Khmer Rouge prison chief Duch has admitted responsibility for crimes at the notorious jail he ran and begged for forgiveness

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Elderly Cambodians look on as they wait in line outside the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia on the second day of a UN-backed tribunal against former Toul Sleng commander Kaing Guek Eav, also know as 'Duch' Tuesday, March 31, 2009, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. On the first day of the trial prosecutors alleged that the former Khmer Rouge commander oversaw grisly atrocities at the Phnom Penh prison and that all who were imprisoned there were marked for death.(AP Photo/David Longstreath)
ACambodians, from Pursat province, look on as they wait in line outside the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia on the second day of a UN-backed tribunal against former Toul Sleng commander Kaing Guek Eav, also know as 'Duch' Tuesday, March 31, 2009, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. On the first day of the trial prosecutors alleged that the former Khmer Rouge commander oversaw grisly atrocities at the Phnom Penh prison and that all who were imprisoned there were marked for death.(AP Photo/David Longstreath)

A Cambodian Buddhist monk looks on as he and others wait in line outside the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia on the second day of a UN-backed tribunal against former Toul Sleng commander Kaing Guek Eav, also know as 'Duch' Tuesday, March 31, 2009, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. On the first day of the trial prosecutors alleged that the former Khmer Rouge commander oversaw grisly atrocities at the Phnom Penh prison and that all who were imprisoned there were marked for death.(AP Photo/David Longstreath)

A woman and her son look at torture equipment at Tuol Sleng genocide museum in Phnom Penh. Prosecutors Tuesday gave harrowing details of the torture and execution of thousands of Cambodians as they laid their case against the Khmer Rouge regime's prison chief for the first time.(AFP/Tang Chhin Sothy)

A Cambodian man walks into the court room for a trial of a former Khmer Rouge prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Duch, at a U.N.-backed tribunal Tuesday, March 31, 2009, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Prosecutors vowed Tuesday to get justice for the 1.7 million victims of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge regime, as they opened their case against the man accused of running the communist radicals' torture machine.(AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Bour Meng, a Khmer Rouge survivor, walks out of the court room during lunch break, during the second day of the trial of chief Khmer Rouge torturer Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Duch, on the outskirts of Phnom Penh March 31, 2009. Duch faces trial for crimes against humanity, the first involving a senior Pol Pot cadre 30 years after the end of a regime blamed for 1.7 million deaths.REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

Cambodians wait in line to enter the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia on the second day of a UN-backed tribunal against former Toul Sleng commander Kaing Guek Eav, also know as 'Duch' Tuesday, March 31, 2009, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. On the first day of the trial prosecutors alleged that the former Khmer Rouge commander oversaw grisly atrocities at the Phnom Penh prison and that all who were imprisoned there were marked for death.(AP Photo/David Longstreath)

Cambodians walk into the court room for a trial of a former Khmer Rouge prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Duch, at a U.N.-backed tribunal Tuesday, March 31, 2009, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.(AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Cambodian Muslim students walk into the court room for a trial of a former Khmer Rouge prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Duch, at a U.N.-backed tribunal Tuesday, March 31, 2009, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.(AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Cambodian security force members stand watch outside the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia on the second day of a UN-backed tribunal against former Toul Sleng commander Kaing Guek Eav, also know as 'Duch' Tuesday, March 31, 2009, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. On the first day of the trial prosecutors alleged that the former Khmer Rouge commander oversaw grisly atrocities at the Phnom Penh prison and that all who were imprisoned there were marked for death.(AP Photo/David Longstreath)
Cambodians wait in line to enter the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia on the second day of a UN-backed tribunal against former Toul Sleng commander Kaing Guek Eav, also know as 'Duch' Tuesday, March 31, 2009, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. On the first day of the trial prosecutors alleged that the former Khmer Rouge commander oversaw grisly atrocities at the Phnom Penh prison and that all who were imprisoned there were marked for death.(AP Photo/David Longstreath)
Cambodian Chhim Sarom, right, 57, reads document before she attends a trial of a former Khmer Rouge prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Duch, at a U.N.-backed tribunal Tuesday, March 31, 2009, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.(AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Cambodian Chhim Sarom, 57, tears while she describes her biography during the Khmer Rouge regimes before attending a trial of a former Khmer Rouge prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Duch, at a U.N.-backed tribunal Tuesday, Tuesday, March 31, 2009, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.(AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Cambodian PM warns Thailand on border dispute

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Channel News Asia

01 April 2009

PHNOM PENH: Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Tuesday warned neighbouring Thailand that it would face fighting if its troops again crossed their disputed border.

The premier made the remarks a week after Cambodian officials said some 100 Thai troops briefly entered contested territory near an ancient temple where a deadly gun battle broke out last year.

"I tell you first, if you enter (Cambodian territory) again, we will fight. The troops at the border have already received the order," Hun Sen said at a ceremony to open a road named after him in the seaside resort of Sihanoukville.

"I am the leader of Cambodia who was elected by the will of the people, not by robbing power," he added, in an apparent reference to Thailand's current political instability.

Hun Sen also told his audience that Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva will visit Cambodia on April 18, but blasted the Thai foreign minister Kasit Piromya for allegedly insulting him.

"He insults me - he has called me a gangster," he said of the foreign minister.

"What if I insult your king? What would you say if I insult your prime minister and your ancestors? I'm not angry with you, but please use dignified words."

Tensions over the long-disputed territory flared in July last year after the 11th century temple was granted United Nations world heritage status. Soldiers clashed in the area in October, leaving four troops dead.

Subsequent talks between Cambodia and Thailand have not resolved the dispute. Thai officials denied that any of their troops had crossed the border last week.

A spokesman for the Thai foreign ministry, Tharit Charungwat, said it had not received an official report on Hun Sen's speech, but added that there had been a "misinterpretation" of earlier comments made by Kasit regarding Hun Sen.

"Thailand wants to avoid using force and supports using border mechanisms to solve problems. The border mechanism is working well," Tharit said.

The border between the two countries has never been fully demarcated, in part because it is littered with landmines left over from decades of war in Cambodia.

Around 100 Thai troops briefly entered Cambodian territory on Wednesday near a disputed border temple where a deadly gunbattle broke out last year, Cambodian officials said.

Thailand's military however denied the claim, saying that they only had a few soldiers in a disputed area where troops from both sides have been posted since the clashes in October.

"There are nearly 100 armed Thai troops - fighting troops - who violated about one kilometre into Cambodian territory," Cambodian government cabinet spokesman Phay Siphan told AFP.

The Thai soldiers crossed into Cambodia about two kilometres away from the ancient Preah Vihear temple at about 1:45 pm (0645 GMT), he said.

The spokesman and the Cambodian military later said the Thai troops pulled back from the area after talks between Cambodian and Thai commanders.

"They withdrew from the area at around 5:00 pm (1000 GMT). There was no clash during the confrontation," commander Yim Pim said.

During the brief standoff, a Cambodian soldier stationed at the temple told AFP by telephone that the situation was "hot and all Cambodian troops are fully alert and prepared."

Tensions over the long-disputed territory flared in July last year after the 11th century temple was granted United Nations world heritage status. Soldiers clashed in the area in October, leaving four troops dead.

Subsequent talks between Cambodia and Thailand have not led to a resolution of the dispute.

"Both Thai and Cambodian soldiers are there in the disputed area and we have not crossed into Cambodia," said Lieutenant General Wiboonsak Neeparn, army commander for northeastern Thailand, in response to the Cambodian claims.

"We have not increased our amount of soldiers at all. We have stayed with the same amount for several months," he told AFP.

The border between the two countries has never been fully demarcated, in part because it is littered with landmines left over from decades of war in Cambodia. - AFP/de

Cambodia PM fears 'civil war'

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Reuters
By EK MADRA

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen warned today that putting more Khmer Rouge cadres on trial for crimes committed during Pol Pot's 1975-79 reign of terror could plunge the country back into civil war.

"I would prefer to see this tribunal fail instead of seeing war return to my country," Hun Sen, himself a former Khmer Rouge commander, said a day after the joint UN-Cambodian court resumed its trial of Pol Pot's chief torturer.

Duch, former head of the S-21 prison where more than 14,000 "enemies" of the ultra-Maoist revolution died, is the first of five ageing senior cadres to face trial 30 years after the end of a regime blamed for 1.7 million deaths in Cambodia. Human rights groups have used this week's trial to push for investigations of more suspects, arguing that would ensure justice is delivered to millions of victims and survivors.

But Hun Sen, speaking at the opening of an industrial zone in the port of Sihanoukville, said the trials should not go beyond the five charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity.

"If as many as 20 Khmer Rouge are indicted to stand trial and war returns to Cambodia, who will be responsible for that?," he told the audience.

After Duch, the others awaiting trial are "Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea, the regime's ex-president Khieu Samphan and Ieng Sary, its foreign minister, and his wife.

They have denied any wrongdoing. Duch has expressed remorse for his victims, but said he was following orders.

The court admitted in January that a bid to go after more suspects was brushed aside by the Cambodian co-prosecutor, who argued it would not be good for national reconciliation.

A final ruling on the additional cases - details of which the court has not disclosed but the number of which has been put at six in media reports - is still pending.

"The issue regarding the jurisdiction of the court and whether or not to have further suspects is complicated," said Helen Jarvis, an Australian working for the tribunal.

The government has denied meddling in the court, but rights activists have long suspected Hun Sen does not want it to dig too deep for fear it will unearth secrets about senior Khmer Rouge figures inside his administration.

Hun Sen, 58, joined the Khmer Rouge during their 1970-75 guerilla war against the US-backed government of General Lon Nol. He rose to be a junior commander and lost an eye in fighting just before the rebels took the capital, Phnom Penh.

He has said he defected to Vietnam in mid-1977 and played no part in Pol Pot's bloody agrarian revolution, in which an estimated 1.7 million people, or a third of the population, died.

Vietnamese troops invaded in late 1978 and installed a communist government made up mostly of former Khmer Rouge cadres including Hun Sen, who became premier in 1985.

Analysts said Hun Sen's opposition to expanding the tribunal's work may reflect his concerns former Khmer Rouge commanders will flee back to the jungle and fight any move to arrest them.
Pol Pot's death in 1998 was followed by a formal Khmer Rouge surrender that helped usher in a decade of peace and stability, threatened now by the global economic downturn.


.

PM hopes for improved media ties with Cambodia

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(31-03-2009)

HA NOI — Viet Nam’s and Cambodia’s information agencies should uphold their roles toward increasing mutual understanding between the two nations, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said yesterday.

At a meeting with the Cambodian Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith in Ha Noi, the PM urged the two information ministries to continue to boost their co-operation in exchanges of working delegates, share experiences, personnel training and investment in facilities for media, which would contribute to the development to the two countries.

He said the traditional friendly and co-operative ties between Viet Nam and Cambodia were a valuable asset to be maintained and developed sustainably for the happiness of the two countries’ people.

The Vietnamese Party, State and people always attached great importance to friendship and co-operation with Cambodia and would do their best to expand the relationship to in all fields to benefit the two sides, Dung said.

Minister Khieu Kanharith thanked Dung for his welcome and suggestions. He also thanked the Vietnamese Party’s and State’s aid to the Cambodian information sector.

He said he hoped the co-operation would be fostered under the framework of the agreements signed between the two sides for the development of the sector and the two people’s interests.

Also yesterday, the Prime Minister welcomed former German counterpart Gerhard Schroeder.

This is the third time the former prime minister has visited Viet Nam in the role of a consultant of economic groups from Germany and Europe.

Dung said he highly appreciated Gerhard Schoeder’s visit and his contributions to boost bilateral friendship, He said he was delighted the relationship between the two countries had been well developed in fields such as economics, culture, education, health and technology.

However, the co-operation in the economic field had not matched the two countries’ potential and strength and he recommended the two sides foster co-operation more efficiently to the greater benefit of the two people.

Dung said he hoped that as a consultant of some German and European economic groups, Gerhard Schoeder would encourage more investment in Viet Nam and promote activities to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the two countries’ diplomatic relations next year.

Schoeder said the visit aimed to implement German investors’ projects in Viet Nam and promote investment co-operation between the two sides for the celebration.

Dung and Schoeder also discussed measures to cope with the world economic crisis and some specific co-operation projects between the two countries. — VNS

Cambodia's PM Hun Sen may misunderstand Thai FM

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By The Nation
Thai Foreign Ministry on Tuesday denied that Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya did not insult Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sun by calling him a gangster during the recent censure.

Foreign Ministry's spokesman Tharit Charungvat said Hun Sen may misinterpret and misunderstand.
The spokesman was referring to an AFP report from Phnom Penh which quoted Hun Sen as blasting at Kasit for allegedly insulting him by calling him a gangster.
"He insults me -- he has called me a gangster," Hun Sen said of the foreign

minister.

"What if I insult your king? What would you say if I insulted your prime

minister and your ancestors? I'm not angry with you, but please use dignified

words," Hun Sen was quoted as saying in AFP.

Tharit said Hun Sen might misinterpret Thai dialect of which Kasit called him "Nak Leng" (tough man).

The word has a positive meaning, rather than defamation, Tharit said noting that the ministry would clarify to Hun Sen through diplomatic channel later.

Prime Minister Hun Sen made such statement in the context of borer conflict as he warned Thai troop not to invade Cambodia's territory any more.

Cambodian officials said last week some 100 Thai troops briefly entered the areas adjacent to the Hindu temple of Preah Vihear where border skirmish erupted in October last year.

"I tell you first, if you enter (Cambodian territory) again, we will fight.

Thetroops at the border have already received the order," Hun Sen said at a

Ceremony to open a road named after him in the seaside resort of

Sihanoukville.

"I am the leader of Cambodia who was elected by the will of the people, not by robbing power," he added, in an apparent reference to Thailand's current political instability, according to AFP.

Spokesman Tharit said Thailand believed that peaceful means and negotiations would resolve border dispute.

Thai-Cambodia Joint Commission on Demarcation for Land Boundary would meet April 6-7 to continue discussion on boundary settlement. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva would visit Cambodia April 18.

March 30th 1997 grenade attack: twelve years on, still no justice for victims

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Phnom Penh (Cambodia), 30/03/2009. People looking at a photograph exhibit showing demonstrators in the middle of the grenade attack.
©Vandy Rattana

Ka-set

By Duong Sokha
30-03-2009

About a hundred people gathered in front of the former premises of the National Assembly in Phnom Penh on the morning of Monday March 30th to commemorate the grenade attack which claimed the lives of sixteen demonstrators twelve years ago. Next to families of victims and members of the main opposition political formation in Cambodia - the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) - Phnompenhers joined the march for this now traditional ceremony organised before the stupa for victims of the March 30th 1997 grenade attack.

Students, workers, moto-taxi drivers, journalists… They were all demonstrating peacefully in favour of the reform and independence of justice in Cambodia, with Sam Rainsy, who was back then the president of the Khmer National Party, when four grenades were thrown in the middle of the crowd and killed sixteen people on March 30th 1997. Twelve years on, portraits of the innocent victims were displayed not far from the stupa erected to their memory, while photographs taken just after the attack were on display on hoardings and were the bloody evidence of the horror suffered by demonstrators.

Ly Neary, the mother of Chet Duong Daravuth, a journalist and doctor killed during the demonstration, was the first to speak in front of thirty monks and the hundred participants at the twelfth anniversary ceremony. The family representative insisted on reminding the audience of the long time victims’ relatives had been waiting. Twelve years later, they are still demanding justice and want the authors of the murders to be identified and prosecuted. “Again, I urge the Cambodian government to reopen the enquiry over those murders in order to find the real murderers and the people behind the attack, and bring them to justice. I also urge the American Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to publish the results of their investigation so that we, families of victims, can have the possibility of clearly knowing the identity of criminals and the people behind that”, Ly Neary declared. She insisted that the sacrifice of demonstrators in favour of democracy should not be vain, and that impunity in Cambodia should end.

Insisting on the fact that many of the demonstrators injured or killed during the attack were from a modest background, leader of the opposition Sam Rainsy said he was convinced that one day, victims and their families would be given justice. “Two reports exist on that case: one by the American Senate, the other by the FBI. The first one, which was made public, points at prime Minister’s [Hun Sen’s] bodyguards. And, despite the fact that the FBI report has not yet been published, four American journalists, some of whom work for the renowned Washington Post, were authorised to take notice of them: it appears that, like the American Senate report, it points at the prime Minister’s bodyguards”, the opposition leader said in front of journalists after the ceremony. He said he trusted the implementation of the principle of justice by the administration of American president Barack Obama.

During the ceremony, held in the presence of John Willis - the representative of the International Republican Institute (IRI) in Cambodia -, the SRP leader and deputy for the Kampong Cham province stressed that the former IRI director, the American Ron Abney, who was present at the demonstration on March 30th and was injured by fragments of grenades, recently had to have a foot amputated due to secondary consequences.

Sam Rainsy also established a connection between the attack and current events: “Thirty years ago, the Khmer Rouge slaughtered nearly two million inhabitants. And today, thirty years later, the trial of Duch, the former director of the Tuol Sleng prison, is opening. One day, criminals and people behind [this attack] will be prosecuted to”, he said. The SRP president mentioned the universal competence of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, most likely, according to him, to try criminals of all nationalities like those who committed and planned the attack.

Reached by phone, the spokesperson for the National Police of Cambodia, Kiet Chantharith, asserted he was not in a position to tell what was going on with the results of the enquiry made by Cambodian authorities and simply said that an ad hoc commission was set up back then. “I am not a member of that Commission. And since I took up that position, I have never heard anyone [at the national police general commissariat] mention that case. And I do not pay attention to it”, the police general commented.

SRP marks grenade killings

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Photo by: TRACEY SHELTON
Opposition leader Sam Rainsy lights candles during a ceremony marking 12 years since the March 30, 1997, grenade attack.

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Sebastian Strangio and Vong Sokheng
Tuesday, 31 March 2009
HUNDREDS turned out for a commemoration Monday marking the 12th anniversary of the 1997 grenade attack that left at least 16 dead and more than 100 injured during a peaceful opposition rally in Phnom Penh.
During a two-hour ceremony held at the commemorative stupa marking the site of the attack near the former National Assembly, participants lit incense and laid wreaths next to photos of 13 of those killed, while lawmakers and victims' relatives issued calls for fresh investigations into the still-unsolved case.
SRP President Sam Rainsy, who was injured and whose bodyguard was killed during the 1997 rally, slammed the government for its inaction but expressed hopes that investigations conducted by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation would succeed where it had failed.
"The criminals must not be hidden by the powerful," he told the crowd. "I believe the Obama administration has clear principles of justice [and] we hope that the US can send the people behind the grenade attack to jail."
Ly Nary, who lost her journalist son Chet Doung Daravuth in the attacks, appealed to the government to continue its investigations and said she looked forward to seeing the attackers in the dock.
"We should take [such] impunity away from our society," she said in a speech.
"We have waited for 30 years to see leaders of the Khmer Rouge face trial, so we will continue to wait [for progress on the grenade attack]."
But Peo Heng, 62, whose daughter Yung Soknov and niece Yung Srey were killed in 1997 after joining the rally to demand higher wages for garment workers, was less confident time would reveal the perpetrators of the attack.
"Twelve years on, there remains no justice," she told the Post. "My daughter and niece did nothing wrong. They just participated in the rally to call for an independent court and demand a salary rise."
On March 30, 1997, four grenades were thrown into the crowd at a rally held by the opposition Khmer Nation Party, killing and injuring scores of bystanders.
While the results of a subsequent FBI investigation of the incident have never been made public, Sam Rainsy said a copy of the report leaked to Washington Post reporters pointed to the involvement of Brigade 70, Prime Minister Hun Sen's personal bodyguard unit.
He expressed confidence that while the Cambodian government had not managed to find the killers, a new era of international legal norms could bring the country's entrenched impunity to an abrupt end.
"The President of Sudan, who is currently in power, is afraid to leave his country, and he will be arrested if he visits any European countries," he told journalists after the ceremony, referring to the leader's recent indictment by the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
"This trend will come to Cambodia."
Sustained impunity
Other observers who spoke with the Post agreed the government had demonstrated no clear commitment to the case.
"I think the fact that 12 years have passed since the grenade attacks and the government has yet to launch an independent investigation or make a single arrest is a clear indication that impunity continues to plague Cambodia," said Sarah Colm, a researcher for Human Rights Watch.
Colm added that some of the figures suspected of involvement in the attacks, including the head of Brigade 70, had since been promoted by the government, describing the appointments as a "slap in the face" for the victims.
"Rather than going after the perpetrators of political violence or human rights abuses, some of the very [military] units and people alleged to have been involved in the attacks are this year being promoted," she said.
While the trials of senior Khmer Rouge figure Duch, which reconvened Monday, was a vital step in the erosion of the Kingdom's culture of impunity, Colm said it was vital that ongoing violence and intimidation was also "promptly and fairly" addressed.
"These more recent crimes are not isolated incidents," she said.
SRP spokesman Yim Sovann agreed, saying the party would continue holding an annual commemoration on March 30 until the attack's "perpetrators and masterminds" were brought to justice.
"There is no political will or commitment to conduct a serious investigation," he said.
"With the assassinations of political opponents or union leaders, they always make up another story to cover up the truth."
Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith could not be reached for comment Monday but told the Post last week that the government was still conducting investigations with the help of the FBI, and that three suspects had so far been identified in connection with the attacks.
"As long as we can wait, we will try to shine a light on the perpetrators," he said.
However, US embassy sources said the FBI had closed its case and was "not able to reach a conclusion" as to the perpetrators of the attacks.
"We extend our sympathies to the families of the victims of the attack and note with regret that the perpetrators of the attack have not been brought to justice," embassy spokesman John Johnson said by email.
"The victims and their families deserve justice, and we urge the Cambodian government to make every effort to solve this case."

Govt key to lower internet prices

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This map of Cambodia’s fibre optic network shows the country is reliant on Thailand and Vietnam for its internet access. Planned extensions to the network are also shown, one of which will travel through Laos and connect to Yunnan province in China. A submarine cable is also planned to link Cambodia to the Asia-America Gateway. graphic courtesy national ict development agency

The Phnom Penh Post
Written by Nathan Green
Tuesday, 31 March 2009
Government plans to connect to the Asia-America Gateway may improve internet reliability, but local service providers are worried the new connection may still carry a high price tag
Cambodia is one of the most expensive countries in the world when it comes to using broadband, according to a recent report by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
In its latest ICT Development Index report, Cambodia ranked as 125 out of 154 countries in the costs of using broadband internet, and one of only 30 where the cost of broadband exceeded monthly per capita gross national income.

According to the report, which was based on 2007 pricing, broadband prices were 201.2 percent of monthly national income, compared with 6.3 percent in Thailand and 25.8 percent in Vietnam.
And it is not just the poor who are hit hard by high prices. Ted Perrein, managing director of Conical Hat Software, said the cost of broadband access was one of the biggest obstacles businesses faced in Cambodia.
"Reliability is all right, but the pricing is an issue. It is one of the big disadvantages of working in Cambodia, but most companies incorporate that into their business plan."
ITU spokesperson Ivan Vallejo said inadequate infrastructure and the lack of a competitive environment to foster the emergence of several internet service providers (ISPs) was a key reason for high broadband prices in most countries.
In Cambodia, the lack of competition is not an issue, at least at the ISP level, said Gary Wong, chief marketing officer at Online, one of Cambodia's largest ISPs. While exact numbers are hard to come by, around 37 ISP licences have been issued, and around 10 major ISPs are operating.
"Cambodia is a very price-sensitive market but we have to be prudent," Wong said. "Everyone is going into a price war at the moment, but if they sacrifice quality, then what happens next? We cannot go below our costs - we are not a charity."
To cut costs, the company was looking to invest more in its infrastructure to boost its contention ratio, or the number of subscribers it can provide service to for every megabyte of bandwidth it purchases from wholesalers. But Wong said efforts would be futile without government commitment to making prices cheaper to ISPs on the wholesale market.
Better links
Key to this was the greater cooperation with neighbouring countries through the Asian Development Bank-funded Greater Mekong Region Superhighway and developing a link to an international gateway to put pressure on operators in Vietnam and Thailand to offer cheaper access.
Cambodia currently relies heavily on bandwidth from these two countries, and that reliance comes with a hefty price tag. While wholesale prices within Vietnam are around $400 for every two megabytes per second of bandwidth, ISPs in Cambodia must pay between $1,300 and $1,400. A year ago, before reforms in Vietnam boosted competition, they were paying between $2,000 and $2,300. By comparison, the same bandwidth costs around $110 in Singapore and $50 in Hong Kong.
Mao Chakrya, director general of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, said the government and donors were investing heavily in upgrading and expanding the country's fibre-optic backbone and linking into the superhighway. As a key part of that, a new fibre optic link through Laos to China's Yunnan province is due to be connected in May, and planning had begun for another link from Kampong Cham to Vietnam, connecting at Smach on the border.
"We are working and fighting to reduce the price for voice and internet," he said. "Right now, as you see, we don't have a submarine cable into an international gateway so we rely on the prices set by telcos in neighbouring countries."
Chun-Wai Mah, sales director at Alcatel-Lucent Cambodia, which recently won a contract to build a nationwide mobile WiMax broadband network for CHUAN Wei (Cambodia), agreed that Cambodia was at the mercy of other countries when it came to broadband prices. "Cambodia needs its own international gateway out of the country," he said
"By having one you could really reduce dependency on telcos in other countries and help reduce the price so mass consumers are able to access the internet."
Respite is on the way, with local firm Telcotech winning a bid in 2007 to link Cambodia via a submarine cable to the Asia-America Gateway, a cable system connecting Southeast Asia to the US that will allow Cambodia to bypass neighbouring countries and connect directly to the World Wide Web.
But Sok Channda, CEO of the ISP AngkorNet, said the link would improve reliability of service by providing another link, but she was pessimistic about how much impact it would have on prices.
"It depends on the government," she said. "If they control the link, how much will they charge us is the big question."
The government's track record on pricing was cause for concern, she said, with transmission charges on the fibre-optic cable on the Cambodian side of the border, controlled by state-owned Telecom Cambodia, a major component of broadband prices.
ISPs must not only pay for transmission charges from the border to main centres, but also to connect customer premises to the nearest hub, and those hubs to AngkorNet's data centre. ISPs must pay Telecom Cambodia $15 a month for every connection to a customer's premises, a significant portion of the total bill charged to customers.
AngkorNet was building its own fibre-optic network to bypass the government, but that would take time and significant capital expenditure, she said.
"We are trying to bring down the price so that all Cambodians can access the internet as we need this for our development. We have already brought down the prices a lot from three years ago when we first started, and I hope we can bring it down more. But lower prices need to come from the government."

Changing Cambodia's attitudes to computers and e-government

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Photo by: BRENDAN BRADY
Phu Leewood has been involved in Cambodia’s communications infrastructure since 1993.

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Brendan Brady
Tuesday, 31 March 2009

Phu Leewood, the secretary general of the National Information Communications Technology Development agency (NIDA), talks to Brendan Brady about the challenges the country faces in developing, and using, a robust information network.

How did you come to be involved in development of the ICT sector in Cambodia?
I left Cambodia in 1979, ended up in a refugee camp in Thailand and then went to Seattle in the United States. I came back to Cambodia in 1993 after the UNTAC elections and worked as an adviser for the Ministry of Commerce. Back then, people did not have literacy with computers so I provided computer training to people working at the ministry. My background was in computer science. I studied at Spokane University in Washington.

What was the ICT situation when you returned?
In 1979 people were just coming back to Phnom Penh to find their relatives. It was about survival. When I came to Cambodia in 1993, there were no computer skills. The Ministry of Commerce back then had 4,000 employees. I said, we don't need 4,000 people; we need maybe 40. What we need is a network connecting the department.

When did the government start investing in this network?
After the formation of the National Information and Communication Technology Development Authority, NIDA, in 2000 we started to implement IT development. In 2001, we implemented the GAIS [Government Administrative Information System] project, which included the import of about 1000 PCs for government offices.

There was resistance with government staff - people were afraid computers would take over their jobs. We had to change a lot of mindsets. We had to explain the computer will not take away your job, it will help you do your job better.

For the new generation, it's easier. But for the legacy workforce, we've had problems. For the older people, it is difficult to learn this new system.

What is the purpose of e-government?
People can get information about the government online. This information was not readily available in '93. Now, it's at your fingertips: information about each ministry and their contact numbers. But it's true more must be done by ministries in the future to put more information online. There is also a system that includes vehicle and real estate registration for revenue collection purposes. Before there was no way to track stolen vehicles. But now police on the street can radio a plate number back to an office to get information on who is the owner. There also have been problems with fraud of land titles. Once all that information is logged into a computer, it will solve a lot of problems.

Can e-government help reduce corruption?
Once information is online, everyone can know that information, so it's harder to take advantage of someone.

When information is not available, it is easier for people to make unreasonable demands.

How is internet changing lives of Cambodians?
Penetration of the internet is really affecting the lives of younger people. Now they have information from around the globe at their fingertips. It is changing education by offering education services online. In terms of information, youth are updated on world news.

Providing internet services in rural areas is very expensive but necessary. What is the government's strategy here?
This will be the burden of the government. We are planning on having connections to all schools, and from schools they will provide a telephone-based connection to the local area. This can happen after we connect rural government offices to the backbone.

What progress has been made on connecting rural government to the backbone?
Right now we have a connection for the central government only. The connection to the provincial offices will come soon. Some provincial offices have internet, but most do not. The moment we connect the backbone onto the access network of provincial offices, then they will be online and connected to the central government information sharing system. This should happen within the year.

All the main government offices within a province are connected to each other, but they need to be connected to the backbone. Once we achieve that, all provinces will be online and their systems will be connected and they will be connected to the central government. We have completed the access networks; it is now a matter of connecting them to the backbone.
We created three data centres - one in Phnom Penh, one in Siem Reap and one in Sihanoukville - and these data centres will act as a hub for surrounding provinces.

The growth of internet tends to push the limits of a society's attitudes towards acceptable media images. Cambodia has recently experienced tension over government-directed blocks of the reahu.com website.

This is quite a difficult issue because the technology is moving faster than the law. The technology is moving across boundaries faster than the law can address. This is a blurred line between freedom of information and cultural preservation. This blurred line will be defined; the internet law will be introduced soon.

For me, I was educated in the US, this is freedom of information, this is the expression of the artist. But what's attractive advertisement in the US may be pornography in another country.

Who will decide on content and what rules will be used?
We are working on it now. NIDA will be the sole agency in drafting this law. If you look at existing practice in the US, there is a blurred line as well: What is the line between attractive advertising and pornography?

The internet law will be based on other laws, as well. The criminal code needs to be passed first to define punishment under the internet law. We are working on the internet law now. We've been working on it for a few years, and we will have it soon after the Criminal Code passes.

Rural kids disconnected from ICT access

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PHOTO COURTESY UNESCO
Rural schoolchildren learn to use computers.
The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Robbie Corey Boulet
Tuesday, 31 March 2009

The high cost of technology means ICT education is making slow progress to the provinces

As the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport continues work on a master plan to incorporate ICT into schools nationwide, officials are grappling with how to best reach rural provinces, which are markedly less connected than their more developed counterparts.

Sun Lei, education program specialist for Unesco, which is working with the ministry to develop the Master Plan for ICT in Education, said recently that she expected it to be finished "sometime in 2009". But she said efforts to encourage the use of ICT in rural schools had been hindered by the limited nature of knowledge about ICT's benefits, as well as a pervasive lack of infrastructure.

Financial limitations, too, have proved a considerable barrier, she said.

"ICT is very costly," she said. "At this point, I think it'd make more sense to mobilise resources from the civil society and the private sector [rather than rely on government funds]."

Progress made in bringing ICT to rural schools has been slow, a point borne out by a 2006 Unesco report that assessed ICT access in seven provinces: Banteay Meanchey, Kratie, Mondulkiri, Oddar Meanchey, Preah Vihear, Ratanakkiri and Stung Treng. The study concluded that "very few schools" were using ICT in the classroom; that ICT training was needed for both teaching and non-teaching staff; that access to computers was quite low; and that girls were being "disproportionately" affected by the urban-rural digital divide.

Sun Lei said this report, produced between 2004 and 2006, had provided the most recent relevant data, though she said there was little reason to believe the situation had improved since then.

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The greatest challenge lies in equitably sharing the benefits of economic growth.
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The ICT in education effort mirrors the broader push to promote ICT in rural areas, according to industry experts, who said in recent interviews that the Kingdom has a long way to go before it can achieve universal ICT access.

Ken Chanthan, president of the ICT Association of Cambodia, pointed to a handful of needs that have yet to be met, including a pro-ICT policy framework, infrastructure investments, the translation of applications and content into the Khmer language, and widespread education and training.

Eric Lim, project director for Gateway Communications, singled out financial resources as the biggest hurdle.

"There has been a lot of talk of using ICT to increase the telecom infrastructure, but it's a very slow process," he said. "In outlying areas, for example, it becomes very difficult because it is a very costly affair."

Benefits to Cambodia
Ken Chanthan said ICT expansion would bring a range of benefits to the provinces, improving everything from education to government to business.

"The community-driven use of information communication technology has the potential to help underserved citizens throughout the world to learn new skills, find new opportunities and improve their lives," he said via email.

In particular, he said, ICT could help businesses become more efficient, collaborate with other firms and expand market research efforts to better understand their customer base.

Lim said expanded ICT in rural areas would also aid government officials based in Phnom Penh. For instance, in an incident such as last year's conflict over Preah Vihear temple, the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of National Defence could have a live feed directly to the fight, he said.

Wisal Hin, poverty reduction unit leader for the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), said Cambodia's ability to meet its poverty targets would depend on its ability to diversify the economy in just this manner.

"Agriculture will continue to be one of the main drivers of the Cambodian economy...but will not provide sufficient growth on its own," he said.

In remote rural areas, the poverty rate was 45.6 percent in 2004, according to the 2005 interim assessment of Millennium Development Goal progress published by the Ministry of Planning.

"Since more than eight of every 10 Cambodians reside in rural areas, the greatest challenge lies in equitably sharing the benefits of economic growth, centred mainly in urban areas, with those rural communities," Wisal Hin said.

Google zooms in on epidemics

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Photo by: SOVANN PHILONG
The InSTEDD team in Phnom Penh use new technology to detect impending epidemics.
The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Geoffrey Cain
Tuesday, 31 March 2009

Mobile phones and Google Earth may hold the key to a coordinated approach to the world’s worst epidemics, according to researchers currently undertaking field trials in Cambodia

Bird flu outbreaks continue to swoop on communities today, and while officials have managed to contain the disease, some responses have been uncoordinated, shortsighted and bungled.

And that's why techies are using Google Earth to predict where an outbreak will hit next.

To better coordinate responses to outbreaks, Innovative Support to Emergencies, Diseases and Disasters (InSTEDD) is developing artificial intelligence and text messaging technologies for humanitarian workers.

Cambodia is its first test site.

"I've repeatedly seen coordination failures put people and plans at risk, even when everyone involved was professional, dedicated, well-meaning and working very hard," said Eric Rasmussen, CEO of InSTEDD, in an email from California.

The San Jose-based NGO, funded by Google.org and the Rockefeller Foundation, started its first field laboratory in Cambodia in May 2008.

The group is also holding field trials in Mongolia, Ghana and Bangladesh. Speaking in Phnom Penh, Eduardo Jezierski, vice president of engineering and former Microsoft software developer, said the group was learning from the past.

"We're ... taking lessons from [Hurricane] Katrina and Banda Aceh [the 2004 tsunami], and trying to improve response to disasters," he said.

When a disaster hits, InSTEDD's artificial intelligence software can instantly coordinate several computers with different information, averting the red tape that so often hinders a speedy response.

"Different groups have different information, and the [computer] systems rarely talk to each other. Sometimes the data is outdated or incorrect," Jezierski said.

"This century's challenges will transcend categories, so we need to improve coordination," he added.

Evolving response to epidemics
Among the group's projects, the team in Phnom Penh is developing a software called Evolve, which detects impending epidemics by monitoring satellite maps and the media reports, said Taha Kass-Hout, adviser to InSTEDD.

Then, algorithms suggest the disease's means of spreading - food-borne, water-borne or other - and advises the best course of action.

"The great thing about Evolve is that we can zoom in on a region and source of the disease," Kass-Hout, a former physician at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the US, told IRIN.

"Traditionally, this takes a lot more time, during which the disease can spread into a full-blown epidemic."

Evolve is now undergoing field trials with the World Health Organisation and the government and is to be released this summer.

The Cambodian lab is also testing GeoChat, a text-messaging program that pinpoints disease cases on a map when relief workers report them from their mobile phones.

With the technology, a command centre can quickly forge a unified response against an epidemic or disaster.

The organisation is working with the Ministry of Health and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) to test the technology, set for release in May.

Designing the technology in the environment in which it is to be used, rather than a computer laboratory, was one of the keys to success, said Karl Brown, associate director of the Rockefeller Foundation.

"The fact that several of their tools are first of a kind, in that they don't really fit into any existing category of emergency response or public health surveillance tools is proof that they really did design the tools around the problem versus trying to mould the problem to existing tools."

Putting theory into practice

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Photo by: Sovann Philong
A Cambodian IT student comes to grips with the reality of the workplace.

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Eleanor Ainge Roy and Hor Hab
Tuesday, 31 March 2009

Cambodia produces too many IT graduates every year for the limited jobs available – and many lack the hands-on experience the sector needs
CAMBODIA's universities are pumping out more graduates than its information technology sector can absorb.

While the exact number is unknown - the Ministry of Education does not release full figures - the Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP) alone has produced around 500 IT graduates each year since 1997. Norton, Build Bright, Setec and Pannasastra universities also offer IT courses.
Ouk Chhieng, head of the computer science department at RUPP, said only 25 to 30 percent of IT graduates would find full-time work while a further 20 percent would be employed in temporary or part-time positions.
Those lucky enough to find a job were far from the finished product, said Erya Houn Heng, president and CEO of First Cambodia. "They need a lot of guidance in a real working environment and usually require one to two years' training before they can be considered efficient workers."
First Cambodia employs about 180 people in Laos and Cambodia, all drawn from local universities. It recruits around 30 new employees each year, picking just three or four out of every 100 it sees. While the average starting salary for a new employee is $150 per month, experienced workers can earn anywhere from $200 to $4,000 for senior managers.
Norton University graduate Min Phannarak works for software development company Arocore. Incredibly, or perhaps typically, when he enrolled to study IT he didn't even know how to turn a computer on.
He said his degree had not prepared him for work in the sector, and with no computer at home it was difficult to practice his skills.
"At university you learn the theory of software, but you don't know how it works - you are just told that you will need it in the future," he said.
But he was one of the lucky ones, he said. Most of his fellow graduates were unemployed or worked at computer shops for $80 to $100 a month.
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They are like rough diamonds that have not yet been polished.
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Arocore CEO Kit Hargreaves, who employs 13 Cambodians, said finding qualified graduates was difficult, particularly as no universities or schools in Cambodia taught Flash, a common development program.
Most of Arocore's Cambodian staff did manual database work as their skill levels were still low, Hargreaves said.

"We actually only have a couple of guys I can trust to be really good programmers."
He said a lack of intuition about computers and applications stemmed from inadequate teaching and the fact that few Cambodians had grown up around computers.
"What they learned in school - how to type code in theory or how to follow instructions in a book - isn't what makes a good programmer," he said.
"What makes a good programmer is being able to apply old technologies or established bits of code in a new and intuitive way, which is something Khmers have a long way to go in grasping."
Sous Sakal, business development manager at software design firm Blue Technology, said Cambodian programmers needed more practical work experience.
"I think local universities produce quality students; [but] they have not yet had the opportunities to develop to their full potential," he said.
"They are like rough diamonds that have not been polished."

Serial killer myth hits Siem Reap

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Photo by: Michael Fox
Curious onlookers gathered outside the house of the Siem Reap "killer family" who are said to have murdered dozens. Police have denied the reports.


The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Michael Fox and Peter Olszewski
Tuesday, 31 March 2009

SIEM REAP

Rumours of a family of mass murderers near Siem Reap have turned a quiet town into a popular attraction, but police say reports have exaggerated what really took place in Arak Svay.

RUMOURS of dozens of bodies buried in a backyard in a village near Siem Reap have spread through the city and made the home at the centre of the claims a macabre attraction.

Police, however, have dismissed the two-week-old rumours and said the case was almost complete.
The reports claimed that a family was using its beautiful daughters to lure moto drivers to a grisly death at a remote house in Arak Svay village, about 15 minutes from the city centre. The number of murders was rumoured to be as high as 90.
Sightseers were still arriving by car, tuk-tuk and motorbike on Monday; and a neighbour, Noum Coun, told the Post there had been a constant stream of visitors for over a week.
A local man, who would only give his name as Phamma, went to the house with a group of friends to find out for himself.
"I heard information from everybody and wanted to see the house and see the area," he said.
Vendors were also selling refreshments to visitors outside the house.
The small home now has a hand-written sign on the locked gate warning people to keep out.
Police said the gates were locked and guarded over fears that the now vacant property would be ransacked.
Curious crowds have also turned up at Angkor Pyong Yu on successive Sundays following rumours that a "bad family" of serial killers would be displayed in cages at the entertainment park and that there was a display of human remains that had earlier been sold as dog food.
People even turned up at the Siem Reap prison to buy tickets to view the family in their cell, but prison officials said tickets were never on sale and the family had been moved to the province's new prison.
Police said that only one person had been murdered and three people robbed. Three of the five alleged killers, all related, are now in custody.
Police arrested Keo Sophay, 48, and her two sons Chea Sophealy, 26, and Kong Samedy, 17, according to Rasmey Kampuchea. The two daughters are still on the run.
Deputy police chief of Siem Reap district Mak Sam On said the reports grew as they were passed on.
"There was only one man killed, Ream Rith, who was a friend of one of the family members, and he was killed on Valentine's Day. We found his body early in the morning of February 15 at Pyong Yu," he said, adding that the alleged killers were arrested on February 22.
Angkor Thom commune police chief Yom Yat told the Post on Friday that the victim had delivered flowers to the home on Valentine's Day before heading into Siem Reap with one of the daughters. When the duo returned to the house at 1pm, the man was killed with a machete.
Yom Yat said that the following morning people alerted police to a body in the bush at Pyong Yu, and when police investigated, they found the remains wrapped in linen.
The dead man's family identified the body and informed the police that the victim was last known to be visiting the girl in Arak Svay village.
Originally denied entry to the home, police returned with a warrant and found the stolen motorbike, hair from the victim and a bloody machete.
Mak Sam On would not speculate on a motive for the murder and said that as far as police were concerned, the issue was nearly complete.
"Our investigation is almost over as three people have been charged with premeditated murder and motorbike robbery and are now in jail.
We are continuing to look for the daughters."

I won't allow war to restart

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The Straits Times

March 31, 2009

PHNOM PENH - CAMBODIAN Prime Minister Hun Sen on Tuesday warned that his country would be plunged back into civil war if the current UN-backed Khmer Rouge genocide court pursued more suspects.
Mr Hun Sen, himself a former low-level commander for the communist movement, made his comments as the tribunal's first trial heard the regime's prison chief express remorse for his crimes.

Another four senior Khmer Rouge members are also being held by the tribunal but the Cambodian co-prosecutor has opposed pursuing six more suspects on the grounds it could destabilise the country.

'I would like to say that I prefer for this court to fail... I won't allow war to re-occur in Cambodia,' Mr Hun Sen said at the opening of a street named after him in the seaside town of Sihanoukville.

'It is my absolute position. So please try these few people (already in detention),' added Mr Hun Sen, who himself has never been implicated in any of the regime's crimes.

'For example, if we try 20 more people... the country will erupt into war killing hundreds of thousands of people. Who would resolve this problem?'

The Khmer Rouge were ousted by Vietnamese-led forces in 1979 after nearly four years of iron-fisted rule during which up to two million people died, but continued to fight a civil war until 1998.

The arrest of Khmer Rouge prison chief Duch - the first of five former regime leaders due to face trial - has been lauded by rights groups, but there have been allegations of interference by Mr Hun Sen's administration.

As judges mull whether to open cases against other Khmer Rouge members, the administration has been accused of trying to protect former cadres who are now in government.

After Duch's trial, the court plans to prosecute former Khmer Rouge ideologue Nuon Chea, head of state Khieu Samphan, foreign minister Ieng Sary and his wife, minister of social affairs Ieng Thirith. -- AFP

Cambodia: 1997 Grenade Attack on Opposition Still Unpunished

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The attack on Sam Rainsy and his supporters remains an open wound in Cambodia, but neither the government nor Cambodia's donors are doing anything to hold those responsible to account. The perpetual failure to address this crime has made March 30 ‘Impunity Day' in Cambodia. This anniversary, on the day the Khmer Rouge trials is beginning, shows how far Cambodia has to go toward holding human rights abusers accountable.

Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

Suspects in Attack Have Been Promoted Instead of Prosecuted

Human Rights Watch

March 30, 2009

(New York) - Twelve years after a grenade attack on an opposition party rally that killed at least 16 people and wounded more than 100, the Cambodian government has still taken no steps to bring the perpetrators to justice, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch criticized the recent promotions of officials suspected of involvement in that attack.

On March 30, 1997, about 200 supporters of the opposition politician Sam Rainsy gathered in a park across the street from the National Assembly in Phnom Penh to denounce the judiciary's lack of independence and judicial corruption. In a well-planned attack, four grenades were thrown into the crowd, killing protesters and bystanders, including children, and blowing limbs off street vendors. An FBI investigation concluded that Cambodian government officials were responsible for the attack.

"The attack on Sam Rainsy and his supporters remains an open wound in Cambodia, but neither the government nor Cambodia's donors are doing anything to hold those responsible to account," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "The perpetual failure to address this crime has made March 30 ‘Impunity Day' in Cambodia. This anniversary, on the day the Khmer Rouge trials is beginning, shows how far Cambodia has to go toward holding human rights abusers accountable."

On the day of the grenade attack, Prime Minister Hun Sen's personal bodyguard unit, Brigade 70, was, for the first time, deployed at a demonstration. The elite military unit, in full riot gear, not only failed to prevent the attack, but was seen by numerous witnesses opening up its lines to allow the grenade-throwers to escape and threatening to shoot people trying to pursuing the attackers.

Rather than punishing the people who ordered and carried out the grenade attack, the government has handed out high-level promotions to several known human rights abusers in Cambodia's armed forces and national police - including at least two linked to the 1997 attack.

The commander of Brigade 70 at the time, Huy Piseth, who ordered the deployment of Brigade 70 forces to the scene that day, is now undersecretary of state at the Ministry of Defense. Hing Bunheang, who was deputy commander of Brigade 70 at the time and who threatened to kill journalists investigating the case, was promoted to deputy military commander of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) in January 2009.

"Handing out promotions to people implicated in massacring peaceful demonstrators is a slap in the face for the victims," said Adams. "This seems to be an intentional message from Hun Sen - that those who do his bidding will be promoted, no matter how egregious their acts."

Six other deputy military commanders face serious allegations of human rights abuses and were also promoted in January. These include Military Intelligence Chief Mol Roeup and Military Police Commander Sao Sokha. Like the commanders of Brigade 70, these men are close confidants of Hun Sen who have been implicated in abductions, torture, and extrajudicial killings.

The failure to pursue those responsible for the 1997 attack is part of a widespread pattern of well-connected perpetrators evading justice. Some examples include:

On September 4, 2008, Mean Sokchea, a RCAF major working in Brigade 70, shot dead 21-year-old waitress Put Samphors at a restaurant in Kandal province. Mean Sokchea, in a drunken stupor, fired his gun and apparently mistakenly hit Put Samphors in the stomach. She was taken to a hospital but later died of her wounds. Mean Sokchea was detained by the police overnight but was then released, allegedly after intervention by Hing Bun Heang. Put Samphor's family received US$2,700 from Mean Sokchea, and the police told them that their daughter was shot while authorities were chasing robbers.

On the night of January 16, 2003, a street youth named Prak Sitha was beaten to death at the Ministry of Interior (MOI) headquarters after he was arrested and detained by off-duty MOI officers on suspicion of theft. His body - bearing numerous injuries to the head, torso, arms, and legs - was dumped at a Phnom Penh pagoda the following morning by ministry officers, in violation of police regulations regarding deaths in custody. No criminal charges were filed in connection with this death. In December 2004, the case was cited by the UN secretary-general's special representative for human rights in Cambodia - who stated that Prak Sitha died at the ministry "following beatings by a known police officer" - as an example of a "consistent and continuing pattern of impunity" in Cambodia.

On December 5, 1999, Tat Marina, age 16, was severely disfigured in an acid attack in Phnom Penh. The attack was allegedly committed by Khun Sophal, the wife of a senior government official, Svay Sitha, because she was angry her husband had a sexual relationship with Tat Marina. Neither Khun Sophal nor those suspected of being her accomplices in the attack were brought to justice. Intense media publicity compelled the Phnom Penh Municipal Court to issue an arrest warrant for Khun Sophal for attempted murder, but the police claimed that they could not locate her, although journalists reported that she was living at home as usual.

While the Cambodian police and courts regularly allow well-connected or financially able criminal suspects to escape prosecution, the justice system is also routinely used by the government to lock up its political opponents who have committed no crimes. For example, on March 20, 2009, Tuot Saron - former Sam Rainsy Party commune chief in Kompong Thom - was convicted on charges of kidnapping and illegal confinement, although no credible evidence was put forward by the prosecution (http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2008/03/22/cambodia-opposition-officials-arrested-sway-elections). On February 19, the Appeal Court upheld the murder conviction of Thach Saveth, who is serving a 15-year prison sentence for the 2004 murder of a trade union official, Ros Sovannareth, despite the government's failure to produce any credible evidence against Thach Saveth.

Human Rights Watch said that the Cambodian judiciary's lack of independence will impact its ability to provide fair and impartial justice in the trials of former Khmer Rouge leaders, being carried out with a mix of Cambodian and international judges.

"The political control of Cambodia's courts is the main reason so many Cambodians and observers are concerned that the trials of Khmer Rouge leaders will lack credibility," said Adams. "In this way, Cambodia's tragic history and troubled present are deeply connected."

The Phnom Penh Post News In Briefs

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In Brief: New energy task force

Written by Hor Hab
Tuesday, 31 March 2009

PRIME Minister Hun Sen last month signed a decree approving an interministerial technical task force to manage oil and gas revenues, a government publication obtained on the weekend said. The task force has been selected from nine ministries along with the Cambodia National Petroleum Authority and the Council for the Development of Cambodia, the Royal Gazette said. The new body will study other countries in writing legislation on management revenues, it added.


In Brief: IBC elects committee

Written by George McLeod
Tuesday, 31 March 2009

THE International Business Club of Cambodia has elected a new executive committee for 2009, it announced late last week. The board is headed by Bretton Sciaroni, partner at Sciaroni and Associates, with John Brinsden from ACLEDA Bank as vice chairman. For 2009, the IBC plans to focus on publicity, increase representation at the World Economic Forum and boost activity in the Government Private Sector Forum. It added that attracting new businesses amidst the economic crisis will also be key. "Cambodia is still a very attractive business climate," said Sciaroni.


In Brief: Hanoi road works to be finished soon

Written by Chhay Channyda
Tuesday, 31 March 2009

City officials said Monday that the controversial Hanoi Road expansion will be completed in a month. Khoung Sreng, the governor of Sen Sok district, told the Post the expansion had affected 90 families in Teuk Thla and Phnom Penh Thmey communes. "Sixty percent of the 4-kilometre length has been paved," he said, adding that of the 90 affected families, 22 houses had been demolished and those families had already agreed to a 32-square-metre plot of land at Thnot Chrum in exchange.


In Brief: Pagoda to get a charity clean-up

Written by Mom Kunthear
Tuesday, 31 March 2009

Wat Ounalom will benefit from a clean-up project later this week in preparation for Khmer New Year. Up to 100 students, parents, monks and laypeople will clean on Thursday between 3pm and 7pm, said Pou Sovachana, a volunteer teacher at the temple. He said the students at the Buddhism Education for Peace Centre wanted to volunteer to improve the pagoda and said they would tackle other temples at a later date. He said everyone was welcome to help: "Participants need only bring a broom, garbage bags, masks, gloves, a dustpan and most importantly a good heart and a smile."


In Brief: King sihamoni back in cambodia

Written by Neth Pheaktra
Tuesday, 31 March 2009

King Norodom Sihamoni returned to Cambodia on Monday after a week outside the country, said his adviser Prince Sisowath Thomico. The prince would not reveal the purpose of the trip, saying only that it was a private visit to a foreign country. But Agency Khmer Press (AKP) claimed the King had gone to France for a medical check-up.

Slump forces closures in real estate industry

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Photo by: Tracey Shelton
A closed real estate agency office lies unoccupied on Norodom Boulevard on Monday.

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by May Kunmakara
Tuesday, 31 March 2009

With property investment drying up, more than 50 percent of real estate dealers may have already gone out of business, say sector sources

THE real estate downturn has forced mass bankruptcies among the country's property agencies, with the industry reporting that 50 percent of businesses in the sector had gone bust since the crisis hit Cambodia.

"The sector is in deadlock and many companies are going out of business," said Sung Bonna, president and CEO of Bonna Realty Group and president of the National Valuers Association of Cambodia.

He added that bankruptcies would be even higher if unlicensed companies were factored in. He said that 80 companies were licensed nationwide, but hundreds operate illegally.

"Most real estate companies are changing from companies to freelancers to stay afloat," he said, adding that his company has also struggled in the current environment.

"I have no plan to lay off staff ... although income is decreasing," he said, "My company closed last month because we could not afford to pay for staff and other expenses - how can we survive if we don't have income?" said Leng Chanthoeun, marketing manager of Golden Real Estate.

He said that his company was licensed last July, just when the sector began its gradual slowdown during the general election, but tough times continued with the Thai-Cambodian border spat and the global financial crisis, he added.

"It is not only my company that has closed.

"There are a lot more real estate agents who have been bankrupted as well," he said. "However, when the sector recovers, we will resume our business," he said.

Kong Vansophy, the administrative manager of the Real Estate Developers Association of Cambodia (CRDA), said "a lot of property owners are trying to quickly sell their property at low prices".

But other owners are acting as if the downturn never occurred. He said that landowners in Tuol Kork district are desperate for money and have dropped prices from about US$700 to $300 per square metre.

The manager of Say Group Realty, Uk Sophen, said that the downturn had cost thousands of jobs.

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My company closed last month because we could not afford to pay for the staff.
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"We don't have any customers coming asking us to buy or sell property or even asking for information," he said.

"I don't know how we will survive," he said, reflecting fears across the industry. "I think that my company will fold soon."

Sung Bonna blamed the government for waiting too long to help the struggling real estate sector.

"We just want the sector to operate normally," he said.

The government has loosened some real estate regulations and hinted that it has further plans to help the sector.

"The government is trying to deal with the problem - it is under way," said Ngy Tayi, the undersecretary of state at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, and chairman of the Inter-Ministerial Task Force.