Angkor corruption alleged Meas Sokchea and Bridget Di Certo

Monday, 12 March 2012

An anonymous group on Saturday filed a corruption complaint with the Anti-Corruption Unit against senator Sok Kong’s Sokimex company’s management of the Angkor Wat temple complex.

TOURISTS VISIT BAYON TEMPLE IN SIEM REAP PROVINCE LAST YEAR. WILL BAXTER

The complaint, dated March 10, alleges Sokimex has siphoned the majority of funds recouped from tourist entrance fees to the world heritage site and that the contract between the government and Sokimex is “irregular” and lacks transparency. “If [ACU head Om Yentieng] does not take legal action and investigate, this means that [Om Yentieng] and Prime Minister Hun Sen are leaders who are as corrupt as [Sokimex] too, it is like a proverb saying ‘a toad selling ringworm medicine’,” the complaint states. Om Yentieng could not be reached for comment yesterday, but ACU spokesman Keo Remy welcomed the complaint filed by anonymous people and guaranteed that despite the anonymity of the complaint, an investigation would ensue if it was worthy. “Take action or not take action, normally [we] know [our selves] what to do. I guarantee our work is very good,” he said, declining to comment any further until he had “received and read the complaint himself”. Cambodian People’s Party senator Sok Kong, also director general of the Sokimex Company, could not be reached for comment yesterday. Bun Narith, general director of APSARA Authority, which oversees conservation efforts at the Angkor Wat temple complex, dismissed the allegations as baseless. “Law experts prepared the contract and there were also IMF representatives participating in making the contract [between the government and Sokimex],” Bun Narith said. When asked how much revenue Sok Kong’s company gains per annum from Angkor Wat,

Bun Narith declined to comment in detail, but said that in 2011, both shareholders in Sokimex and the government received more than US$40 million.

Budget dry for cases 003, 004 Bridget Di Certo

Monday, 12 March 2012

The drafters of the Khmer Rouge tribunal’s 2012-2013 budget have made no time or monetary allowance for any trials in government-opposed cases 003 and 004, documents published on Saturday reveal. The Trial Chamber is expected to hand down the final verdict in Case 002 by 2016, with all appeals finalised by 2018, at which point the tribunal would cease operations and close down, the current budget projects. The 2012-2013 budget anticipates that the Office of the Co-Investigating Judges, which is now investigating cases 003 and 004, and the Pre-Trial Chamber, which hears appeals relating to investigations, will be “phased out” in about one year’s time. “The reduced workload level … projected for both the Pre-Trial Chamber and the Office of the Co-Investigating Judges in 2013 … will result in the phasing out of the [Pre-Trial Chamber] and the [Office of the Co-Investigating Judges] from the middle of 2013,” the budget document states. Last month, UN-nominated international reserve Co-Investigating Judge Laurent Kasper-Ansermet resumed investigations in Case 003 after they were closed by his international predecessor and current Cambodian counterpart in April 2011. In the opinion of the international Pre-Trial Chamber judges, Kasper-Ansermet has a green light to continue investigations in controversial Case 004. Kasper-Ansermet has allegedly begun informing the suspects in cases 003 and 004 of the charges against them. Public affairs officer at the tribunal Neth Pheaktra said he had “no information” yet about if and when there would be time and monetary budget revisions to allow for trials in cases 003 and 004. “It is too early to comment on this yet,” Neth Pheaktra said, adding that the court’s administration was responsible for drawing up the budget and making the timing projections. The budget states that Trial Chamber judges are expected to hand down the verdict in the first mini-trial in Case 002 concerning the April 17, 1975, evacuation of Phnom Penh, by the end of 2013. “On this projection, a first verdict could be expected by the end of 2013 while the last verdict [in Case 002] may be issued in 2016,” states the budget document, which was approved by donors at a meeting in New York in February with the condition it could be revised if allowances for cases 003 and 004 were insufficient.

The budget states the court is expected to run until 2018. The Case 002 time projections allocate two years to hear charges against the trio of Khmer Rouge senior leaders regarding their involvement in the evacuation of Phnom Penh. Three years have been allocated to hear all the remaining Case 002 charges including genocide, forced marriage, forced labour sites, detention and security centres and other Khmer Rouge policies allegedly causing the deaths of about two million Cambodians. Anne Heindel, legal adviser at the Documentation Centre of Cambodia, told the Post it would be difficult to take to trial all the remaining crimes in the Case 002 indictment in just three years. “It sounds to me that they are budgeting for one more trial and that is all,” Heindel said. “[The projected timeline] raises questions about how they are going to proceed and what parts of the indictment they are going to leave out.” A 2018 closure of operations, however, was “politically realistic” she added. “No one has the will or the funding to want this court to go very much past that.” <div>Please enable JavaScript to post a new comment</div>

Duch detention: Prison home still in air for S-21 chief

Bridget Di Certo and Meas Sokchea

Monday, 12 March 2012 Co-prosecutors at the Khmer Rouge tribunal have taken the first step in enforcing the life sentence against S-21 chief Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, after the highest court of appeal at the tribunal handed down the final verdict against him last month. Co-prosecutors have requested the Ministry of Interior continue detaining Duch at the detention facility until he has testified in Case 002, which is rumoured to be happening as early as next week. Kuy Bun Sorn, director general of the Ministry of Interior’s General Department of Prisons, and the co-prosecutors must then agree on an appropriate prison for Duch to serve his life sentence. Kuy Bun Sorn would not comment on whether it was more likely Duch would be incarcerated in a national prison or remain at the ECCC Detention Facility. “In fact, [for] this question, co-prosecutors are the answerers,” Kuy Bun Sorn said before hanging up.

Evictees seek criminal charges Khouth Sophak Chakrya

Tuesday, 13 March 2012

About 50 Borei Keila evictees gathered outside Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday to again pressure officials to lay criminal charges against Suy Sophan, the owner of development firm Phan Imex, for destroying their homes and breaching an agreement to build them new ones.

FORMER BOREI KEILA RESIDENTS RALLY OUTSIDE PHNOM PENH MUNICIPAL COURT YESTERDAY. MENG

KIMLONG

The former Borei Keila residents were evicted from the site on January 3 as Phan Imex employees, backed by local authorities, demolished about 300 homes. Chum Ngan, the representative of the Borei Keila evictees, most of whom sleep in stairwells at Borei Keila, told the Post it was the third time they had lobbied the court to take action against Suy Sophan, whose company had agreed to build them homes as part of an agreement made in 2004. “We filed a civil complaint on February 13 and filed our first criminal complaint on March 6, but the court has not yet responded by taking any action,” she said. Another Borei Keila resident, Sou Im, 58, said the court needed to hold Suy Sophan responsible for her employees bulldozing homes and destroying property, as evictees clashed violently with police. “The court must take appropriate measures and act on our complaints in the most just way,” she said. Hong Bunhour, the court’s chief clerk, instructed the villagers to stay calm and to return to where they were staying yesterday. He would inform them at a later date whether the court would take action against Suy Sophan, he said, adding the court was looking into the civil complaint.

Phan Imex agreed in 2004 to construct 10 six-storey buildings that were to house 1,776 families on two hectares of land at Borei Keila in exchange for the right to develop another two hectares. The company has completed only eight of the buildings and has sent remaining families to relocation villages on the outskirts of Phnom Penh or in Kandal province. Phan Imex has begun building on land where the ninth and tenth buildings were to go; however, it is believed they will not be for the evictees.

Illness strikes Borei Keila evictees Khouth Sophakchakrya

Monday, 12 March 2012

Woes continued for 26 relocated former Borei Keila residents, who fainted after vomiting and suffering diarrhoea at Tuol Sambo Village in Dangkor district’s Prey Veng commune on Saturday.

A GIRL DRAWS WATER FROM POTS IN TUOL SAMBO VILLAGE YESTERDAY. ABOUT 26 PEOPLE FELL ILL AFTER

CONSUMING BEAN SPROUTS AT THE SITE. PHA LINA

Khum Khern, village chief of Tuol Sambo, told the Post that most of the villagers who had fainted were children under 10. Food poisoning caused by contaminated bean sprouts was the most likely cause, but heat may also have played a part, he said. “The many villagers who fainted were transported to the referral hospital in Choam Chao commune, Samdech Ov, and the Cambodia-Russia Friendship Hospital,” he said. “All of them have recovered and returned home, except for Tum Sreymao, 61, who is still receiving treatment in hospital.” After leaving the referral hospital in Choam Chao commune, Keov Sitha, 24, told the Post that six members of his family had fainted after eating rice porridge mixed with bean sprouts. He had bought the food for his niece, nephew, brother, mother and wife on Saturday morning. About 30 minutes after they had eaten, they began having stomachaches, diarrhoea and vomiting. “At first, I thought they were sick because they drank water from the well, but I wasn’t

exactly sure,” he said. “After I ate the remaining porridge with bean sprouts, I began suffering the same ill effects as them. I knew then that it was from the food. “Although the well water has a lot of lime flavour to it, our villagers have used it to cook and drink without any problems,” he said. Cheng Savuth, a representative of development firm Phan Imex, said health officials had taken water samples and bean sprouts to be tested, adding a woman who had sold the bean sprouts had fled. “I think she worried about the victims filing a complaint against her,” Cheng Savuth said

Birthday behind bars Bridget Di Certo with additional reporting by Cheang Sokha

Tuesday, 13 March 2012

Accused former Khmer Rouge Social Affairs Minister Ieng Thirith spent her 80th birthday yesterday under the medical treatment and supervision of experts working to improve her mental health and thus her fitness to stand trial.

IENG THIRITH, FORMER KHMER ROUGE SOCIAL AFFAIRS MINISTER, ATTENDS A HEARING AT THE

EXTRAORDINARY CHAMBERS IN THE COURTS OF CAMBODIA ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF PHNOM PENH LAST YEAR. REUTERS

Ieng Thirith was found unfit to stand trial on the eve of the substantive hearings in Case 002 at the Khmer Rouge tribunal, with international Trial Chamber judges opining that she should be released. However, on appeal, Supreme Court Chamber judges ordered she be treated for six months to see if her Alzheimer’s condition improved. She is currently about halfway through this six-month treatment period. Tribunal public affairs spokesman Neth Pheaktra said medical experts ordered to treat her filed a report on February 28, but the report has not been made public. A memorandum from the senior legal officer at the Trial Chamber dated February 15 stated that “the experts performed a comprehensive updated examination of Ieng Thirith on the 2-3 February 2012”. Ieng Thirith has been severed from Case 002, but the charges against her of crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide have not yet been dropped. Ieng Thirith’s lawyers yesterday declined to comment about their client’s condition.

Evictees seek criminal charges Khouth Sophak Chakrya

Tuesday, 13 March 2012

About 50 Borei Keila evictees gathered outside Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday to again pressure officials to lay criminal charges against Suy Sophan, the owner of development firm Phan Imex, for destroying their homes and breaching an agreement to build them new ones.

FORMER BOREI KEILA RESIDENTS RALLY OUTSIDE PHNOM PENH MUNICIPAL COURT YESTERDAY. MENG

KIMLONG

The former Borei Keila residents were evicted from the site on January 3 as Phan Imex employees, backed by local authorities, demolished about 300 homes. Chum Ngan, the representative of the Borei Keila evictees, most of whom sleep in stairwells at Borei Keila, told the Post it was the third time they had lobbied the court to take action against Suy Sophan, whose company had agreed to build them homes as part of an agreement made in 2004. “We filed a civil complaint on February 13 and filed our first criminal complaint on March 6, but the court has not yet responded by taking any action,” she said. Another Borei Keila resident, Sou Im, 58, said the court needed to hold Suy Sophan responsible for her employees bulldozing homes and destroying property, as evictees clashed violently with police. “The court must take appropriate measures and act on our complaints in the most just way,” she said. Hong Bunhour, the court’s chief clerk, instructed the villagers to stay calm and to return to where they were staying yesterday. He would inform them at a later date whether the court would take action against Suy Sophan, he said, adding the court was looking into the civil complaint.

Phan Imex agreed in 2004 to construct 10 six-storey buildings that were to house 1,776 families on two hectares of land at Borei Keila in exchange for the right to develop another two hectares. The company has completed only eight of the buildings and has sent remaining families to relocation villages on the outskirts of Phnom Penh or in Kandal province. Phan Imex has begun building on land where the ninth and tenth buildings were to go; however, it is believed they will not be for the evictees.

Fears of ‘pressure’ on Duch Bridget Di Certo with additional reporting by Cheang Sokha

Tuesday, 13 March 2012

Convicted S-21 prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, is shaping up as a star witness in Case 002, the indictment read out against the three accused senior leaders of the Khmer Rouge regime indicated yesterday.

FORMER KHMER ROUGE S-21 PRISON CHIEF KAING GUEK EAV, AKA DUCH, ATTENDS HIS APPEAL HEARING AT THE EXTRAORDINARY CHAMBERS IN THE COURTS OF CAMBODIA ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF PHNOM PENH LAST

MONTH. ECCC/POOL

However, parties to the case fear that Duch’s continued detention in the same compound as Brother No 2 Nuon Chea, former head-of-state Khieu Samphan and ex-Foreign Affairs Minister Ieng Sary, could damage his testimony against the three. “Our concern is that if he is detained in the same house as the three accused, and we are not sure he is entirely separate, we cannot be sure there is no pressure or interference,” civil party lead co-lawyer Elisabeth Simonneau-Fort said yesterday. Civil party lawyers submitted an “urgent letter” to the Trial Chamber last week expressing their concern that Duch could be coerced or otherwise pressured by Nuon Chea prior to giving testimony against his former boss. Yesterday, the court published additional comments from Nuon Chea’s defence team on the issue denying Nuon Chea “harboured any intent to pressure the witness” and expressed their fears that Nuon Chea’s life was in jeopardy. “[Nuon Chea] fears threats against his life by the hypocrite witness,” Nuon Chea’s defence team’s comments read, referring to Duch. Nuon Chea informed the Detention Facility of his concern about Duch’s possible ill intentions and requested the facility chief to lock his cell in order to protect him from a possible attempt on his life, the former ideologue’s lawyers said. In the indictment read yesterday, Duch states that Nuon Chea was responsible for implementing decisions made by Pol Pot and that Nuon Chea was responsible for military

and security affairs, including the notorious S-21 prison. “The Chairman at S-21as [sic] not me, Duch, but he, Nuon Chea, was Chairman,” the indictment quotes Duch as recalling from a conversation with Nuon Chea after he allegedly became Duch’s direct supervisor. Court officials confirmed Duch will testify in Case 002 next week, and prosecutors have requested he remain detained at the court until after his testimony. Legal affairs spokesman Lars Olsen declined to comment on the filings and said that following the final judgment in Case 001, issued on February 3, Duch had been physically separated from the other detainees and was “not allowed to interact with them”. However, under the general detention rules at the tribunal, detainees are allowed to interact with each other under supervision of guards. Kang Ritheary, Duch’s defence counsel, told the Post yesterday that his client should remain detained at the ECCC facility indefinitely. “He is not under the jurisdiction of the local court, [and] he is an ideal prisoner,” Kang Ritheary said. “Keeping him at the ECCC facility will warm his confidence to continue to cooperate with the court. “I think if Duch is a witness in Case 002, then this will help clear him of the crimes, as it will reveal who are the leaders [responsible for deaths],” he added.

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Gala dinner honours women entrepreneurs Post Staff

Wednesday, 14 March 2012

Women-owned businesses will soon get a boost in Cambodia, with the founding of a new organisation set to nurture female entrepreneurs. The Cambodia Women Entrepreneurs Association (CWEA) will officially launch on March 17, just one week after the 101st International Women’s Rights Day, under the patronage of the Minister of Women’s Affairs at Raffles Hotel le Royal, Phnom Penh. Seng Katakneary, managing director of Sentosa Silk and the newly appointed president of CWEA, said that the group has been two years in the making. “Cambodia’s investment conditions are not easy for any entrepreneur, whether male or female, but it is even more difficult for women because of their traditional role. Moreover, staying at home is also requirement for women in Khmer society,” she said. The association will provide support to women business owners through the provision of business services, networking, and representing women’s common interests to relevant stakeholders, she said. Saturday’s inaugaral Gala Dinner will also serve as a fundraiser for the new organisation. Over 200 invitations have been sent, and among those invited are representatives of various government ministries, foreign embassies, and international non-government organisations, according to Katakneary. Tickets to the event are available to the public for US$45 per person. The organisation is also seeking large-scale sponsors who can contribute between $1000 to $3000. Katakneary said the event is open to all women entrepreneurs operating in Cambodia who are interested in learning more about CWEA’s services, and will include food and a products exhibition, as well as a performance by Cambodian Soprano Bosba Pahn and opera singer Khuon Sethisak. Panh Meng Heang, Bosba Panh’s father, said that for the occasion, the soprano will be performing several Cambodian and foreign songs with her teacher, Khuon Sethisak. “There will also be a song which describes the poor living standard of fishermen in Bak Prea village in Battambang,” said Panh Meng Heang, adding that his daughter has been involved in other charitable endeavours such as raising money to support clean water supply and the purchase of mosquito nets for 300 families in Bak Prea village. Panh Meng Heang noted that Bosba’s performance at the CWEA launch event will serve to highlight the diversity of Cambodian women, and encourage girls to participate in social activities.

CWEA’s Gala Dinner will take place this Saturday, March 17th at 6pm in the ballroom of the Raffles Hotel le Royal in Phnom Penh

Rubber drives agro investment Sieam Bunthy

Wednesday, 14 March 2012

The value of approved agricultural projects in 2011 increased by more than 30 per cent compared to the year before, according to data from the Council for the Development of Cambodia.

CORN DRIES IN THE FOREGROUND AS A WORKER PUSHES CASSAVA INTO A PILE AT A PROCESSING PLANT IN

PAILIN PROVINCE. PHOTO BY HENG CHIVOAN

The CDC approved 24 projects worth US$724.9 million last year, $674 million of which was in rubber plantations. Agro industry and rice milling attracted about $30 million and $19 million, respectively, the data showed. More than 82 per cent of the investment dollars came from overseas. Cambodia’s potential for rubber cultivation, coupled with rising international demand in 2011, led to greatly increased foreign investment in rubber plantations, director general of Rural Development Bank Son Koun Thor said yesterday. The government made rubber a priority sector due to high international prices, he said. Most of the rubber investment came from Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia, business and economics lecturer at the University of Cambodia Chheng Kimlong said yesterday. The investment in rubber jumped about 256 per cent, according to the CDC data. The country saw $189 million in rubber investment in 2010. The bulk of 2010 agricultural investment, or about $352 million, was in agro industry. The government goal of exporting 1 million tonnes of milled rice by 2015 has brought Cambodia’s rice industry international investment, Son Koun Thor said. “In 2010, the government issued a policy to hike the export of milled rice. So investors have invested more in the sector,” he said. The industry still needs about $200 million in capital to purchase, transport and mill the targeted amount of rice, Son Koun Thor said.

Seng Bun Sor, deputy director of the Cambodian Rice Millers Association, said yesterday that capital available to domestic millers were limited, making the last year’s investment crucial to the industry. Although some of the investments represented new competition for the association, Seng Bun Sor said the investment was welcome. “We were not worried about competition with foreign investors here because the country needs more investment in milled rice. Rice millers are lacking standard machinery to mill their rice,” he said.

Toll Group alleged to be leaving rail project Tom Brennan

Wednesday, 14 March 2012

Australian logistics company Toll Group is allegedly pulling out of its 30-year concession to operate the Kingdom’s national railway, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. Citing “reliable sources”, an SMH report said Toll would leave its US$145 million Toll Royal Railway joint venture with Cambodia’s Royal Group of Companies. No reason was given for the decision, and a Toll Group spokesman declined to comment for the article. The Post last month contacted a number of the partners involved in the project amid speculation that Toll Group was frustrated with the pace of the rail’s redevelopment and had decided to leave Cambodia. Officials denied any such claims. Royal Group’s Kith Meng rejected the allegations when reached by phone in late February, and he declined to comment when asked again yesterday about the project. Toll Royal CEO David Kerr last month also denied the claims. “Definitely not true. Toll pulling out has not been discussed.” A Cambodian government spokesman in February said he had no knowledge of Toll’s alleged plans to pull out, and reiterated those claims yesterday. A Toll spokesman in Melbourne repeatedly denied having knowledge of the matter, although a separate official based in Singapore said the company was working on a statement in conjunction with the Cambodian government as to the status of the project. Toll Royal officials yesterday again declined to comment, saying a statement from the parent company was expected later this week or next week.

Factory shooter ‘confesses’ Chhay Channyda and David Boyle

Friday, 16 March 2012

In a shock development, a court official said yesterday deposed Bavet town governor Chhouk Bandith had confessed to shooting three women at a protest last month in a case that has brought international scrutiny to Cambodia’s judicial system.

FACTORY WORKER BUOT CHINDA IS WHEELED INTO THE SVAY RIENG PROVINCIAL HOSPITAL LAST MONTH

AFTER BEING SHOT. PHOTO BY DEREK STOUT

Svay Rieng provincial prosecutor Hing Bun Chea said Chhouk Bandith had confessed to the triple shooting, outside the Kaoway Sports Ltd shoe factory, after going to the court a day early for questioning. Despite the confession, he walked out of court a free man. “I already questioned him this morning. He was accompanied by his lawyer. He confessed to the shooting, but he gave me many reasons for that,” Hing Bun Chea said. “It is my right not to arrest [him]. I don’t see it as important. I investigated in accordance with [my] role and procedures.” On Thursday last week, Svay Rieng deputy provincial governor Men Vibol announced that Chhouk Bandith, the sole supect, had been removed from his position as Bavet town governor to prevent him wielding judicial influence in the case. Bavet town officials have allegedly attempted to buy the silence of all three victims, 21-year-old Buot Chinda, 18-year-old Keo Neth and 23-year-old Nuth Sakhorn, offering between $US500 and $1,000 for them not to press charges. Buot Chinda, who was shot in the chest and went into hiding after filing a complaint against Chhouk Bandith, said yesterday she feared for her safety because he was still free. “I am angry that he has not been arrested while everyone knows that he shot me and others,” she said. Sam Prachea Manith, director of cabinet at the Ministry of Justice, said the decision to

arrest or not was up to the court. “If the suspect has a real address and they [the court] are sure the suspect will not escape and can deposit money with the court, this suspect is not [necessarily] detained,” he said. Chhouk Bandith could not be reached for comment yesterday, and his lawyer, Mao Sam Putheary, declined to comment. Sok Sam Oeun, executive director of the Cambodian Defenders Project, said the prosecutor could technically release the suspect without asking the investigating judge to arrest him if he intended to charge him with battery, a misdemeanour, rather than a more serious crime. “It may be a problem about the interpretation of the law, I think. It also depends on the type of crime,” he said. “It is a problem with the Cambodian legal system. For me, I think if he used a gun, it is what we call physical force. “If he is shooting, even if it is shooting the legs, it can do very serious damage.” Rights groups such as Licadho and the Cambodian Legal Education Centre have repeatedly asserted that the case is a clear example of attempted murder because the gunman shot directly into a crowd of about 6,000 protesters who were demanding improved pay conditions. Last Monday, Hing Bun Chea issued a summons rather than an arrest warrant for Chhouk Bandith, saying he was not convinced by the police report, despite the fact the former governor had been identified by Interior Minister Sar Kheng as the sole suspect. Ou Virak, president of the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights, said the failure of the prosecutor again to seek an arrest was more evidence of corruption in the case, which needed to be investigated. “They [the court] know full well that they are not fulfilling their obligations to the investigations, that the whole thing is a sham and that they’re not trying to investigate because the whole thing is a pre-determined outcome,” he said. “It’s another stark example of the widespread impunity that is going on in this country. It’s a sad state of affairs for the justice system.” A group of 32 rights groups and unions, including CCHR, issued a statement yesterday calling on the government to ensure that Chhouk Bandith’s arrest become a top priority. “Many Cambodian garment workers already live a life of hardship, suffering, poverty and uncertainty. As such, the workers should receive protection and support from the State, not face further victimisation through brutal acts of violence,” the statement said. PUMA, which sources shoes from the Kaoway Sports Ltd factory, has launched its own investigation into the case.

In a statement yesterday, PUMA again urged the Cambodian government to ensure a fair, impartial investigation was conducted, saying its primary concern was the security and safety of the workers.

KR historian won’t make trip Bridget Di Certo

Friday, 16 March 2012

An award-winning historian who has studied, and written extensively about, the Khmer Rouge regime was too busy to appear in person at the tribunal trying the alleged perpetrators of its mass atrocities, prosecutors told the court yesterday. Prosecutors said author and Yale professor Ben Kiernan, who has studied Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge for about 40 years, was too busy to attend the UN-backed tribunal in person until some time in 2013. “We request the chamber to allow his testimony by video link,” senior assistant prosecutor Vincent de Wilde said. “Video link or nothing are the only options before us.” Defence counsel were incredulous at Kiernan’s inability – or unwillingness – to attend the tribunal in person and give evidence. “We don’t see how it is that the gentleman is unavailable completely,” said Michael Karnavas, legal council for former foreign affairs minister Ieng Sary. “He teaches a couple of classes [at Yale University] and the teaching schedule is already online, and he does not have any teaching obligations during the summer period,” Karnavas added. “The question is whether Kiernan is willing to come here, not whether he is able to come here.” Kiernan first came to Cambodia to research the emerging communist party prior to 1975, before foreigners were evicted from Cambodia by the Khmer Rouge. He subsequently returned to visit Thai refugee camps and spent the following decades conducting extensive research on the regime, collecting documents, writing books and articles on the events leading up to, during and after the fall of Democratic Kampuchea. “We are disappointed by his apparent lack of enthusiasm to appear in court,” said Michiel Pestman, defence counsel for Brother No 2 Nuon Chea. Defence counsel for former head of state Khieu Samphan likewise condemned Kiernan’s lack of availability “for an entire year”. “I am somewhat puzzled by the apparent unavailability for an entire year of an individual . . . who has worked for more than 40 years on such a significant event as Cambodian history, and you are the international court designated to examine these facts and the individual does not find the time to attend these needs,” Anta Guisse said. “His physical presence in the hearing is paramount.” Both the prosecution and the civil parties maintained that hearing the expert by video link on a day yet to be determined would be sufficient.

Post story leads to relief for impoverished young girl

Khouth Sophak Chakrya

Friday, 16 March 2012 Twelve-year-old Theng Sreyleak has had a tough life for a young girl – she was born HIV-positive in 2000, lost both parents when she was only three, and on January 3 suffered another blow when she was forcibly evicted from the controversial Borei Keila site along with her aunt and grandmother.

THENG SREYLEAK TALKS TO POST REPORTER KHOUTH SOPHAK CHAKRYA. PHOTO BY MENG KIMLONG

Caught up in one of Cambodia’s more controversial land disputes, Theng Sreyleak and her younger sister had settled in Borei Keila with her aunt and grandmother after her parents had died, and life wasn’t easy. Her aunt and grandmother did their best to support the two girls by selling religious items in O’Russey market, and she was offered anti-retroviral medicine from the National Pediatric Hospital. Theng Sreyleak was also getting some schooling and was in grade-five while her sister was in grade-nine. Things weren’t perfect, but the two orphaned sisters were living reasonably well with their aunt and grandmother – until their forced eviction from the Borei Keila site, which has turned into one of Cambodia’s more controversial land disputes. Their house and property were bulldozed by security guards from the Pham Imex company, backed by the municipal police. This poor family of three were then packed off to an open space in Srah Por village in Phsar Chhnang commune in Ponhear Loeu district at Kandal province, where there was no infrastructure, clean water or sanitation.

Theng Sreyleak’s health started to suffer because she could no longer travel into town to get the drugs she needed to stay healthy, so as a follow-up story to the plight of the people evicted I wrote about Theng Sreyleak and how she was suffering from the lack of drugs needed to keep her alive and healthy. She was in poor shape and it was a heartbreaking story. She was living with her sister, aunt and grandmother under a plastic tarpaulin and it boiling hot through the day and at night the mosquitoes moved in. Without her anti-retroviral drugs she had a fever, had developed a rash on her body and was suffering diarrhea. When her story appeared in The Phnom Penh Post, Scott Neeson from the Cambodian Children’s Fund came to her aid and took her in. Now, thanks to the Cambodian Children’s Fund, her small family’s lives have improved dramatically. “Now I feel absolutely delighted because I can have enough food, go to school and entertain with my peers,” she said as she showed off a new dress. Khorn Malin, her aunt, told the Post she was extremely grateful to the Cambodian Children’s fund, which has saved both of her parentless nieces from a life of ongoing hardship. “I have countless words to describe my thankfulness to the Cambodian Children’s Fund for its generosity, especially Mr Scott Neeson, in giving a hand to my family which has suffered great difficulty,” she said. Neeson, who has contributed so many resources and time to provide assistance to thousands of Cambodian children and helped them achieve their goals, told the Post he felt grief-stricken after seeing the article about Sreyleak. “We spent nearly a week searching for her,” he said. For once in Theng Sreyleak’s short life, things have finally taken a turn for the better.

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River widening divides opinions Thik Kaliyann

Friday, 16 March 2012

More than 30 families living near the Siem Reap River in Siem Reap’s Aranh Sakor village have sent a letter to Prime Minister Hun Sen and member of parliament Seang Nam, asking not to be evicted from their land because of the planned widening of the river.

A MAN BEING RELOCATED FROM AN AREA NEAR THE SIEM REAP RIVER STANDS NEAR PARTLY DISMANTLED

HOMES LAST MONTH. PHOTO THIK KALIYANN

Village resident Dy Saroeun, 34, said authorities had measured her land, but failed to provide her with any explanation regarding the purpose or result of the measurement. “We have lived along this channel [of the river] since the Khmer Rouge regime. Why do they want us to relocate if we don’t live on government land?” Dy Saroeun said, adding that she possessed legal documents that proved her ownership of the land. Siem Reap district governor Tep Bun Chhay told the Post yesterday villagers living by the river did not understand the river was being widened to protect Siem Reap town against the effects of flooding and bolster development. “Widening Siem Reap’s river has cost more than US$1 million. That is not a joke,” Tep Bun Chhay said. “We would like to widen the river in a straight line, and that may affect some of those families [living along the river], but we will give them compensation and land.” In their letter to the premier, villagers asked that the river be widened in its current shape, as opposed to the provincial planning authority’s plan to straighten it out during the widening process. However, some of the villagers were not bothered by the idea of moving, as long as the government provided them with fair compensation for their relocation. Resident Seng Sok Heng said she had given authorities permission to measure her land

even though she had no information about the final plans. “We will relocate to a new place if the compensation is acceptable,” she said. Nineteen families have already been relocated after receiving monetary compensation, as well as a seven-by-15 metre plot of land