadcast media which, with a few exceptions, have ignored it.

Why? Some of the reason may stem from what another frequent trial observer, Alex Hinton of the Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights at Rutgers University, calls “tribunal fatigue.”

There are four special tribunals taking place in the world these days covering crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda and Sierra Leone, plus what is officially known as the extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, so there are a lot of claims on the public’s and the media’s attention.

Mr. Hinton says the Cambodia case is hampered by other factors, not least that the Khmer Rouge was a long time ago. Even the movie “The Killing Fields,” which publicized the horror, was in theaters 25 years ago.

The most famous of the Khmer Rouge leaders, Pol Pot, died in a jungle hideout a decade ago, and his absence from the trial robs the event of the person who would otherwise be its most compelling and reviled figure. Still, other trials with such figures — the former Liberian president Charles Taylor in the case of Sierra Leone or the Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic — got attention early but now continue largely in obscurity.

So it’s understandable in a way that not many Americans are paying close attention to the testimony of Comrade Duch, but it’s also strange, given that tens of millions of Americans are old enough to remember when Cambodia was a preoccupying and deeply emotional issue for the United States, a tragic sideshow, as the writer William Shawcross put it, to the larger war in Indochina.

The Nixon administration did, after all, engage in a secret bombing campaign in Cambodia from 1969 to 1973 that killed anywhere from 50,000 to 150,000 people, and while that campaign didn’t cause the Khmer Rouge to kill one-fifth of Cambodia’s population, it certainly contributed to the circumstances that enabled Pol Pot to seize power in 1975.

“The Cambodian tribunal is a reminder that a titanic explosion occurred in Indochina after we left there,” Mr. Scheffer said. “That’s one of the lessons of the Vietnam War, that the aftermath was just as important as the event itself.”

The absence of keen American interest does not mean that the trial has been a failure. Over the months that he has been on the stand, Comrade Duch has provided an insider’s account of the Khmer Rouge machine of extermination that has riveted Cambodia itself, which is certainly an important index of success. According to close trial observers, Cambodian civil plaintiffs have been an important daily presence in the courtroom, and thousands of ordinary people have attended sessions.

“They know about it, care about it, and ultimately when there’s a verdict, it will mean something to them,” Mr. Hinton said of the Cambodian public.

Bringing about the event has taken a very long time, more than a decade to decide on the composition of the tribunal and, once that was decided, more years to allow for international standards of due process to be observed — which is why the next phase of the tribunal, the one involving the highest surviving former Khmer Rouge leaders, won’t start for another two years or so — assuming that any of the aging remaining defendants live that long.

The slowness of it all is another reason why the trial hasn’t generated more American interest. Indeed, there’s a paradox here, namely what might be seen as the various tribunals’ greatest distinction — that they adhere strictly to international standards of due process — is exactly what denies them the attention needed for them to have full public effect.

“The trial of Charles Taylor, which is now being held in the Hague, is a fascinating trial of the former leader of a country, but it gets no coverage,” Mr. Scheffer said, illustrating this phenomenon. “In part that’s because there’s a long-term tedium, a grinding out of evidence and cross-examination, of defense counsel motions, and delays, all of which tends to whisk away public attention.

“The good news of all this is that international standards are at work,” Mr. Scheffer said. “But the public may fail to grasp the tremendous significance of what is taking place, which is that the culture of impunity is being assaulted and occasionally defeated. That’s a huge historical phenomenon of just the last few years. It’s a big story.”

(PHNOM PENH) - The European Union said Wednesday it was giving two million euros (three million dollars) to Cambodia's Khmer Rouge war crimes court, which is set to give judgment early next year in its first trial.

The money is for the cash-strapped Cambodian side of the hybrid local-international court, set up with help from the United Nations in 2006 to bring justice to victims of the hardline communist regime.

"The European Union has been very active supporting this tribunal, which is bringing international justice to Cambodia," Rafael Dochao, charge d'affaires for the EU delegation in Phnom Penh, told reporters in the capital.

The two million euros is part of a 7.7-million-euro package supporting legal reform and governance in Cambodia, the EU said.

The EU previously donated one million euros in 2007 to cover the salaries of Cambodian judges, prosecutors and support staff. EU officials said it was not immediately clear which areas the latest donation would support.

Donors have hesitated to give funding to the Cambodian side of the court in the past after claims of political interference and a scandal in which local staff were allegedly forced to pay kickbacks for their jobs.

In March this year the court said it did not have enough money to pay its local staff.

Under the complicated agreements governing the tribunal, Cambodian and international staff have separate budgets funded via pledges from countries including Japan, France, Australia, Germany and the United States.

The court wrapped up arguments last week in the long-awaited trial of Duch, the former chief of the Khmer Rouge regime's main torture centre, where up to 15,000 people were killed.

Pol Pot's 1975-1979 Khmer Rouge regime killed up to two million people through starvation, overwork and torture as it attempted to forge a communist utopia by emptying cities and turning the countryside into a vast labour camp.

The tribunal also plans to try four former regime leaders on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity some time in 2011. It is currently investigating whether to open cases against five additional suspects.

PHNOM PENH, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Cambodia's long-awaited stock exchange could start operating next month, a government official said on Wednesday, after signing a deal with South Korean developer World City Co Ltd to build the $6 million bourse.

Although construction of the new stock market will not be completed for at least eight months, trading will begin in a temporary venue as soon as possible, said Mey Vann, director of the government's finance industry department.

"It has been too long already. We don't have to wait until the construction is complete," Vann told Reuters. "We will begin our operation in January or February next year."

The idea of a Cambodian stock market has been floated since the 1990s but has struggled for traction in a country better known for a culture of political impunity, chronic poverty and a history of violence, including the Khmer Rouge "Killing Fields".

There have also been concerns that Cambodia is trying to move too fast and is not yet ready to have its people to invest in stocks, with big risks to largely inexperienced local investors in a country still blighted by corruption and mismanagement.

The four-storey venue will be built on 6,000 square metres (64,580 sq ft) of former marshland on the northern outskirts of the capital, Phnom Penh, and the design will reflect both Khmer and South Korean cultures.

Vann said the stock exchange would be housed temporarily in the Ministry of Economy and Finance until construction of the bourse was completed.

The exchange expects to start small with just four or five companies issuing about $10 million worth of shares each, according to Korea Exchange, Asia's fourth-largest bourse operator, which will own 49 percent of the new exchange.

Cambodia's Finance Ministry has given priority to state companies to sell stocks and has asked Telecom Cambodia, port operator Sihanoukville Autonomous Port and the Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority to list shares.

For investors, the country’s junk-level credit ratings suggest it is a risky bet because of its weak oversight and rampant corruption.

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Cambodia will soon start construction on a building to house its first stock exchange which it hopes will help draw foreign investment to the impoverished country, the Finance Ministry said Wednesday.

A South Korean firm, World City Co. Ltd., was awarded the contract to build the $6 million building in Phnom Penh, which is scheduled for completion by the end of 2010, said Mey Vann, director of financial industry at the Finance Ministry.

"We expect that the official operation of our stock market will start once the building is complete," Mey Vann said.

In a statement, the ministry called the creation of a stock exchange "an important and historic event in Cambodia" that will create new jobs, revitalize the local economy and transform Phnom Penh "into a world-class city."

Prime Minister Hun Sen announced plans to launch a stock market in 2007, saying Cambodia needs to find new ways to draw international capital to move beyond relying only on international aid and banks loans.

Soon after, lawmakers approved a securities law on issuance and trading of nongovernment securities to pave the way for a stock market.

The Cambodian economy is small but one of the fastest growing in Asia. The economy is largely driven by just one industry, textiles, which accounts for nearly 80 percent of exports. The economy’s development has been heavily reliant on hundreds of millions of dollars (euros) in international aid.

For investors, the country’s junk-level credit ratings suggest it is a risky bet because of its weak oversight and rampant corruption.

Neighboring Vietnam started its stock market in July 2000, and it has been a big success, both for companies and investors.

The four-story, 71,900-sq. foot (6,682-sq. meter) Cambodian stock market building will be located in Phnom Penh’s financial district on the outskirts of the capital.

The South Korean developer, World City, is providing the land and construction costs, hoping to recoup its investment by having the value of its nearby properties increase due to the stock exchange being sited there, Hang Choun Naron, director general of the Finance Ministry.

On 28 November 2009 at 19:00 , SRP activist Boo Born, 28 and his 11 year-old nephew went fishing at Veal Srê O Anhchanh in Prasat commune, Sithor Kandal district, Prey Veng province. While they were fishing, Ros Voeun, chief of Ta Nal village, shouted "Who told you to come and fish here?" and a few minutes later, shot three times at Boo Born, killing him by wounding his shoulder blade. Ros Voeun and two colleagues then tied the hands of the nephew in his back and took him to the village chief's house. They kept him there for the night and the three men left.

SRP Secretary General Ke Sovannaroth wrote a letter to Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sar Kheng urging him to order proper investigations of this murder and to arrest Ros Voeun and his accomplices.

Boo Born was one of the most active members of SRP in Prasat village, Chrey Khmum commune, Sithor Kandal district, Prey Veng province and served as SRP party agent at two elections.

Anonymous said...

This incident and many other incidents are clearly stated that the law is unsearved for the oposition activist and the poor Khmer citizens.

Think about it! Haven't we all heard they always punish and prosecutes innocent citizens for defamation, government critics and thousands of villagers who fight and express their feelings toward the government unethical charactorisation like land grabbing, illegal evictions, etc....

Most Khmer citizens in Cambodia don't care nor take into deep consideration. They rather live in fear rather stand up for their integrity. Remember! Matter of times the tortures will get to everyone then they cry for help...

No one be able to help if you don't try to help yourself! Should everyone seen enough! Should everyone heard enough! Soon everyone became Hun Xen victimes by then it could be too late like the Pol Pot Regimes.

Hun Xen is half bling. The government, CPP is completely blind to fallow Hun Xen.

BUT ALL KHMER SHOULD HAVE STRONG WILL NOT TO ALLOW ALL THIS BLIND (GOVERNMENT) TO DISTROY OUR PEOPLE AND NATION FREELY.

THE LAW IN CAMBODIA ONLY TO PUNISH THE POOR INNOCENT CITIZENS. HIGH GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS DO WHATEVER THEY WANT INCLUDING KILLING WHO DARE TO CRITICS THEM. THEY WILL PUNISH AND KILL EVERYONE WHO DARE TO OPPOSE THEM. THIS IS NO BETTER THEN POL POT!

CAN ALL KHMER SEE IT!
WE LIVE UNDER ONE SKY, BUT NOT EVERYONE SEE THE SAME LIGHTS!!
11:23 PM
Anonymous said...

អំពើនិទណ្ឌភាពនេះមានតាំងពីយូរណាស់មកហើយ ទើបខ្មាំងយល់
ច្បាស់ពីសន្តានចិត្តខ្មែរ ឯខ្មែរវិញ
រត់គេចពីស្រុកមួយទៅស្រុកមួយ
ហើយអាចរួចខ្លួន តើមកពីអ្នកណា ?
ស្រុកខ្មែរ តើអាឆ្កែណាទៅហ៊ាន
អួតខ្លួនថាអញគ្រាន់បើនោះ ពី
សម័យខ្មែរក្រហម សូម្បីកូនឈ្លប
តូចមួយក៏មានសិទ្ធិកាត់ទោស
ប្រហារជីវិតមនុស្សបានដែរ នេះជា
ច្បាប់ឬជាទម្លាប់​ ?
11:26 PM
son of a farmer said...

That's the simple reason why many blood-sucking parasites' CPP are desperately supporting SenVarman, 'cause they are lawfully having the right to hurt or kill the miserably poorest Khmers. If we can eventually bring one of them at the time to the justice, it's obviously also cutting SenVerman's finger or toe one by one, in the end he will no longer be laught!
11:27 PM
Anonymous said...

This criminal and animal village chief, Ros Voeun, is intending to kill the SRP activist and will excuse the victim to tresspassing. This is politically motivated to silent opposition in term of labeling the victim as tresspassing.

I suggest the victim relatives should get the gun and should him and his family. Kill them all and don't let them do whatever they want. If we keep silent and try to go to court, it won't solve any problem. The monkey court won't side with the opposition.
11:29 PM
Anonymous said...

Agree with you son of a farmer, but this is the reality of our country. If and only if Sam Rainsy has more gut, he would get foreign governments (including China) to help organizing some "defence" to protect the lives of his supporters. But Sam Rainsy only cares about his own security and always run aways while his supporters are butchers mercilessly. Sam Rainsy is an unfit leader!
11:33 PM
Anonymous said...

The killer is a village chief. So eveyone know where he live. The villager should creep and kill this guy and his whole family including his pets. Or better to just plug both of his eye out so he can be suffered then death.

Villagers are coward this is why they keep torturing them. If everyone fight back and start to kill them one by one they will get the messages and will cut this type of abuses dramatically. Sometime you need to fight fire with fire.

Forget the law and th court system. We all know it's only to punish everyone other then them CPP.

PHNOM PENH, Dec. 2 (Xinhua) -- In an effort to build confidence and ease down the situation along the Cambodia-Thai border, 20 Cambodian and Thai troops played volleyball on Tuesday afternoon at the border area, local newspaper the Cambodia Daily reported Wednesday.

The paper quoted Gen. Srey Dek, commander of armed forces' Division 3 based at Preah Vihear Temple as saying that 10 Cambodian soldiers and 10 Thai soldiers joined a "friendly volleyball game" on Tuesday.

He said the move will strengthen the cooperation between the two armies.

At the game, Srey Dek said, the two sides did not keep score, but for fun.

He, meanwhile, said both sides of military wish not to have a repeated armed clash.

Armed forces from the two countries had exchanged two times of gun fires and left several people dead and more than a dozen others injured since their border conflict began in July last year

Nearly one third of Cambodia's population survive on only 50 US cents a day or less
PHNOM PENH — The global financial crisis has caused Cambodia to push back its plans to open a national stock exchange this year, officials said Wednesday.

Cambodia signed an agreement last year with representatives from South Korea's stock exchange, the Korea Exchange (KRX), Asia's fourth-largest bourse operator, to establish a stock market in 2009.

However government officials said Wednesday that the Southeast Asian nation was not ready to go ahead with the plans due to the world financial slowdown.

"We are not ready in terms of capital... amid the financial crisis situation," said Mey Vann, director of the industry and finance department at Cambodia's ministry of finance and economy.

The new date for launching the stock market had not been set, he said, but the country planned to start operations or trading in late 2010, he told AFP.

"A stock market is good for our economy. It helps collect money outside the banking system for the investment," Mey Vann said.

While still among one of the world's poorest countries, Cambodia has emerged from decades of conflict as one of the region's rising economies.

But after several years of double-digit growth fuelled mainly by tourism and garment exports, Cambodia was buffeted by last year's global economic downturn.

The International Monetary Fund in September predicted Cambodia's economy will contract 2.75 percent this year amid the slowdown.

By comparison the economy grew by 10.25 percent in 2007 and was projected at 6.5 percent in 2008, according to the IMF. Last year's figure is still to be fully established.

Cambodia remains a largely cash-only economy and a high degree of mistrust keeps many people hoarding their money at home instead of using banks.

Nearly one third of Cambodia's 14 million people survive on only 50 US cents a day or less.