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Cambodian prime minister seems bent on stamping out all opposition to his rule


http://www.canada.com/

For 16 years, Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen has worked to dismantle the democratic institutions established by the United Nations in 1993 and to restore the untrammeled power he enjoyed as Vietnam's proxy leader in the 1980s.

By The Vancouver Sun
(Post by CAAI News Media)

For 16 years, Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen has worked to dismantle the democratic institutions established by the United Nations in 1993 and to restore the untrammeled power he enjoyed as Vietnam's proxy leader in the 1980s.

Now, it seems, success is within his grasp.

But his dogged determination to root out even the most insignificant and unthreatening pockets of opposition has led to the publication of three critical reports in the past few days.

At least nine journalists, opposition members of parliament, lawyers and government critics have had politically motivated charges of defamation or the dissemination of disinformation lodged against them in the past few months.

This could be said to be a less drastic fate than has befallen Hun Sen's political opponents in the past. Many have been murdered by unidentified gunmen.

A statement a few days ago from the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Cambodia warned the use of the courts to silence opposition or critical voices "is a serious threat to democratic development which may undermine the efforts of the last 16 years to rebuild a tolerant and pluralistic environment in Cambodia."

In another report, Brad Adams of New York-based Human Rights Watch said: "Through violence, threats and money politics, Hun Sen already controls almost every aspect of Cambodia's politics. Yet his efforts to silence dissent seem endless. Why does he seem to wake up every day looking for enemies to persecute? Will this ever end?"

And the Cambodian Center for Human Rights said in its report, "The actions of the government in the past few months indicate that it is directly and systematically trying to dissolve the main opposition party [the Sam Rainsy Party] by filing unfounded criminal lawsuits against its leaders or forcing its members and supporters to join [Hun Sen's] Cambodian People's Party."

It is a situation full of bleak ironies. Not least of these is that Hun Sen is squeezing the last bit of life out of Cambodia's democratic institutions as, after years of tortuous negotiations, the trials are proceeding of some of the surviving leaders of the Khmer Rouge regime, which murdered about 1.7 million Cambodians in the 1970s.

It was the Vietnamese-led ouster of the Khmer Rouge in 1979 that brought Hun Sen to power.

When he failed to win United Nations-imposed elections in 1993, Hun Sen threatened civil war until he was brought into a coalition with the royalist party government of Prince Norodom Ranariddh.

Hun Sen dissolved that coalition in 1997 by launching a bloody coup, and since then his CPP has won overwhelming majorities in 2003 and 2008 elections.

But these victories do not appear to be complete enough for Hun Sen, whose party now has 90 seats in the 123-seat parliament.

Having disposed of the royalists, Hun Sen has mounted a sustained attack on the main opposition party, named for its leader, Sam Rainsy, which has 26 seats.

Rainsy himself fled into exile in 2005 after accusing Hun Sen of being behind the murder of four Sam Rainsy Party members the previous year. He has returned to Cambodia, but was accused of defamation earlier this year.

Meanwhile, two of Rainsy's members of the National Assembly have had their parliamentary immunity lifted so they can face charges of criminal defamation.

On July 7, the lawyer representing the two Sam Rainsy Party members resigned and defected to the ruling CPP after being sued for defamation by Hun Sen and threatened with disbarment. The parliamentarians have so far been unable to find a new lawyer brave enough to represent them.

In late June, the owner of an opposition newspaper Machas Srok was sentenced to one year in prison on charges of disinformation after publishing articles about government corruption.

The owner of another newspaper, Moneaksekar Khmer, on July 10 closed the paper rather than face criminal prosecution for criticizing government officials.

In an interview with Radio Australia earlier this month, Sam Rainsy Party member of parliament Son Chhay said: "I think we will quiet down for a while. We are not going to raise the issue of corruption. We are not going to speak about land-grabbing. We are not going to talk about the corrupt court system."

jmanthorpe@vancouversun.com

Read Dispatches, Jonathan Manthorpe's blog, at vancouversun.com/blogs

Party insists rights are guaranteed




October 7, 2009
(Post by CAAI News Media)

Modern-day Cambodia is a land of haves and have-nots. There is prosperity among the first group, but those in the second group suffer deprivation and oppression.


A. Gaffar Peang-Meth

Those who could be counted among the "haves" demonstrate some level of allegiance to Big Brother Hun Sen and are rewarded with employment. He controls the primary employment center in the country, the Cambodian People's Party Inc. Those who are less privileged, the "have-nots," are victimized by uniformed authorities who come to evict them from their property, which is awarded to a favored individual or business entity for development.

The haphazard installations of modern infrastructure, tall buildings and expensive villas stand in stark contrast to the scavengers who roam the city's dumps looking for food and the many who live in the open air in rickety shacks with tin roofs. A third of the population lives below the poverty line.

Human Rights Watch describes the situation this way: "The gap has widened between wealthy city dwellers and impoverished farmers in the countryside, exacerbated by large-scale forced evictions of tens of thousands of urban poor, illegal confiscation of farmers' land, and pillaging of the natural resources on which people in the countryside depend for their livelihood."

Most of the country's wealth is generated from trade with countries willing to do business with Hun Sen's government -- the legitimacy of which is very much in question -- to acquire Cambodia's natural resources. Cambodians who don't benefit from these international arrangements rely on NGOs and human rights groups to advocate for them domestically and internationally.

A day before the Sept. 10 public hearing of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission by the U.S. Congress on the violations of human rights and the rule of law in Cambodia, the royal embassy of Cambodia in Washington circulated a statement declaring Cambodia's "democracy and human rights are fully guaranteed by its 1993 Constitution (which) recognizes the freedom of expression and other fundamental rights."

At the hearing, Cambodian lawmaker Mu Sochua told the Commission she was "stripped of my parliamentary immunity and given a criminal conviction for openly criticizing Prime Minister Hun Sen." Sochua affirmed, "My situation is not unique," and warned, democracy in Cambodia "is experiencing an alarming freefall."

But the Embassy noted the existence in Cambodia of 600 newspapers, journals and magazines, 40 radio stations and seven TV stations, and "thousands of civil society organizations, as well as free press and trade unions" -- what more does anyone need to prove Cambodia's commitment to freedom?

A testimony by Human Rights Watch provided to the Lantos Commission: "The U.S. has provided training, material assistance and even awards to military, police, counter-terror units or related individuals with track records of serious human rights abuses."

Eight congressmen wrote a letter on Sept. 18 to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, requesting a response to charges of "serious abuses by members of the Prime Minister's Bodyguard Unit, Brigade 70, Special Airborne Brigade 911 and Brigade 31 of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces."

Three days later, Gates met at the Pentagon with Sen's defense minister, Gen. Tea Banh, who was on a four-day visit "to strengthen cooperation" between the two militaries.

Banh brushed off accusations of rights violations and told reporters of Radio Free Asia and the Voice of America that the congressmens' letter to Gates has "false" information. Yet Banh slipped, saying, "Truthfully, right now, there are a number of (Cambodian army) officers who are refused entry to the U.S."

The Sept. 24 Phnom Penh Post reported Banh as saying that Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg "addressed concerns about human rights issues in Cambodia," but that Banh "clarified that while some concerns are valid, each country has its own law."

Does Cambodia's law differ from the principles embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights or the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights?

University of Chicago law professor Eric Posner's "Think Again: International Law" in the Sept. 17 Foreign Policy Online states: "Governments respect international law only when it suits their national interests. Don't expect that to change any time soon."

Posner writes: "Academic research suggests that international human rights treaties have had little or no impact on the actual practices of states. States that already respect human rights join human rights treaties because doing so is costless for them. States that do not respect human rights simply ignore their treaty obligations."

On Sept. 23, the Voice of America broadcast opposition leader Sam Rainsy's told the Bangkok press club: "Grassroots activists, politicians and village leaders have been killed, jailed, and forced into hiding for disagreeing with the ruling party."

Sen's Council of Ministers' fired back and said Rainsy has no "dignity as a politician." The hundreds of press media and thousands of NGOs working "freely in the kingdom" are in contrast to "accusations by a group of immoral people."

Abraham Lincoln's words are worth recalling: "You may fool all of the people some of the time, you can even fool some of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all the time."

A Gaffar Peang-Meth, Ph.D., is retired from the University of Guam, where he taught political science for 13 years. Write him at peangmeth@yahoo.com.

Groups Caution Government on Judicial Reform


By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
06 October 2009
(Post by CAAI News Media)

Civic groups and opposition officials say the government should not establish a working group to reform the Supreme Council of Magistracy but should instead seek oversight from outside, as officials look to reform the judiciary.

A revamped judiciary is a high priority for many donors, but critics worry the constitution and the balance of powers are not being maintained.

Prime Minister Hun Sen formed the “Assistant Group” in September, to look into Council reform, but 10 of the group members are from the judiciary, and one is from the Ministry of Justice.

The group should “comply with the principal of our constitution, where exist three split branches, executive, legislative and the court,” said Ou Virak, head of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights. “If this legally goes through the National Assembly, I think that’s good and I welcome it.”

A subdecree, suggested by Council Minister Sok San and Dith Monty, chief of the Supreme Court and co-chairman of the Council for Legal and Judicial Reform, aims to aid the functioning of the Disciplinary Council of the Supreme Council, the only body with the authority to investigate disciplinary measures against judges and prosecutors.

The Assistant Group has the power to receive and monitor complaints against jurists and to report to the Disciplinary Council, and to use law enforcement in its mission.

Prior to the group’s formation, Hun Sen had ordered on Sept. 4 the establishment of a joint ministerial committee with 26 members from the police and judiciary, proposed by the Ministry of Interior, to oversee the work of the courts. But this move met with strong opposition from lawmakers who said it was unconstitutional.

In a Sept. 19 report to Hun Sen, Interior Minister Sar Kheng defended the committee’s work, saying it was not overseeing the court but was focusing on criminal cases and other cases in a database, especially human trafficking and sexual exploitation.

Court and police officials have said the courts recently freed suspects that should have been held, including Chea Rotha, a former senior police official accused with accomplices in an acid attack.

“Freeing some of these individuals caused the government unhappiness,” Ou Virak said.

Lawyers who spoke on condition of anonymity said the working group looked better than the joint ministerial working group, but that government institutions already exist to reform the judiciary.

Cheam Yiep, a Cambodian People’s Party lawmaker, told VOA Khmer the 11-member committee would not interfere with the government, but was meant to assist the judicial body.

However, Sam Rainsy Party lawmaker Yim Sovann said the working group was unlikely to be effective and would not earn the confidence of the people and investors.

“I believe that because the present court is under the political influence of the ruling party, what they will do is just for looking good,” he said. “But if you want real effectiveness, it’s not difficult at all, as the recommendations from the international community and some developed countries…have been given already.”

Suy Mong Leang, secretary-general for the Council for Legal and Judicial Reform, rejected such criticism, saying the government moves would not affect the independence of the court but was meant to cooperate with government institutions.

The division of powers between three branches of government does not mean the executive branch can’t cooperate with the court, he said, as long as the executive does not interfere with the court’s work trying cases. Punishment would be up to the court, not the executive, he said.

Suon Sareth, executive secretary of the Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee, which comprises 21 prominent rights groups, said that in his view, the government wants to reform the judiciary, but it should only provide technical, legal and financial assistance for an independent institution.

“If we talk about the government policy in general, the government promotes the judicial field in Cambodia,” he said. “The government wants the judicial sector in Cambodia to proceed smoothly and well. This is what we see generally, in a positive sense.”

But the formation of an Assistant Group for the Disciplinary Council, he said, “I think that’s a bit excessive, and I see that it will affect the procession of the judicial field in Cambodia…a little bit in the negative sense, even though I understand that the government has a good willingness to help promote the judicial sector.”

A secretariat for the Supreme Council of Magistracy, which had a similar function for the judicial working group for the Assistant Group, was dissolved by the government several years ago. The government said the body had not functioned well and was a drain on the national budget.


Agriculture Key to Overcoming Crisis: ExpertAgriculture Key to Overcoming Crisis: Expert


By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
06 October 2009
(Post by CAAI News Media)

Of Cambodia’s main economic earners, it is not tourism or garments that will help it through the economic crisis, but rather agriculture, a leading Cambodian economist said Monday.

“What we have seen and learned from the world crisis is that the agricultural sector should be focused on as an economic target,” said Kang Chandararoth, head of the Cambodia Institute of Development Study, as a guest on “Hello VOA.”

A policy to set up a reserve fund for agriculture is the “pressing issue,” he said. Agriculture was Cambodia’s “gateway to growth.”

Tourism, garment export and construction have all been hard hit by the global economic downturn, with orders for clothing down, number of visitors diminishing and a depressed real estate market.

Kang Chandararoth said that if China’s growth was forecast at 8 percent next year, Cambodia could follow.

“If China can compete with the world and continue with industrialization, then China will bring us more garment work, and we will have benefits from China too, as a subcontractor,” he said.

Cambodia remained behind Vietnam, which “has a real plan and multiple goods to export,” he said. “Not like Cambodia, which does not have so many goods it can export.”

Vietnam’s growth was 4 percent, though Cambodia’s economy could decline 3 percent, he said.

Infant Saved After H1N1 Claims Mother

By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
06 October 2009
(Post by CAAI News Media)

Cambodian health authorities operated to save the life of a premature child taken from its 25-year-old Cambodian mother, who died of H1N1 flu on Tuesday, officials said.

She was seven months pregnant, and officials at Calmette hospital saved the child through a cesarean operation, Minister of Health Mam Bunheng told reporters.

"The baby is lucky after doctors operated on its mother," he said. "The baby was born healthy."

The woman's death brings the toll from the disease to three in Cambodia, with an estimated 120 infections. A 47-year-old Cambodian man died of the virus, sometimes called swine flu, on Monday.

"We should strengthen people's health, because the epidemic of sine flu virus is fast," Mam Bunheng said.

The World Health Organization estimates more than 340,000 confirmed cases of A H1N1 worldwide and more than 41,000 deaths.

Police, FBI Bust Seven in Major Drug Raid



By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
06 October 2009
(Post by CAAI News Media)

Cambodian police working with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested seven people and seized 16 kilograms of heroin, following three months of investigation, officials said Monday. Police also found counterfeit US dollars in the Oct. 2 raid.

“In the operation, we did an investigation and tracked [the suspects] down for almost three months, with the support of the FBI representative in Cambodia,” said Chhay Sinarith, chief of the Interior Ministry’s security department.

Suspects were arrested in Phnom Penh and Stung Treng province. The raid included the arrest of Lam Sokha, a suspected trafficker who has been arrested and released in recent years, police and court officials said.

The seven suspects were sent to Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Monday and would be questioned by prosecutors this week, officials said.

Police said the heroin moved through neighboring countries through Stung Treng, which borders Laos.

The discovery of heroin, crystal methamphetamine, or “ice,” drug production and counterfeit money made the raid a major case, Chhay Sinarith said.

The US State Department praised Cambodia for its anti-drug efforts in 2009, but said the country faces increasing problems of consumption, trafficking and the production of dangerous drugs.

The State Department warned that crackdowns on trafficking in Thailand and China had made Cambodia an attractive route for traffickers, while internally, use of amphetamines, including ice, was escalating.