Combodia-Post

Radio Free Asia

Cambodian authorities say they won't repatriate a group of asylum-seekers if they could be mistreated.

PHNOM PENH—Cambodia may not repatriate a group of asylum-seekers if they are to face capital punishment or torture back in China, a Cambodian spokesman said.

Khieu Kanharith, government spokesman and minister of information, said in an interview that the fate of the 22 ethnic Uyghurs hinges on whether and how the Chinese government intends to punish them in connction with deadly ethnic riots in July.

“There are several issues [to consider],” Khieu Kanharith said.

“For a criminal issue we would send them back. But for a political issue we would consider differently,” he said. “For a criminal issue, if it is serious to the point that they would have to be executed, we might not send them back because we don’t have capital punishment [in Cambodia],” he said.

The minister said that no decision had been made because the Cambodian government has yet to be contacted by the Chinese Embassy.

Smuggled into Cambodia

Twenty-two Uyghurs—a predominantly Muslim minority concentrated in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR)—have sought protection from the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, according to Uyghur sources in Asia, who asked not be to named.

The Uyghurs are currently in the care of international Catholic organization the Jesuit Refugee Service, which declined to comment on the status of the group.

They fear being returned to China, which has close ties with Cambodia, Uyghur sources said.

This group, which includes two young children, was smuggled across the border from Vietnam into Cambodia, they said.

Only four members of the asylum-seekers agreed to be named.

They are Mutellip Mamut, who was born on July 10, 1980, Islam Urayim, born July 16, 1980, Hazirti ali Umar, born June 7, 1990, and Aikebaierjiang Tuniyazi, born Feb. 13, 1982.

Seeking asylum

The UNHCR has no offices in Vietnam, so anyone seeking asylum as a refugee must find a way into Cambodia, where it does operate.

UNHCR and Cambodian officials in Phnom Penh declined to comment on the case, although it has been learned that the UNHCR has met with the Uyghurs several times in small groups.

Repeated calls to the U.S. Embassy during working hours went unanswered.

According to a statement by the Munich-based World Uyghur Congress, exiled Uyghur leader Rebiya Kadeer and the organization’s general secretary Dolkun Isa are to meet officials at UNHCR headquarters in Geneva to discuss the Uyghur case in Cambodia.

Beijing accuses Kadeer of fomenting the July 5 violence in the XUAR capital, Urumqi, which was sparked after a peaceful protest about the deaths of Uyghur migrants in a factory in southern China turned into clashes with police.

Kadeer has accused the authorities of firing on unarmed protesters in Urumqi, sparking days of retaliatory rioting, burning, and mob violence from both Uyghur and Han Chinese ethnic groups in the city.

Uyghur detentions

Clashes first erupted between Han Chinese and ethnic Uyghurs on July 5, and at least 200 people were killed, by the government’s tally.

According to Uyghur sources in Asia, China has tightened its southeastern border after several groups of Uyghurs managed to bribe their way into Vietnam and then Cambodia to avoid possible detention for allegedly taking part in July 5 ethnic riots.

The sources said Chinese authorities have detained 31 Uyghurs since Sept. 15 in the southern cities of Shenzhen and Guangzhou and in the central city of Kunming, either for trying to flee the country or for allegedly aiding others in fleeing China.

A Chinese court sentenced three Uyghurs to death Friday for their alleged involvement during the rioting, bringing the number of death sentences in connection with the incident to 17.

New York-based Human Rights Watch said it has documented the disappearances of 43 men and boys in the Xinjiang region, but that the actual number of disappearances is likely far higher.

Police have meanwhile detained more than 700 people in connection with the unrest, according to earlier state news reports.

Uyghurs, a distinct and mostly Muslim ethnic group, have long complained of religious, political, and cultural oppression by Chinese authorities, and tensions have simmered in the Xinjiang region for years.

Original reporting by Chea Sotheacheat, Vuthy Huot and Chung Ravuth for RFA’s Khmer service. Khmer service director: Sos Kem. Translated by Sos Kem. Additional reporting by RFA's Uyghur service. Uyghur service director: Dolkun Kamberi. Written for the Web in English by Joshua Lipes. Edited by Sarah Jackson-Han.

Vietnam and Cambodia have agreed to sign agreements

Phnom Penh, Dec 5 (VNA) – Vietnam and Cambodia have agreed to soon sign a number of agreements to further deepen their ties for the benefit of their people.

The agreements cover maritime transportation, cooperation in industry, mining and energy, criminal extradition, labour cooperation and legal support.

The accords were reached at the 11th meeting of the Vietnam-Cambodia Joint Committee for Economic, Cultural, and Scientific and Technological Cooperation in Cambodia’s Preah Sihanouk province on December 3-4.

Under the co-chairmanship of Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem and Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Hor Nam Hong, the officials also agreed to soon address changes in visa exemptions for holders of ordinary passports.

Additionally, they unanimously agreed to boost cooperation, help each other in developing human resources, and to facilitate trade and investment.

They reaffirmed that the two countries will work harder to raise bilateral trade to 2 billion USD in 2010.

The officials pledged to encourage businesspeople to enhance ties, deploy licensed projects more effectively, and expand investment in the areas of oil and gas production, mining, energy, telecommunications, aviation, finance, banking, crop cultivation, farm produce processing, fertilizer and animal feed production.

They vowed to boost cooperation in agriculture, transport and communication infrastructure development, healthcare, labour issues, culture, sports and physical training, and tourism in addition to speeding up border demarcation so as to complete the work prior to the end of 2012 as previously agreed.

At this meeting, pledges were made for pressing ahead with collaboration in security and defence and the fight against cross-border crimes and coordination within sub-regional cooperation frameworks.

Reviewing the results of the implementation of the agreements reached at the committee’s 10th meeting, Vietnamese and Cambodian officials said they were delighted with the development of their comprehensive ties, notably in economy, trade and investment.

The two countries’ defence and security cooperation has been intensified; security and stability in their shared border areas have been maintained, border demarcation and marker planting have been stepped up, and more attention has been paid to cooperation among localities, ministries and sectors, they noted.

The Joint Committee will convene its 12th meeting in Vietnam .

During his time in Cambodia , Khiem paid a courtesy visit to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and paid tribute to fallen Vietnamese volunteers in Cambodia at a monument in Preah Sihanouk province.

Chavalit: Accused spy will be pardoned

Bangkok Post

By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Washington
If the government doesn’t move to curb persecution of human rights defenders, it can be implicated in rights abuses, a Cambodian advocate said Thursday.
Rights groups in the country have faced a high number of threats this year, said Ou Virak, executive director of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, as a guest on “Hello VOA.”

“So in this case, we look in every corner,” he said. “One, we look at policy and legality, because the state has policies and laws of protection. Two, we see about punishment, and then in any case that the state is aware [of abuses] but does not take the effort to find justice, that mans the state is participating in human rights violations.”

People are “still in fear,” he said, because of physical threats of violence and legal threats.

“We see that all these threats are contrasting the principle of human rights that we declared to recognized, but we do not maintain,” he said. “That’s what’s important.”

In 2009, at least 168 rights workers faced persecution, arrest or detention, according to figures from rights organizations, he said.

Meanwhile, the UN Human Rights Commission is reviewing Cambodia’s rights efforts in Geneva as part of mandatory review process.

Ou Virak said he expected the government to act on good recommendations from the Human Rights Council.

Phay Siphan, a spokesman for the Council of Ministers, denied allegations of government complicity in rights abuses. The government has worked to reform the rule of law and judiciary, he said.

“We have the constitution and law, and especially we know that we defend human rights and the value of human beings,” he said.

Ou Virak said Thursday the government had failed to protect the rights of people, especially in land-grabs.

By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington


The UN’s new prosecutor for the Khmer Rouge tribunal faces at least two challenges as he begins work at the court, observers of the hybrid court say.

For starters, Andrew Carley, a British prosecutor appointed to the UN side of the court this week, will have to work side by side with his counterpart, Chea Leang, to ensure adequate prosecution of four senior Khmer Rouge leaders currently in detention, said Long Panhavuth, a project officer for the Open Society Justice Institute, which oversees the tribunal.

“Both prosecutors have to unanimously agree and join shoulders to execute [the case], to ensure that the investigation in Case No. 002 is completed, good, adequate and with independence guaranteed,” he said.

Tribunal judges have said the end of this year they will conclude their investigation of the four leaders, Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan, Ieng Sary and Ieng Thirith, in a case that promises to be more complicated that the trial of Kaing Kek Iev, or Duch, which wrapped up last week.

Carley, who has not yet arrived, will also have to face the question of further indictments, a position promoted by his predecessor, Robert Petit, who left earlier this year.

The question of further indictments beyond the five cadre now in custody divided the prosecution office, with judge Chea Leang maintaining the same position of Prime Minister Hun Sen, that the current caseload is enough and that further arrests could lead to instability.

Hun Sen reiterated this warning Thursday, saying he would prefer to see the court fail than have the country “fall into war.”

A coalition of civil society groups said Friday they were not concerned that proceedings of the Khmer Rouge tribunal have the potential of igniting civil war in Cambodia.

By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Friday ruled it would continue the detention of a Thai citizen accused of espionage, denying a written request he be released on bail.

Siwarak Chothipong, 31, was arrested on Nov. 12, after allegedly leaking a flight schedule of Prime Minister Hun Sen and his newly appointed economic adviser, ousted Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra, to Thai officials in Phnom Penh.

Siwarak was charged with spying, a crime that carries a sentence of up to 15 years. He did not appear at his hearing Friday.

Thai officials have called the charges “malicious” and claim Sirawak was framed.

Siwarak, an employee of the Thai-owner Cambodia Air Traffic Services, which handles Cambodia’s flight traffic, has become a focal point in a diplomatic row between the two neighbors.

The disagreement over Thaksin’s appointment as Hun Sen’s economic adviser has led to the ejection of diplomats from the capitals of each country and the annulment of development loans.

Thaksin is wanted in Thailand on corruption charges, following his ouster in a bloodless coup in 2006.

Hun Sen said he would not honor Thai requests to extradite Thaksin, whose case he said was political, angering Bangkok and increasing the diplomatic tension between the two countries, which have troops amassed on each side of a contested border in Preah Vihear province.

By Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
Twenty-two members of a Chinese minority group who reportedly witnessed violent protests against the Chinese administration in July are now in Cambodia seeking asylum, according to US media reports.

The Washington Post on Thursday quoted Omar Kanat, vice president for the World Uyghur Congress, saying that the 22 people, three of them children, arrived in Cambodia over the past several weeks.

A reliable source confirmed to VOA Khmer on Thursday that the 22 Uighurs are now in Cambodia and in good condition.

Cambodian government officials contacted Thursday said they have not been informed of the case.

“I’ve heard that Washingtonhas run this story,” national police spokesman Keat Chantharith said Thursday. “People have asked me too. I am not aware of it. I have received no information.”“People have asked me about the case too and said the Washington Post has run the story. I checked with several people, but received no answers,” said Koy Kuong, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Koy Kuong, however, said that it is still too early to say whether Cambodia will hand the refugees over if they are in Cambodia and China requests their return.Turkic Uighurs are mostly Muslim ethnic group from the far western province of Xinjiang, where for years separatists have waged a campaign against the Chinese government in the resource-rich region.

In early July protesters led violent demonstrations in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang.

Sebastian Strangio
The Phnom Penh Post

After a tumultuous year, the Sam Rainsy Party finds itself at a crossroads, but observers are divided on its future prospects in a shifting political climate.

STRIPPED of his parliamentary immunity for the second time this year, opposition leader Sam Rainsy has, once again, found himself at the centre of the debate over Cambodia’s democratic reform. But the lifting of his parliamentary immunity and the actions that led to it – the uprooting of several wooden border markers in a rice field at the Vietnamese border – have raised questions of another kind, about the relevance of Sam Rainsy and his eponymous party in a shifting political landscape.

Though the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) remains the Kingdom’s biggest proponent of Western-style democracy, some observers fear that the party, and its president, have reached the outer limits of their influence and have turned away from the grassroots campaigning that marked the SRP’s heyday in favour of politically charged but somewhat hollow political gestures.

This has been a tumultuous year for the SRP. Sam Rainsy and SRP lawmakers Mu Sochua and Ho Vann have each lost parliamentary immunity at one point or another in tense legal tussles with senior government officials.

Despite the international media coverage of its recent theatrics, and attention in the chambers of the US congress and the European parliament in Brussels, it is unclear whether the opposition’s strategies have maximised its chances of leveraging demographic changes into long-term political gains.

Some observers say the party has declined since its peak in the mid-2000s, a trend illustrated by its failure to capture the tens of thousands of Funcinpec voters who withdrew their support from the party after the royalist split in 2006.

“All those votes should have gone to the SRP, and they didn’t,” said Ou Virak, president of the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights. He said the SRP’s lack of a concrete policy platform causes its political spats with the government to become quickly personalised and drags the party into unwinnable battles with the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP). “There’s no proper analysis or real policy,” he added. “If you’re going to oppose something, are you in a position to offer anything that’s different?”

"If it was a one-man show, the show would have stopped a long time ago, given all the problems we've been facing."

Another observer, who declined to be named, said that despite having won the SRP international attention, the recent strategy of waging legal battles with government officials had “steered the party way off message”.

“They talk about party leaders being persecuted on the basis of esoteric rights that many Cambodian people have very little ownership of. They’ve adapted to appeal to outside constituencies rather than Cambodian voters,” he said, describing the loss of the Funcinpec vote as a “huge missed opportunity”.

Sorpong Peou, a professor of political science at Sophia University in Tokyo, said that as the country’s main opposition leader, Sam Rainsy must maintain a degree of assertiveness, but that appeals to distant international organisations have achieved little for the party.

“At the end of the day, the opposition is at the mercy of the CPP, which is willing to allow a degree of opposition in order to legitimise its domination and uses this type of legitimacy to gain international support,” she said. “In this sense, the opposition’s appeals have little real impact on domestic politics.”
The ‘donors’ darling’

Sam Rainsy returned to Cambodia from France in 1992, he was a rising star in the royalist political firmament. A founding member of then-Prince Norodom Sihanouk’s Funcinpec party in 1981, Rainsy had advanced through the ranks to become an elected parliamentarian during Funcinpec’s stunning win in the UN-backed elections of May 1993 and was appointed minister of finance in the CPP-Funcinpec coalition government in July.

But his ascent was short lived, and the fall that followed set the tone for a political career marked by bitter clashes with the government.

In October 1994 – just over a year after his appointment – Sam Rainsy was dismissed from his post in a major cabinet reshuffle, following his clear criticism of the corruption and nepotism that plagued the coalition. The following May, he was dumped from the party altogether and lost his National Assembly seat a month later.

At the time of its founding in 1995, the Khmer Nation Party (KNP) – the SRP’s predecessor – was a new feature on the Cambodian political landscape. Unlike the CPP – which secured its support through a patronage system established in the 1980s – and Funcinpec, which traded heavily on the prestige of the monarchy, Sam Rainsy’s new party put liberal democratic principles front and centre. At the time, Sam Rainsy said his expulsion from Funcinpec would give him the opportunity “to mobilise millions of people” sharing the same ideals.

In spite of the SRP’s idealistic bent, however, the party’s constituency remains overwhelmingly urban: In 2008, it won six of its 26 seats in Phnom Penh and five in Kampong Cham, as well as three each in heavily populated Kandal and Prey Veng provinces, both close to the capital. In 12 of Cambodia’s 24 provinces and municipalities – among them the most remote and least populated – the party did not score a single seat.

Caroline Hughes, an associate professor of governance studies at Murdoch University in Perth, said the SRP was not to blame for its difficulties in rural areas, in large part because of political intimidation by the CPP and the presence of its well-oiled machinery of patronage. Sam Rainsy – a “donors’ darling” in the early 1990s – has gradually become a more “marginal” figure as a result of waning international support, a rift with the Cambodian union movement and a concerted campaign of violence and intimidation that reached its apotheosis in a bloody grenade attack on a KNP protest in March 1997, she said. “Sam Rainsy did attempt to organise his supporters around a whole range of more concrete issues, but he was consistently blocked,” she said. “He organised a demonstration against corruption, and a grenade was thrown at it. He organised strikes in pursuit of a minimum-wage raise and was criticised by international organisations who said he shouldn’t interfere with unions.”

She added: “I don’t think we can blame the SRP for the weakness of the Cambodian political opposition when the government has worked consistently to reduce the political space for any kind of organised activism on any issue.”

A one-man show?
Others, however, said the party’s apparent difficulties stem from the erosion of its own internal democratic processes under the constant threat of defections and government intimidation.

The SRP organisation, Ou Virak said, is “like a scared child – the more things happen to them, the more they start to pull back. They refrain from meeting people and they refrain from opening up because of bad experiences”.

“There are some good people in the party that I know that cannot move up in the ranks,” he said. “There are some very good people who were left out.”

Ken Virak was a member of the SRP’s Steering Committee who left to form his own party – the People’s Power Party – in 2007, after becoming disillusioned with the SRP’s internal workings. He said the party had given up its role as a democratic opposition party “step by step”, and that the Steering Committee – nominally in charge of party decision-making – no longer had any real power.

“There is no democracy inside the party. Most of the decisions are made only by a minority of members who are powerful in the party and associated with Sam Rainsy,” he said.

Political decisions, originally made by a two-thirds majority vote of the Steering Committee, were watered down to a simple 50-percent-plus-one majority system and then to a system where the party president can in effect make every decision himself.

“I found that before every election, members of the party always broke away because of the political decision-making and partisanship,” he said.

Ou Virak said major decisions are now made by the party’s eight-member Permanent Committee, over which Sam Rainsy has final veto power.

Ken Virak still has faith in the opposition – refusing to run his new party in any elections in order not to cannibalise opposition votes – but said that all opposition groups, including the Human Rights Party and NRP, must unite if they want to have any chance at eating into the CPP’s majority in the 2013 polls.

Anti-communist roots
Born in Phnom Penh in 1949, Sam Rainsy grew up at a time of change and regeneration. His father, Sam Sary, was a key member of Sihanouk’s Sangkum Reastr Niyum government, but fell victim to the Prince’s security police after he was implicated in the so-called Bangkok Plot, an attempt to topple the government with the support of Thailand’s right-wing Marshal Sarit Thanarat. Sam Sary disappeared in 1962 and was presumed killed, possibly by the government. Shortly afterwards, Sam Rainsy’s mother, In Em, took the remaining family members to live in France, where he remained for the next three decades.

In a recent interview with the Post, Sam Rainsy described his father’s death as a “traumatising” experience, but said that Sam Sary’s political views permeated the family and set the trajectory of his own political development.

Certain pivotal events in Europe – notably, the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956 – were daily topics of conversation in the Sam household and went some way to forming the ideals that would grow into the SRP’s own brand of nationalism.

“When it came to Southeast Asia, my father was in favour of a strict neutrality – that Cambodia should not move closer to the communist world,” he said. “This has marked my background and my conviction that communism is oppressive – that freedom is essential and that we have to fight for [it],”

Sam Rainsy said that despite having been founded largely on his initiative in 1995, the KNP – renamed the SRP in 1998 because of legal disputes over the KNP name – had grown into an “organisation of its own”, linking Cambodia with Khmer communities abroad. He also downplayed his role as the party’s figurehead, referring to it as an “anachronistic” notion.

“If it was a one-man show, the show would have stopped a long time ago, given all the problems that we’ve been facing,” he said.

Speeding forward
Sam Rainsy said the SRP was the only party in Cambodia that holds organised elections from the grassroots, a system that is “just the opposite” of the CPP’s centrally controlled networks.

“They appoint their cadres – their apparatchiks – at the grassroots, but we are the only party that has organised elections,” he said.

Kimsour Phirith, a member of the SRP’s Permanent Committee, acknowledged that “internal disputes and misunderstandings”, as well as “competition at the leadership level”, had hurt the party at recent elections, but said the party is well aware of the problem and has worked to resolve it.

Similarly, the “loss” of the former Funcinpec vote was largely “due to intimidation and vote-buying in non-transparent elections”, Sam Rainsy said – a claim the opposition has made consistently since the July 2008 poll. “All of the over 13,000 powerful village chiefs are appointed by the ruling CPP, which is a heavily oppressive factor in a rural country like Cambodia. In the face of such pressure, virtually all Funcinpec leaders have sold out to the CPP,” he said.

When asked how the party might hope to erode the CPP’s entrenched network of patronage and make headway in rural areas, Sam Rainsy said current and future demographic changes were swinging the SRP’s way, a factor reflected in the party’s recent formation of a youth congress.

“In a typical family, you have the grandfather, who votes for Funcinpec; you have the father, who votes for the CPP; and you have the children, who when they reach voting age will vote for the SRP,” he said. “It will take less time than one might imagine now, because of the progress of technology, information, communication and education. History is accelerating.”

Sam Rainsy said that unlike CPP support – “bought” with party patronage benefits – each SRP ballot was a “politically conscious vote”, bringing with it a host of risks.

“The progressive concept of social justice is eroding the leniency towards the regressive patronage system. The younger generations will be the spearhead for this democratic trend moving Cambodia out of the Middle Ages,” he said.

Koul Panha, executive director of election monitor Comfrel, said Sam Rainsy retains a lot of political capital for taking such a principled stance against corruption in the 1990s and maintaining it consistently over the years since, but that fresh challenges are on the horizon.

“I think he still has that credibility. He resigned from a key position in government and showed he is that kind of politician,” he said. “The problem is how to communicate that credibility to the people.”

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY VONG SOKHENG AND SAM RITH
--------
IN DATES
The growth of a movement

June 1992
Sam Rainsy returns to Cambodia from Europe, becoming a member of the interim Supreme National Council.

May 23, 1993
Sam Rainsy is elected as a Funcinpec lawmaker for Siem Reap in UN-backed polls that see a stunning royalist victory.

July 1993
Sam Rainsy is appointed minister for economics and finance in the CPP-Funcinpec coalition government.

October 20, 1994
Sam Rainsy is expelled from the cabinet following a major reshuffle.

May 13, 1995
Sam Rainsy is expelled from both Funcinpec and the National Assembly, and forms the Khmer Nation Party (KNP) later in the year.

March 30, 1997
Assassins throw grenades into a KNP rally outside the National Assembly in Phnom Penh, killing more than 16 and injuring scores of others. FBI investigators allege government involvement in the attack.

July 26, 1998
The KNP – now renamed the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) – performs well in the national elections, gaining 15 seats and winning 14.3 percent of the vote.

July 27, 2003
The SRP wins 24 National Assembly seats, or 21.9 percent of the vote, in national elections.

February 3, 2005
Sam Rainsy goes into self-exile after being accused of defamation and losing his parliamentary immunity at the hands of the National Assembly, along with fellow SRP lawmakers Chea Poch and Cheam Channy. Cheam Channy is arrested in February and tried in August 2005 for creating an illegal armed force. He is sentenced to seven years in prison, but is granted a royal pardon in February 2006.

December 22, 2005
Phnom Penh Municipal Court tries Sam Rainsy in absentia for defamation and sentences him to 18 months in prison and orders him to pay US$14,000 in fines and compensation.

February 5, 2006
Sam Rainsy receives a royal pardon at Prime Minister Hun Sen’s request, and returns to the country on February 10.

July 27, 2008
The SRP again wins 21.9 percent of the popular vote, but increases its share of National Assembly seats to 26.

February 26, 2009
The National Assembly votes to suspend Sam Rainsy’s immunity to force him to pay a fine levied against him by the National Election Committee. His immunity is restored on March 10.

June 22, 2009
The National Assembly votes to suspend the immunity of SRP lawmaker Mu Sochua after she filed a lawsuit accusing Prime Minister Hun Sen of defamation. Lawmaker Ho Vann is also stripped of his immunity for allegedly belittling the educational credentials of senior military officers.

November 16, 2009
Parliament again lifts Rainsy’s immunity, following an incident in which he uprooted wooden markers at the border with Vietnam.

Chun Sophal
The Phnom Penh Post

Analyst says monthly drop does not necessarily paint full picture

THE number of approved investment projects in Cambodia fell dramatically in October compared with the same month in 2008, according to figures from the Centre for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) released Thursday, as large projects failed to materialise following the economic downturn.

Only US$15.5 million in projects were approved in October, a 98 percent drop compared with the $869.8 million in projects given the green light during the same month in 2008.

According to the CDC’s statistics, four major “tourism” projects worth a total of $704 million provided the majority of last October’s approvals.

The first 10 months of the year has seen approvals totalling only $1.624 billion, a far cry from the $9.928 projects certified during the same period last year.

An official from the CDC, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the drop in investment projects resulted from a lack of capital flow from foreign countries.

“Most investors borrow money from banks, and the downfall of big banks around the world has systematically affected the flow of capital into Cambodia,” said the official.

During October the Cambodian government gave the go-ahead to only two projects: a shoe factory and a lightweight manufacturing development.

Kang Chandararoth, president of the Cambodian Centre for Study and Development, said October’s downturn in investment into Cambodia was not necessarily cause for alarm.

“We cannot evaluate investment each month because it is meaningless in evaluating change in the direction of an economic structure. We should make the comparison on a quarterly or yearly basis,” he said.

Sam Rainsy Party lawmaker Son Chhay said there were underlying problems in attracting capital to the Kingdom beyond the global financial crisis, namely high electricity prices, inadequate human resources and bureaucracy.

AFP

PHNOM PENH: A Thai national held in Cambodia on spying charges, relating to a visit by fugitive former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra, withdrew his request for bail on Friday.

Siwarak Chothipong, 31, an employee at the Cambodia Air Traffic Service, was arrested on charges of supplying details of Thaksin's flight schedule to his country's embassy when the tycoon visited Phnom Penh last month.

In a letter read in court, Siwarak, who did not appear for the bail hearing, said the "bail request is no longer necessary" because his trial had been scheduled for Tuesday.

Judge Ke Sakhan of Phnom Penh Municipal court granted the request.

Siwarak's arrest deepened a diplomatic crisis over Cambodia's appointment of Thaksin as an economic adviser and its refusal to extradite the ousted premier to Bangkok.

Cambodia expelled the first secretary of Thailand's embassy in Phnom Penh after alleging that Siwarak had passed information to the diplomat. Thailand reciprocated hours later.

Both countries earlier also withdrew their respective ambassadors in the dispute over Thaksin's appointment.

All Thai air traffic control staff were suspended from the Thai-owned civil aviation company that oversees Cambodian air space, after a Cambodian government official was appointed temporary caretaker of the firm.

Thaksin was toppled in a coup in 2006 and is living abroad to avoid a two-year jail term for corruption, but has stirred up protests in his homeland.

Angered by his presence in Cambodia, Thailand put all talks and cooperation programmes on hold and tore up an oil and gas exploration deal signed during Thaksin's time in power.

Tensions were already high following a series of deadly military clashes over disputed territory near an 11th century temple on the two countries' border.

PHNOM PENH, Dec. 4 (Xinhua)-- Cambodia and Vietnam vowed Friday to strengthen their cooperation in many fields of common interests for both nations, a government official said.

Koy Kuong, spokesman of foreign ministry said that at the end of the two-day meeting of the 11th joint commission between foreign ministers of Cambodia and Vietnam that concluded Friday, the two ministers had signed an agreed minute covering many fields of cooperation for common interests of the two nations.

He said, among those fields of cooperation are education, agriculture, environment, hydropower, trading and investment as well as border issue.

The foreign ministerial meeting of the Cambodia-Vietnam Joint Commission for Economic, Cultural, Scientific and Technological Cooperation was held in Cambodia's southwestern province of Preah Sihanouk from Dec. 3-4, 2009.

The meeting was co-chaired by Hor Namhong, Cambodia's deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs, and his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Gia Khiem.

According to Koy Kuong, the two ministers also agreed to expand duration of stay for both nationals traveling to either country for normal passport from 14 days to 30 days and reiterated their desires to end the border demarcation by 2012.

During his stay in Cambodia, Pham Gia Khiem had paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Hun Sen.

The 12th meeting of Cambodia-Vietnam Joint Commission will be held next year in Vietnam.

BANGKOK, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) -- The relationship of the Thai and Cambodian militaries has remained good, Thai Defense Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan said Friday.

The diplomatic tension has not affected the bilateral cooperation between the Thai and Cambodian militaries along the border, Thai News Agency quoted General Prawit as saying.

"At the army level, after talking to Cambodian Defense Minister Tea Banh, we have agreed we will always cooperate as Defense Minister Tea understands every matter, no problem," General Prawit said.

The Thai and Cambodian defense ministers met on Nov. 27 in Thailand during a meeting of the Thai-Cambodian General Border Committee (GBC).

During the GBC meeting, the two sides have agreed that they will not use force to deal with the border matter.

The diplomatic problem has occurred after Cambodia has appointed ousted former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra as an economic advisor to Cambodia's government and Prime Minister Hun Sen from Nov. 4.

A day after the appointment, the Cambodian government announced the recall of its ambassador to Thailand in a move to respond to the Thai government's recall of its ambassador to Cambodia.

PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA (AFP) - The Cambodian government on Friday approved a draft law allowing foreign ownership of buildings such as apartments and office buildings to boost economic growth, the country's cabinet said.

The draft law approved in a meeting chaired by premier Hun Sen was aimed at "attracting investors, facilitating the growth of real estate market, and pushing the development", a cabinet statement said.

But Information Minister and government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said foreigners will be permitted to own only buildings and apartments, not the land beneath them.

"We will allow foreigners to have ownership of buildings from the first floor up," he told AFP.

The draft law is expected to be approved by Cambodia's parliament and senate, and then will be promulgated by King Norodom Sihamoni.

The move comes after the private sector in recent years urged the government to allow foreign ownership of properties such as apartments or factories, saying a liberalised real estate market would spur the economy.

Under the current rules, foreign property investments can only be made through the name of a Cambodian national, and many are unwilling to risk losing their assets to potentially unscrupulous local partners.

The cash-strapped country's investment law was amended in 2005 to allow foreign ownership of buildings, but the legislation had yet to be implemented and the initiative floundered.

Despite current restrictions, billion-dollar skyscraper projects and sprawling satellite cities promising to radically alter Phnom Penh have bloomed over the past few years.

But many projects have been halted or slowed down as Cambodia has been buffeted by the world financial crisis after several years of double-digit growth fuelled mainly by tourism and garment exports.

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

By Anastasia Moloney

CARTAGENA, Colombia (AlertNet)- As a little girl, Kosal Song often helped her mother collect firewood near her village in Cambodia. Then, aged five, a landmine exploded and she lost her right leg.

Since the accident 20 years ago, Song has had to rely on support from her family and international non-governmental organisations (NGOs), who have provided prosthetic legs and sponsored her schooling and university English degree.

"I couldn't have survived without their help and my family," she told AlertNet at a major landmine conference in Cartagena, Colombia.

"When I was nine, I remember my father made me a wooden crutch so that I could walk one kilometer to school."

There are around 300,000 landmine victims around the world and many share Song's experiences. This week, the issue has dominated discussions among the 156 signatory countries of the Mine Ban treaty gathered at the conference.

While significant headway has been made towards destroying stockpiled mines since the landmine treaty was signed 10 years ago, far less progress had been made towards pushing governments to providing assistance to mine survivors.

"Most survivors have yet to see a substantial improvement in their lives and in access to medical care, physical rehabilitation, psychological support, social services, education and employment," said Christine Beerli, vice-president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in an address to delegates on Thursday.

She urged donor countries and state parties to invest more in victim assistance, an issue which has received roughly 5 percent of the $4 billion spent on mine action during the last decade.

"In the next five years, our action, or inaction, in this field will determine whether the Convention makes a real difference to the life of survivors," said Beerli.

While watching the conference, Song remembered a childhood growing up in isolation as she watched other children play and run around freely.

"Survivors are lonely, they lose their arms or legs, and then they lose their hope," she said and wiped away her tears.

UNPO

At another meeting, Sam Rainsy, the President of the opposition Party in Cambodia along with NGOs such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) discussed how to put into place procedures to ensure that the Cambodian Government follow recommendations with the ultimate aim of encouraging Cambodia to represent a strong democratic country.

The Universal Periodic Review for Cambodia yields disappointing results as no attention is dedicated to indigenous or minority rights.

On 1st December, Cambodia faced examination of their human rights situation under the sixth session of the UN Universal Periodic Review (UPR). A delegation from UNPO Member the Khmer Kampuchea-Krom Federation (KKF) attended Cambodia’s review session in Geneva. M Thhai Makarar from the Khmer Kampuchea-Krom Federation Youth Committee said he was ‘disappointed’ by the outcome of the review. He stated that although H.E. Mr. Sun Suon, the Permanent Representative of Cambodia spoke for an hour, the problems facing indigenous and minority peoples were not raised on this crucial international stage.

During the interactive dialogue, questions were put to Cambodia by state representatives expressing concern about land grabbing, freedom of expression, lack of an independent of the juridical system and the immunity of the opposition party. There was controversy however since the list of speakers on Cambodia was cut due to time constraints, which will impact negatively on the scope of the recommendations which will be taken into account in the Report of the Working Group.

The Khmer Kampuchea Krom were mentioned specifically three times in the Joint Stakeholders Submission - the collective contributions from non-governmental organizations on human rights concerns which should be considered during the review process. The report mentions the difficulties faced by the Khmer Kampuchea Krom in obtaining citizenship including the resulting insecurity, the denial of right to vote and inability to occupy property or own land. The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization is quoted in the report recommending that Cambodia should acknowledge the indigenous status of the Khmer Kampuchea Krom and end the forceful repatriation of Khmer refugees from Cambodia to neighbouring countries.

Instead of addressing these pertinent issues and recommendations, the Permanent Representative of Cambodia claimed that the Cambodian Government had ‘achieved a great deal to develop their country.’ UNPO considers it unfortunate that Cambodia neglected to address substantial human rights concerns and failed to respond to constructive recommendations concerning the indigenous status of the Khmer Kampuchea Krom.

Despite being procedurally ineligible to address the Human Rights Council during the review, KKF representatives were able to raise their concerns with the Assistant to the Special Rapporteur on Indigenous People. KKF delegates met with Ms Lydie Vendre at a side event in the Palais Wilson to discuss the widespread violation of religious and cultural rights, repression of the freedom of expression, concern for refugees in Thailand and the confiscation of the ancestral land as the case of M Vinh Ba.

At another meeting, Sam Rainsy, the President of the opposition Party in Cambodia along with NGOs such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) discussed how to put into place procedures to ensure that the Cambodian Government follow recommendations with the ultimate aim of encouraging Cambodia to represent a strong democratic country. The KKF delegation also lobbied countries including Switzerland, Germany and United States of America to assist them to raise their concerns with Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand.

The adoption of Cambodia’s report was due to take place yesterday (Thursday 3rd December) and UNPO anticipates the publication of the ‘Outcome Report’ which will be adopted at a plenary session of the Human Rights Council.

A podcast of Cambodia’s UPR can be watched here

Cambodia needs 10 more years to clear all land mines

PHNOM PENH, Dec. 4 (Xinhua)-- Cambodia has officially requested donor community to extend another 10 years to clear land mines covering the country, said a government official.

Leng Sochea, deputy secretary general of the Cambodia Mine Action Authority said Friday that Cambodia made a request to extend another 10 years to clear all land mines in Cambodia at the summit on a mine-free world, which is being held this week in Cartagena, Colombia.

He said that Cambodia, as a signatory to Ottawa Mine Ban Treaty, was originally planning to clear all anti-personnel mines by the end of this year, but it becomes unrealistic and needs to adjust the timeline.

However, he said, the Cambodian government's commitment to clear all mines within the next 10 years will again depend on donors' community and Cambodia needs a total of 330 million U.S. dollars.

Casualties caused by land mines are still a worrisome fact for many Cambodians living in northwestern parts of the country, even though the number of casualties has declined year by year.

Cambodia recorded a total casualty of up to 4,320 by mines in1996, but the number fell to 271 in 2008.

Civil war had lasted for nearly three decades in the country since late 1960s.

By Ambassador Julio A. Jeldres

Dear Khmerization:

I fear the debate on the current state of Cambodia’s relations with Thailand is reaching a point of being farcical and does not help to a proper assessment of the situation and a better understanding of developments.

May I, at the outset, point out that I do not consider your blog to be “ultranationalist” even though at times some of the comments in the blog are offensive to other people. Worse still, some of the comments are so lacking in knowledge of the facts of a particular event that they put people off from offering a better informed comment.

But coming back to the current difficulties regarding Cambodia’s relations with Thailand, it is necessary for rational and calm minds to assess the problem and find a solution to the problem. In this regard, it is necessary in my humble opinion and with respect, that a few historical facts be recalled, as too often they are ignored:

1) Thailand and Cambodia are neighbours placed next to each other by the Creator. Every possible effort should be made by the leaders of both countries to maintain friendly relations that benefit the peoples of Thailand and Cambodia.

2) It is regrettable that Thailand has never accepted the 1962 ICJ judgment that the temple of Preah Vihear is located under the sovereignty of Cambodia. This issue has been used by successive Thai governments to instill nationalism in the minds of new generations that often have not studied the ICJ judgment or are only impressed by temporary unrealistic nationalist causes.

3) During the horrible Democratic Kampuchea period, Thai villagers in areas near the Cambodian border were the victims of the excesses of Pol Pot and his murderous clique. Yet, the people of Thailand opened their door to many thousands of Cambodians that managed to escape Pol Pot’s inferno.

4) Following the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia, Thailand opened its doors widely to thousands of Cambodians who were escaping Vietnams’s occupation of their homeland. Her majesty Queen Sirikit personally toured some of the refugees camps at the Thai-Cambodia border to ensure that conditions for the Cambodian refugees were as good as possible.

5) At the same time, the nationalist Cambodian fronts fighting against Vietnam’s occupation of Cambodia, including the Khmer Republicans and Royalists as well as the remnants of the Khmer Rouge, were allowed to operate offices and safe houses both in Bangkok and provincial cities of Thailand to pursue their diplomatic and military activities against Hanoi’s troops.

6) It is true, that some Thai military leaders made fortunes out of the parlous situation of Cambodia during this time. I recall vividly the day, when as I worked at the FUNCINPEC office in Soi Suan Phlu in Bangkok, the wife of General Chaovalit arrived without an appointment, surrounded by a large entourage and police and tried to persuade Prince Norodom Ranariddh to agree to the sale of the Royal Cambodian Embassy in Tokyo, which was being sought by rapacious Japanese businessmen whom Mrs Chavalit represented (For those that do not know, the Royal Cambodian Embassy in Tokyo was purchased by His Majesty King Norodom Sihanouk in the 1950s, and is located at a site near the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, which is considered not only the best location in Tokyo but also the most prestigious and expensive in real state value). To his credit, Prince Ranariddh, as did also Samdech Son San and Mr Khieu Samphan, they all declined to sell the Embassy site and recommended to His Majesty King Sihanouk, then President of the CGDK, to inform the Japanese government accordingly.

7) In the search for peace for Cambodia during the late 1980s and early 19990s, Thailand played a leading role and hosted several international meetings both in Bangkok and Pattaya to try to find a settlement of the Cambodian conflict.

8) Following, the Paris Peace Agreements on Cambodia of October 1991, Thailand re-established its diplomatic and commercial presence in Cambodia. This was both good and sometimes bad for Cambodia, as some of the businesses just tried to make a quick profit without providing the local Cambodians appropriate training to be able to build on for their future job prospects. Other businesses were more serious and did indeed provide training either in Thailand or on the job.

9) One of the businessmen that took advantage of the new opportunities the opening of Cambodia presented was Thaksin Shinawatra. Thaksin a vain and overbearing man, immediately understood that power in Cambodia did not lay with the winner –FUNCINPEC- of the 1993 elections but rather with the looser –the CPP- and began courting the CPP leadership as well as some of the objectionable “business” in Cambodia that prospered under the CPP’s patronage. Again, here I need to recall how as Acting Director of the Khmer Institute of Democracy (KID) in Phnom Penh, I was constantly frustrated in my attempts to have a KID produced TV program broadcast by the then Thaksin owned and operated TV channel in Phnom Penh. His representatives in Phnom Penh would not broadcast any program that may appear to be critical of the government.

Regarding the current difficulties in the relationship between the two countries it is necessary, without wishing to blame any side, to point out the following:

1) The issue of the temple of Preah Vihear has been manipulated by the People Against Democracy (PAD) to create a misguided nationalism in Thailand in their efforts to discredit Thaksin Shinawatra. But, I fear, the PAD is not alone in using the Preah Vihear issue for its own domestic political purposes and their opponents the so-called “Red Shirts” are also instilled by manipulated nationalist aspirations to “recover” Preah Vihear for Thailand.

2) The ‘hero” of the Red Shirts is Thaksin Shinawatra who during his rule as Prime Minister of Thailand presided over a corrupt regime, indeed he has himself been tried for corruption charges, and also during which gross violations of human rights took place in Thailand.

3) The Cambodian government of Prime Minister Hun Sen never did anything to improve access to the temple of Preah Vihear from the Cambodian side of the mountain, prompting most foreign tourists to visit the temple from the well developed and safer Thai side of the mountain, thus creating employment opportunities on the Thai side of the mountain but not on the Cambodian side, which remains underdeveloped and difficult to access.

4) Hun Sen also manipulated the successful inscription of the temple of Preah Vihear into the list of UNESCO’s World Heritage sites to present it as one of the “great” accomplishments of his regime but, more importantly, to hide the failure of more pressing domestic issues such as corruption, lack of an independent judiciary, violations of human rights and land grabbing, prior to the July 2008 election.

5) Any study of the literature prepared by the current Cambodian government about the temple of Preah Vihear will show that the Hun Sen-led government has claimed complete responsibility for the 1962 ICJ decision totally obscuring the role played by King Father Norodom Sihanouk on this issue, thus not giving the opportunity to new generations of Cambodians to learn about this event in their country’s history.

6) The issue has become more and more complex because both sides have used their “personal” contacts or military personnel to try to reach a settlement over the marking of the land surrounding the temple which Thailand disputes. The Thaksin aligned forces have used their “contacts” such as retired General Chaovalit, who is both despised and tolerated in Cambodia to try to sort the impasse. Both countries have sidelined the Foreign Ministries of Thailand and Cambodia which should be the leading agencies dealing with the problem. In this Thaksin and Hun Sen are very similar, they are unable to distinguish between “personal affairs” and “State affairs”, just as both have tried to diminish the links existing between the Monarchy and the peoples of Thailand and Cambodia.

7) With all its faults, Thailand remains a democracy with a strong free press and independent judiciary. Cambodia, I am afraid, is not a democracy but rather a one-party autocracy. The current Thai Prime Minister is a decent man who is trying his best to fix the many problems confronting the fabric of Thai society.

8) Last but not least, by cancelling all aid projects with Thailand, Hun Sen is again manipulating the nationalistic feelings of Cambodians and trying to bully the Thai Prime Minister, just as he bullies anybody who does not agree with him or his policies in Cambodia. Worse, by appointing Thaksin to an advisory position in his government and openly taking sides with the Thai Thaksin-aligned opposition, Hun Sen is interfering in Thailand’s internal affairs and creating a precedent for future foreign interference in Cambodia’s internal affairs.

Kind regards,

Ambassador Julio A. Jeldres

Adjunct Research Fellow

The Asia Institute, Monash University

Melbourne, Australia

3 December 2009

By ISOLDA MORILLO and CARA ANNA
AP

BEIJING — A group of 22 Uighurs who fled after ethnic rioting in western China are seeking asylum in Cambodia after using an underground network of missionaries in China that has helped North Korean refugees in the past.

It is the first time the Christian interfaith network has helped a group of the largely Muslim Uighurs, and it might not be the last. People who work with the network say overseas-based Uighur groups have been asking if they could use the underground "railway" through China to reach the U.N. refugee office in Cambodia.

Tension in China's remote northwest has increased since the July rioting between the Turkic Uighurs and the majority Han Chinese. It was China's worst ethnic violence in decades.

The Chinese government says the rioting left nearly 200 people dead. A Chinese court sentenced five Uighurs to death Thursday for murder and other crimes during the rioting, and China announced last month that nine Uighurs had been executed for taking part in the violence.

Overseas Uighur groups reject China's accusations that they helped cause the violence in the long-tense region and say Uighurs have been rounded up in mass detentions since the riots.

The 22 Uighurs, who have been described by Uighur exile groups as witnesses to the rioting, made their way through China and Vietnam before arriving in the Cambodian capital, where they have made contact with the UN refugee office and applied for political asylum.

However, they live in fear of being picked up and returned to China, which has close ties with Cambodia, according to Uighur groups.

"China has a very big influence in Cambodia. So their life is in risk, I would say," said Ilshat Hassan, the U.S.-based director of interior affairs for the World Uyghur Congress.

A spokesman for China's Foreign Ministry asked that questions about the case be sent in a fax, and offered no immediate response.

Hassan said the group is the first large one to leave China after the riots. He said they witnessed the violence in the Xinjiang region and took photos. Two other Uighurs were arrested in Vietnam, he said, and he lost contact with another group of four.

A spokesman for Cambodia's Ministry of the Interior, Pol. Lt. Gen. Khieu Sopheak, said Friday that at least 16 Uighurs are now staying at the office of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in the capital, Phnom Penh.

He said the Cambodian government can do nothing with the Uighurs as they are under the UNHCR's protection. He said he doesn't know when and how they arrived in Cambodia, or whether the government will deport them to China.

"It is too early to talk about this," the general said.

UNHCR's spokeswoman for Asia, Kitty McKinsey, said she could not discuss the case. "It's our policy everywhere in the world never to speak about individual asylum seekers or refugees," she said. The Phnom Penh office is the closest UNHCR office to China in Southeast Asia.

Cambodian government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said the government will consider carefully any repatriation request from China. He said Cambodia has the right to deny such a request if the people are considered political asylum seekers.

"But if they are purely criminal people and there is a request, we may deport them back," he said.

Missionary groups have been getting more and more requests from overseas Uighur groups hoping to use the North Korean "railway," the Rev. Marcus Ramsey with the Macau Interfaith Network told AP Television News.

The "railway" is a network of sympathetic locals who agree to shelter and guide people as they cross China.

Ramsey's group collaborates with other missionary groups and helped the 22 Uighurs leave China.

The requests come because some Uighurs fear the Chinese government is targeting them after the July rioting, he added.

Hassan did not want to talk about any involvement with the missionary network, saying only "some locals from the China side helped."

Now, however, China has tightened border controls and the way into Vietnam is no longer possible, he said.

Associated Press Writer Sopheng Cheang in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, contributed to this report.

Long-standing dispute escalates dramatically as Phnom Penh hires fugitive former Thai PM as government adviser
MacKINNON
Globe and Mail (Toronto, Ontario, Canada)
In an interview with The Globe and Mail, Cambodian government spokesman Phay Siphan poured more kerosene on the fire, calling Thailand a failed state and comparing Mr. Abhisit to Benito Mussolini.

PHNOM PENH — The armies of Cambodia and Thailand declared last week that they have no intention of fighting a war with each other. That's the good news.

The bad news is that the escalating dispute between the Southeast Asian neighbours has become so dangerous that such a statement was required. The past 12 months have seen ambassadors expelled, trade disrupted, accusations of espionage and a series of deadly border clashes around an ancient temple in a contested frontier area.

Tensions have risen dramatically in the past two weeks after Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen waded into Thailand's internal political battle by inviting Thaksin Shinawatra, Thailand's fugitive former prime minister, to visit Cambodia and gave him a job as a government adviser.

Mr. Hun Sen could scarcely have made a more provocative gesture. Mr. Thaksin, who was ousted from office in a 2006 military coup and is wanted on corruption charges, called his supporters into the streets earlier this year in an effort to topple the government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. The uprising was quelled by the military after street fighting between pro-Thaksin and pro-government groups left two people dead and more than 100 injured.

Though Mr. Thaksin has since left Cambodia to resume his exile in Dubai, Thailand responded to his appointment by recalling its ambassador to Phnom Penh, a move Cambodia quickly matched. Shortly afterwards, Cambodian police seized the offices of the Thai company that handles air-traffic control at Phnom Penh airport. The company's Thai employees were locked out and replaced with Cambodian staff, and one Thai national was charged with espionage for allegedly passing on the details of Mr. Thaksin's flights to the Thai embassy.

In an interview with The Globe and Mail, Cambodian government spokesman Phay Siphan poured more kerosene on the fire, calling Thailand a failed state and comparing Mr. Abhisit to Benito Mussolini.

"Thailand has initiated everything. We have just responded to their decisions," Mr. Phay said, speaking shortly after the Thai and Cambodian defence ministers emerged from a meeting to pledge that they wouldn't allow the political battle between the two governments to degenerate into a shooting war.

In a sign the dispute may nonetheless continue to worsen, an aide handed Mr. Phay a memo during the interview informing him Thailand had withdrawn from an aid project to upgrade a highway used by tourists travelling between the two countries. "We don't care. We can find other money to finance this project. We don't need money from Thailand," Mr. Phay steamed after reading it.

The root of much of the trouble is a long-standing argument over ownership of the 11th-century Preah Vihear temple, a popular tourist destination near the border that the International Court of Justice ruled in 1962 to be on Cambodian soil but which Thailand still claims. The dispute was resurrected last year when Cambodia succeeded, at a meeting held in Quebec City, in getting Preah Vihear named to the UNESCO list of World Heritage sites. Since then, the Thai army has regularly moved its soldiers into the area to assert its claim, drawing occasional Cambodian fire.

In April, at least two Thai soldiers were killed in a prolonged exchange of fire in the area that saw the two sides use machine guns and rocket launchers.

The economic impacts of the dispute have been far-reaching. Trade between the two neighbours has declined sharply and construction has been delayed on a rail line that was to link the two countries as part of a planned regional rail network running from Singapore to southern China via Malaysia, Laos and Vietnam.

But analysts say the dispute may be helping both Mr. Abhisit and Mr. Hun Sen politically. Mr. Abhisit's popularity ratings have received a boost since taking a hard line toward Cambodia, while Mr. Hun Sen is seen as benefiting from having the Preah Vihear dispute on the front pages of newspapers instead of the global recession and the layoffs and factory closings that have hit this already poor country's garment industry.

The future of Thai-Cambodian relations may now depend on how the political struggle in Bangkok plays out. In effect, Mr. Hun Sen is betting that Mr. Thaksin, who is still widely popular among the country's rural poor, or one of his allies will return to office after elections that are expected some time next year.

"As long as [Mr. Abhisit's] Democrat Party remains in power, bilateral relations will be tense and bumpy. If Thaksin's supporters regain power, relations are likely to be more workable," said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a Thai political analyst. "Hun Sen has placed his bet and played his Thaksin card. Whether it pays off will depend on how Thai politics pans out."

BANGKOK, Dec 4 (TNA) - Mother of a Thai engineer detained in a Cambodian prison on espionage charges Friday cancelled her bail request plan as her son's new lawyer advised that the request will delay the case.

Opposition Puea Thai Party spokesman Prompong Nopparit said that Simarak Na Nakhon Panom, mother of Siwarak Chutipong, an employee of Cambodia Air Traffic Services (CATS) arrested by Cambodian police November 12 on charges of passing information on the flight details of fugitive ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra to Thai diplomats agreed with the counsel of the newly-appointed lawyer of her son.

Mr Siwarak has been detained at Preysar prison. The Cambodian court will give its verdict on the case on December 8.

Mr Siwarak's Cambodian lawyer Kao Sopha, provided by the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs, earlier said he will submit the bail request Friday at 2pm.

Mrs Simarak however said Thursday on returning from Phnom Penh on her second visit to see her son that she would change her son's lawyer as she believes the new lawyer, recommended by Mr Siwarak's friends, will perform better than the current one.

"The new lawyer thinks that if Mr Siwarak is released on bail, this will delay the case," explained Mr Prompong. "The Cambodian court will give its verdict December 8. The new lawyer is now coordinating with the ex-premier Thaksin, Puea Thai Party chairman Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh and the Thai Foreign Affairs Ministry to prepare for the royal pardon request if the court rules that Mr Siwarak is found guilty."

Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by KI-Media

Nget Dara, an official for the Adhoc human rights group, told The Phnom Penh Post on Thursday that, on Friday, Vietnam will deport more than 100 Cambodian beggars through the Bavet international border gate, located in Svay Rieng province. According to Mrs. Sao Sitha, vice-director of the office of children welfare for the Svay Rieng Department of Social Affairs, Veteran and Youth Rehabilitation, indicated that officials from her office will receive these Cambodian beggars at the international border gate. Sao Sitha indicated also that Vietnam deports back Cambodian beggars 3 to 5 times each year, however, the Cambodian authority rarely sent back illegal Vietnamese immigrants to Vietnam.

The Nation/Asia News Network

Pheu Thai Party chairman Chavalit Yongchaiyudh said yesterday there would be big news today, when a Cambodian court decides whether to grant bail for a Thai man accused by Phnom Penh of spying.

Chavalit did not clarify his "big news" but it was expected that the opposition party, which has good ties with the authorities in Phnom Penh, will help Sivarak Chutipong be freed on bail.

The Thai engineer, who worked for Cambodia Air Traffic Services (CATS), was arrested on November 12 on a charge of stealing fugitive former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's flight information and passing it to a Thai diplomat, who was later expelled from Cambodia.

The Cambodian court is expected to rule on the case on Tuesday. If found guilty of threatening national security, Sivarak could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison.

His mother, Simarak na Nakhon Phanom, who returned yesterday from a visit to see him, consulted with Chavalit, urging him to replace human-rights advocate Kao Soupha as her son's defence lawyer.

A friend of Sivarak had introduced a new lawyer who was keen and understood the matter very well, she said.

Simarak has decided to rely on the opposition party as she feels the Foreign Ministry has moved slowly and has poor connections with Cambodian authorities.

With Pheu Thai facilitating, Simarak received a special welcome when she arrived in Phnom Penh to see her son for the second time on Wednesday.

She said her decision to seek assistance from Pheu Thai had nothing to do with the political conflict between the government and the opposition.

The Foreign Ministry arranged legal adviser and lawyer Kao Soupha for Sivarak and has prepared S$2,080-S$8,320 in cash for his bail guarantee, if requested by the court.

Due to sour relations between the two governments, the foreign ministry facilitated Simarak's first visit to her son just last Friday, two weeks after his arrest.

Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said yesterday the ministry had a clear policy of helping Thai nationals in trouble in a foreign country. "We will do what we can do for Thai people who have problems in a foreign country," he said.

The ministry would have no problem if Simarak wanted to change her son's defence lawyer, Kasit said.

Sivarak's case is part of a diplomatic row between Thailand and Cambodia since Prime Minister Hun Sen appointed Thaksin as an economic adviser and refused to extradite him to Thailand.

Angered by Thaksin's appointment, Thailand downgraded diplomatic relations with Cambodia, recalling its ambassador and reviewing aid projects.

Cambodian reciprocated tit-for-tat with Hun Sen saying it would reject all Thai aid, including financial assistance for road construction and scholarships for students.

Kasit said his government would continue to help boost living conditions and develop Cambodian human resources.

"It is a personal view if anybody wants or does not want to take Thai assistance, but we have a clear policy to bridge the gap among Asean members," he said.

Asked if he would step down as demanded by the coalition Chart Thai Pattana Party, Kasit said: "I work 24 hours and don't worry about that."

Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by KI-Media

On 01 December 2009, the Dhammayeatra (Buddhist peace march procession) led by Monk Mam Sonando has arrived at Wat Prasat Rong Roeung Pagoda, located in Banteay Ampil district, Oddar Meanchey province, at 5PM. The procession wanted to continue its march to carry 11 Buddha statues from Wat Ampil Pagoda to Wat Chub Koki Pagoda, a distance of 15 km away from one another. These Buddha statues were confiscated by the authorities and stored at Wat Ampil Pagoda since 09 November. According to Koh Santepheap newspaper, the procession and the plan to carry the statues were prevented from moving by police officers, military police officers and soldiers who were spread all along the road leading to Wat Chub Koki Pagoda, located on top of Mount Dangrek Chain. The dhammayeatra led by monk Mam Sonando includes 12 monks, and 15 nuns and laymen, as well as 3 trucks carrying equipments. The dhammayeatra left Phnom Penh by foot on 02 November, and the entire trip is about 600 km long. It has already been one month since the procession started until the day it was stopped by the cops. There is only about 15 km left for the marchers to reach their destination. However, after the authority’s prevention, Monk Mam Sonando has no choice besides turning back, i.e. the dhammayeatra will return back to its point of departure.

By Robert Carmichael
DPA

Kampong Trach, Cambodia - On a small plot of earth 10 kilometres outside a dusty provincial town in southern Cambodia, farmer Nuon Yan tends his crop.

Like most farmers in Cambodia, Nuon Yan grows rice. But today he is tending his other crop: Kampot pepper. The final product - spicy black peppercorns that enliven dishes across the world - will soon become the first Cambodian product to benefit from Geographical Indicator (GI) status.

GI is more familiar as a concept than a phrase, and most famously with champagne: Only sparkling wine grown in a certain region of France which conforms to the quality standard set by its members may be called champagne. The advantage for growers is a better price; consumers benefit knowing that they are getting a quality product.

Cambodia's farmers are a key pillar of the country's economy, and widespread rural poverty means better prices for their crops are essential. UN figures show agriculture employs more than half of the 8-million-strong labour force and generates one-third of the kingdom's gross domestic product.

Kampot pepper, which is named after Nuon Yan's home province near the border with Vietnam, has an excellent name regionally and is highly regarded by some chefs in Europe. But a good name is not enough: in a world of imitations, protecting that name is critical.

Var Roth San is director of the intellectual property department at Cambodia's Ministry of Commerce. He says attaining GI status typically boosts the value of a product by at least 20 per cent.

'We want to create jobs, and we want the poor to get more money from their jobs in the rural areas,' he said. 'GI is one thing that will help the poor.'

Nuon Yan is a member of the newly formed Kampot Pepper Producers' Association, which will market and promote his crop.

It is a cooperative of more than 100 farmers, along with a handful of middlemen. It will ensure the Kampot pepper its members grow comes only from certain areas and meets quality standards. By early 2010, only the pepper produced by its members will be able to use the name.

Jean-Marie Brun, an advisor at the French agricultural non-governmental organisation GRET, said members of the World Trade Organisation are obliged to protect GI-status products. Once a product earns the name and is registered, it can easily be protected.

GRET was involved in the establishment of the cooperative, whose members defined the geographical growing area and quality standards.

'The stakeholders decided on the delimitation of the area, how it should be produced, and the quality criteria for Kampot pepper,' Brun said.

Kampot pepper is not the only Cambodian product in the running. Others vying for GI status include regionally produced palm sugar, honey, silk and possibly even durian fruit.

Brun says the main benefit for the small-scale farmers who comprise the bulk of the cooperative is financial. The current gate price for black pepper is 2.5 dollars per kilogram, but that should double once the GI status is confirmed.

By the time Kampot pepper gets to Europe, where it will be sold in packets of 20 to 50 grams, it can retail at an equivalent of 100 euros (150 dollars) per kilogram.

'Importers of Kampot pepper in Europe know it has a name and they are willing to pay a higher price for that,' Brun explained. The extra profit will allow for increased marketing expenditures.

Protection of the brand rests initially with the association, whose simple office is based in a shady grove outside Kampong Trach town in Kampot province. This is picture-postcard Cambodia: green rice fields, sugar palm trees and karst hills, with wooden carts drawn by white oxen along dirt roads.

The vice-president of the association, En Trou, is a farmer with 150 pepper vines, each providing 1 kilogram of peppercorns per year. En Trou said the total output of the members this year will be 14 tons, but he predicts that will double over the next five years.

En Trou said members have in the past encountered difficulties trying to sell their crops for a decent price, but is optimistic that GI status for Kampot pepper will help.

Four kilometres from the association's office along a series of ever-narrowing dirt tracks, Nuon Yan keeps an eye on his 300 pepper vines. He earned 400 dollars from his crop last year, but aims to double that next year. So what will he do with the extra cash?

'I will put some in the bank, and I will use the rest to buy more pepper vines,' he said.

The vines take three years to mature, so it is no short-term measure. But for Nuon Yan the benefits from ensuring his pepper meets the GI requirements make it worthwhile to invest more time and money on growing Kampot pepper for the kitchens of Europe.

PHNOM PENH, Dec 4 (Bernama) -- Concrete measures to combat human trafficking and provide aid to its victims topped the agenda of a workshop between Vietnam and Cambodia, which held in Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh on December 2 to 3.

According to the Vietnam news agency's report, the move is part of joint efforts to implement a cooperation agreement signed in October, 2005, to repel the trafficking of women and children as well as provide them with assistance.

The Vietnamese delegation to the workshop was led by Vice Minister of Public Security Le The Tiem, and the Cambodian delegation was led by Secretary of State of the Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation Hav Bunse.

On the sidelines of the workshop, Vietnam and Cambodia also signed another cooperative agreement on confirming and repatriating the victims of human trafficking.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Secretary of State Hav Bunse praised the workshop's success, regarding it as new evidence of tight bilateral cooperation and determination to combat against trans-border crimes for the sake of the safety of their peoples.

PHNOM PENH, Dec 4 (Bernama) -- Concrete measures to combat human trafficking and provide aid to its victims topped the agenda of a workshop between Vietnam and Cambodia, which held in Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh on December 2 to 3.

According to the Vietnam news agency's report, the move is part of joint efforts to implement a cooperation agreement signed in October, 2005, to repel the trafficking of women and children as well as provide them with assistance.

The Vietnamese delegation to the workshop was led by Vice Minister of Public Security Le The Tiem, and the Cambodian delegation was led by Secretary of State of the Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation Hav Bunse.

On the sidelines of the workshop, Vietnam and Cambodia also signed another cooperative agreement on confirming and repatriating the victims of human trafficking.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Secretary of State Hav Bunse praised the workshop's success, regarding it as new evidence of tight bilateral cooperation and determination to combat against trans-border crimes for the sake of the safety of their peoples.