Saturday, 6 March 2010

U.S. Cracking Down On Child Sex Tourism In Cambodia

http://thegovmonitor.com
via CAAI News Media

Source: by John Morton, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
Posted on: 5th March 2010

By any measure, Cambodia has come a long way in a relatively short period of time.

Since its full independence in 1953, this nation of now 14 million has endured two distinct and lengthy conflicts, and dictatorial regime that – between 1976 and 1979 – annihilated at least 1.5 million Cambodians through execution, forced servitude, and malnourishment.

Cambodia is a democracy today, but serious problems remain.

Child sex tourism in Cambodia is a persistent, pervasive practice that threatens the most vulnerable in this developing country. In recent years, the Cambodian National Police, international partners, and a number of non-governmental organizations have worked to crack down on pedophiles from around the world, arresting and prosecuting these criminals while working to rescue and rehabilitate the abused.

I am proud to say that the agency I lead, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), is at the forefront of this emerging issue, and aggressively pursues Americans who travel overseas to abuse children. Millions of children fall prey each year to sexual predators, and these young victims are left with permanent psychological, physical, and emotional scars. Many American criminals clearly believe they can evade detection and prosecution by committing child sex crimes overseas. They are wrong.

My visit to Cambodia seeks to strengthen our ongoing cooperation with the Cambodian National Police. Earlier this week, we signed a Letter of Intent to solidify the working relationship between our two law enforcement agencies to combat child sex tourism. This agreement seeks to develop a bi-national, coordinated, and intelligence-driven investigative response to the sexual exploitation of children by U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents.

There is no more poignant reminder of the critical nature of these investigations than a neighborhood outside Phnom Penh, known simply by its distance from the center of town – “Kilo 11.” There, predators from around the world prey on young boys and girls amidst the shocking poverty of a Cambodian slum. Accompanied by our Cambodian Police partners, we walked down narrow streets and dark alleys where we saw firsthand the extreme circumstances that lead some families to sell their children to these criminals – many of them from Western nations.

Not long ago, ICE agents assisted in arresting an American man for abusing a six-year-old child in a ramshackle blue hut, set deep in this labyrinthine neighborhood. This individual was eventually returned to the United States and is currently standing trial for charges stemming from his arrest in Cambodia.

These types of cases are extremely challenging to investigate and prosecute, but we owe it to these young victims to take action. Tragically, many of these children will bear the emotional and physical scars of this trauma for the rest of their lives.

The United States would not be able to successfully prosecute these cases without the assistance of our international partners.

John Morton is the Assistant Secretary U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

Lawmaker’s Parliamentary Immunity Renewed

via CAAI News Media

By Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
05 March 2010

The National Assembly on Friday renewed parliamentary immunity for an opposition lawmaker who was absolved of criminal charges last year.

Sam Rainsy Party lawmaker Ho Vann’s immunity was reinstated at the request of the Ministry of Justice, five months after his September 2009 acquittal of disinformation charges in a suit filed by senior military officials.

“The suspension was very quick and surprising, but the return was very late,” Ho Vann said Friday. “I think I was victimized at the time my parliamentary immunity was suspended. And when I got it back late, this is the second victimization.”

He had been happy to receive a letter from the National Assembly informing him of the renewal, he said.

Critics have warned that the courts are being used to crack down on dissent, through criminal court cases on charges like disinformation or defamation.

Ny Chakry, chief investigator for the rights group Adhoc, called the renewal a “good sign” for the legislature and for the parliamentary work of Ho Vann.

Meanwhile, the opposition leader himself, Sam Rainsy, and senior party member Mu Sochua both remain without their parliamentary immunity.

Sam Rainsy is in exile and facing a two-year prison term if he returns. The government has filed suit against him for allegedly publishing a false map on his party’s Web site.

Corruption Law Moves to Assembly for Debate

via CAAI News Media

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
05 March 2010

The National Assembly will begin debate next week on an anti-corruption law that was 15 years in the making, with opposition lawmakers and rights groups pointing to weaknesses they say must be addressed.

The National Assembly will convene March 10 to debate the law, which moved from the Council of Ministers Feb 24.

Opposition lawmaker Son Chhay, of the Sam Rainsy Party, said the upcoming date for debate was too soon to allow proper study of the draft.

Donors have pushed for the passage of anti-corruption legislation for years, with the US claiming Cambodia loses $500 million per year to such practices. The announcement of the draft comes following the training of government officials by the US last month.

“Corruption is an obstacle of national economic development, the strengthening of the rule of law, democracy, social stability and poverty,” Prime Minister Hun Sen wrote in a note to the National Assembly accompanying the draft law. “Fighting against corruption is part of government reform for good governance, to strengthen the rule of law and sustainable economic development and poverty reduction.”

The draft law has 57 articles, covering all forms of corruption, for government offices, businesses and non-governmental agencies. It creates an independent Anti-Corruption Council and an anti-corruption unit under the Council of Ministers.

The 11-seat Anti-Corruption Council will consist of political appointees chosen one each by the king, Senate and National Assembly and eight by different executive offices. The president of the council will hold the rank of deputy prime minister. It is mainly an oversight body.

The Council of Ministers’ anti-corruption unit will be led by a senior minister and will investigate corruption allegations and research corruption offenses in ministries, public institutions, government offices and the private sector, according to the draft. The unit will also be in charge of the government’s strategy to fight corruption and will receive complaints.

The draft law requires all government officials to disclose their assets and debts to the unit, including the Senate, National Assembly, the prime minister, military personnel and police. It also requires “the leadership” of non-governmental organizations to disclose their assets. The disclosures are sealed to the public but accessible by the anti-corruption unit “as necessary.”

The draft empowers the court to seize as state property interests and assets of those found guilty of corruption. Maximum jail time on corruption charges would be 15 years.

The draft law has created worries among the opposition and rights groups, who say the Council should not be chosen by political appointment but should include unbiased members.

“We want the Council to comprise independent, neutral, capable and well-known persons to work to fight against corruption,” said Thun Saray, head of the rights group Adhoc.

“This law will be used to pressure and suppress opposition businessmen in the private sector,” Son Chhay said.

Women Extolled as Resources of the Nation

via CAAI News Media

By Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer
Washington
05 March 2010

A women’s rights advocate has called for a change of attitude towards women and make full use of their potential for the country’s development.

Pok Nanda, executive director for Women for Prosperity, said on Thursday it is time to give women a chance and to change social attitudes that say “women cannot be in the limelight or hold a leadership position”.

“This view should be changed and please see women as useful resources for our nation and as competent as men,” she said as a guest on “Hello VOA,” marking International Women’s Day.

Cambodian women and youth still face deteriorating social morality, violence and a lack of access to education, Pok Nanda said.

“Please stop treating women as a commodity or as an entertainment tool,” Pok Nanda said. “The authorities should enforce the law to protect the rights of both men and women.”

She noted that improvements were made in bringing women into local government, with the percentage of women representatives climbing from 8.5 percent in 2002 to 15 percent in 2007.

Cambodia Upstream Oil & Gas Fiscal Regime: 2010 - New Market Report Published


via CAAI News Media

Published on March 05, 2010
by Press Office

Cambodia upstream oil and gas fiscal regime report is an essential source for information related to the upstream fiscal system enacted in Cambodia's oil and gas industry. This report contains information related to various types of payments that are to be made by any oil and gas producing company to the host government. The report provides the most recent laws and tax policies in the country. Each fiscal report is supported by a fully editable and interactive Excel model, where all the fiscal terms are applied on a hypothetical base asset. This interactive Excel model, with the latest fiscal term information, is the most appropriate tool to evaluate the profitability of operating oil and gas fields under the country's fiscal environment.

Scope

- The report provides detailed information on governing laws, licensing authorities, type of contracts and licensing information in country's upstream oil and gas industry.

- The report provides information on the latest fiscal terms applicable in the country's upstream industry. These range from exploration obligations, relinquishments to royalties and taxes.

- Deductions, depreciation and amortization related information is also covered in the report.

- Covers sample cash flows and the methodology to apply a fiscal system on an oil and gas field in the country.

- Base asset valuation with government take, contractor take, gross revenue split is provided in the report.

- Sample asset NPV sensitivities to discount rates are also provided in the report.

- Interactive Excel models can be used to derive valuations, sensitivities and cash flows based on the custom inputs by the user in the model. These custom inputs vary from field production data, cost information, price information and fiscal terms information.

Reasons to buy

- The report provides a detailed scenario of upstream oil and gas laws and their impact on the cash flows.

- The report will allow you to value a prospective investment target through a comprehensive and real-time fiscal analysis and focused methodologies.

- The report with interactive model will enhance your decision making capability in a more rapid and time sensitive manner

- Decide on market entry strategies in specific markets and understand the impact a country's fiscal policies on your future assets.

Cambodia Upstream Oil & Gas Fiscal Regime: 2010:

Cambodia makes Khmer Rouge bastion tourist site: cabinet

Cambodian boys walk by the grave of Khmer Rouge supremo Pol Pot in Anlong Veng district, Oddar Meanchey province, some 454 kilometers northwest of Phnom Penh in 2006. Cambodia's government said on Friday it was designating the final Khmer Rouge rebel stronghold a historic site for international and domestic tourists.(AFP/File/Tang Chhin Sothy)

via CAAI News Media

PHNOM PENH (AFP) – Cambodia's government said on Friday it was designating the final Khmer Rouge rebel stronghold a historic site for international and domestic tourists.

The cabinet approved a sub-decree to "preserve and develop" Anlong Veng in northern Cambodia, the final centre for the Khmer Rouge before the movement was defeated in 1998, a statement by the government said.

Anlong Veng will be made a "historic tourism site for national and international guests to visit and understand the last political leadership of the genocidal regime."

Among the anticipated attractions is the spot where late Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot was unceremoniously cremated under a pile of garbage and rubber tires in 1998, after he was purged from the movement.

Other attractions are a munitions warehouse, homes belonging to former Khmer Rouge cadres, and the fenced-off area where Pol Pot spent his last months under house arrest.

Officials have been planning since 2000 to transform Anlong Veng into a showcase of the communist regime?s final days. The tourism ministry has picked out some three dozen sites of interest in the isolated hilly area.

Prime Minister Hun Sen also asked cabinet officials to compile a guidebook to the area and his "win-win policy" to defeat the Khmer Rouge, the statement said.

Tourism is one of the only sources of foreign exchange for impoverished Cambodia, which is recovering from nearly three decades of conflict that ended in 1998.

The kingdom aims to lure three million tourists annually by next year, and in 2009 attracted more than two million foreign visitors.

Kilo 11

Greetings from Phnom Penh, Cambodia

http://www.dhs.gov/journal/theblog/2010/03/kilo-11.html
via CAAI News Media

Friday, March 5, 2010

By any measure, Cambodia has come a long way in a relatively short period of time. Since its full independence in 1953, this nation of now 14 million has endured two distinct and lengthy conflicts, and dictatorial regime that – between 1976 and 1979 – annihilated at least 1.5 million Cambodians through execution, forced servitude, and malnourishment. Cambodia is a democracy today, but serious problems remain.

Child sex tourism in Cambodia is a persistent, pervasive practice that threatens the most vulnerable in this developing country. In recent years, the Cambodian National Police, international partners, and a number of non-governmental organizations have worked to crack down on pedophiles from around the world, arresting and prosecuting these criminals while working to rescue and rehabilitate the abused.

I am proud to say that the agency I lead, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), is at the forefront of this emerging issue, and aggressively pursues Americans who travel overseas to abuse children. Millions of children fall prey each year to sexual predators, and these young victims are left with permanent psychological, physical, and emotional scars. Many American criminals clearly believe they can evade detection and prosecution by committing child sex crimes overseas. They are wrong.

My visit to Cambodia seeks to strengthen our ongoing cooperation with the Cambodian National Police. Earlier this week, we signed a Letter of Intent to solidify the working relationship between our two law enforcement agencies to combat child sex tourism. This agreement seeks to develop a bi-national, coordinated, and intelligence-driven investigative response to the sexual exploitation of children by U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents.

There is no more poignant reminder of the critical nature of these investigations than a neighborhood outside Phnom Penh, known simply by its distance from the center of town – “Kilo 11.” There, predators from around the world prey on young boys and girls amidst the shocking poverty of a Cambodian slum. Accompanied by our Cambodian Police partners, we walked down narrow streets and dark alleys where we saw firsthand the extreme circumstances that lead some families to sell their children to these criminals – many of them from Western nations. Not long ago, ICE agents assisted in arresting an American man for abusing a six-year-old child in a ramshackle blue hut, set deep in this labyrinthine neighborhood. This individual was eventually returned to the United States and is currently standing trial for charges stemming from his arrest in Cambodia.

These types of cases are extremely challenging to investigate and prosecute, but we owe it to these young victims to take action. Tragically, many of these children will bear the emotional and physical scars of this trauma for the rest of their lives.

The United States would not be able to successfully prosecute these cases without the assistance of our international partners.

John Morton is the Assistant Secretary U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

DAP News ; Breaking News by Soy Sopheap

via CAAI News Media

Cambodian Donors Urged to Condemn Sponsorship of Military" by Private Sectors

Friday, 05 March 2010 16:35 DAP-NEWS/ Ek Madra

PHNOM PENH, March 5 - A UK-based Global Witness on Friday "urged Cambodian donors including U.S, EU, Japan , China and the World Bank, should send a strong message to the government that they will not countenance the bankrolling of Cambodia's military by private businesses", said the release.

But a Cambodian spokesman Phay Siphan denied the statement by the Global Witness as "baseless".

"What the Global Witness showed its position is a wrong one," he said.

"They do not understand our culture and tradition."

"That means the fund raising, which has been called by our Prime Minister recently, was meant for humanitarian causes only such as building health care centers and schools," Phay Siphan told DAP.

But the Global Witness said in the release that the government has said the partnerships will "solve the dire situation of the armed forces, police, military police, and their families through a culture of sharing".

The call follows the announcement last week by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen of the formation of 42 official partnerships between private businesses and Cambodian military units, said the release was seen by DAP.

Global Witness said it is "concerned that this policy officially sanctions an arrangement where businesses get military protection in return for financial backing", said the release.

"A number of the companies named as military sponsors already have track records of using the military to protect their business interests."

Global Witness's 2009 report, Country for Sale, described how the Try Pheap Company used armed forces to guard a mine in Stung Treng Province.

Other high-profile Cambodia n companies allegedly providing sponsorship include the Mong Reththy Group, the Ly Yong Phat Company, and the Chub Rubber Plantation Company.

"Since the end of Cambodia 's civil war, the Royal Cambodia n Armed Forces has operated as a vast organised crime network," said Gavin Hayman , Campaigns Director at Global Witness.

"It is unacceptable for private companies to be financing a military renowned for its corruption and involvement in illegal activities and human rights abuses."

"The arrangement also threatens to undermine the legitimacy of international aid, especially in the case of donors such as the US who are directly funding the military," said the release.

In 2009 the US spent more than $1 million on military financing, education and training in Cambodia.

"Yet again, Cambodia's donors are being mocked by the government's blatant violation of basic governance and transparency standards."

"The existence of a strong patronage system between the military and private business is not new. But what is different and shocking is that it has become official government policy," said Hayman. "Donors should send a firm and decisive message that Cambodia's military exists to protect the people, not the financial assets of a privileged few."

"This fire-sale of military units represents an appalling breach of governance standards and threatens to undermine the country's future stability," said Hayman in the release.

"The donor community has collectively poured billions into the restoration of peace and democracy in Cambodia since the fall of the Khmer Rouge.

Surely they are not going to stand by and allow this to be undercut by a policy of selling off the armed forces to private business interests. This is tantamount to sanctioning a mercenary force," said the release.

Cambodia Transforms Pol Pot's Stronghold as Tourist Destination

Friday, 05 March 2010 12:39 DAP-NEWS/ Ek Madra

PHNOM PENH, March 5 - Cambodia's government approved on Friday to transform the former last stronghold of Along Veng, where the "Killing Fields" leader Pol Pot died, as a country's tourist destination, said the release.

"The government's approval was aimed to preserve and develop the last stronghold of the former Democratic Kampuchea (Khmer Rouge) regime in Anglong Veng as historical site for national and international visitors to learn about the last political movement of the genocide regime," said the release which was seen by DAP.

Prime Minister Hun Sen, who chaired the meeting, is strongly supported the plan which was requested by the ministries of tourism and construction and urbanization.

He also told the officials, who attended the meeting, to gather the relevant evidences about the stronghold to produce a guide book so that visitors would better understand what brought the leaders of the Khmer Rouge regime to commit such heinous crimes in the past, said the release.

Pol Pot died in 1998 in Along Veng after the mass defections of his rebels to the government's side. He was buried there in Anlong Veng in the northwestern province of Oddar Meanchey near the Thai border.

The grave site of Pol Pot has been popular among some locals, especially for the former rebels, prayed before his hillside grave for lucky lottery numbers. Others offered food and flowers for him to bless them the job promotions or beautiful brides.

Some tourists, who were seen in the past, picked parts of the late Pol Pot's broken toilet, even ashes from the burial ground.

The grave is among a slew of Khmer Rouge landmarks in Anlong Veng, where the movement's guerrillas made their last stand in 1998 just as Pol Pot lay dying.

An estimated 1.7 million died of starvation, execution, diseases and forced labor under the regime's bloody rule in 1975- 1979.

Cambodia has two other "Killing Fields" tourist destination: Tuol Sleng, better known as S-21 was established by the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s, in Phnom Penh where more 14,000 people were smashed to death after harsh interrogations.

The S-21 archives showed the fate of the over 15,000 prisoners, who were held during 1975-1979 at the notorious centre through various documents, including 4,186 confessions. An estimated 6,226 biographies of prisoners and 6,147 photographic prints and negatives of prisoners were also discovered at the centre, the former school. All the documents are providing an essential part of the evidence the trial of the Khmer Rouge leaders of the Democratic Kampuchea for their serious crimes under national and international law.

Another The Cheung Ek, is now a genocide museum, is located in Dankoar district, about 15 km from the centre of Phnom Penh. This is the location where the Khmer Rouge took their prisoners for execution. The prisoners were made to wait here for 24 hours before they were killed by a blow to the head after which their throats were slit. Babies were killed by bashing their heads against a tree. There were separate graves for men, for women and for children. Former friends of Pol Pot who were executed here had separate graves too.

Visitors can walk along 86 mass graves from which the remainders of 8,985 men, women and children were unearthed after the liberation of the Khmers Rouges. Some of those skulls, bones and pieces of clothing are now kept in the nearby massive stupa.

There were killing fields all over the country, but Cheung Ek was believed to be the largest.

Every year on the 20th of May a ceremony is held around the stupa to bring peace to the spirits of the deceased.

Duch, whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav, is the first of five detained Khmer Rouge leaders faced trial and his verdict is expected to be announced later this year.

The other four suspects: "Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea, the regime's ex-president, Khieu Samphan, and foreign minister Ieng Sary, and his wife, a former Khmer Rouge woman minister.

 All are being detained and charged with crimes against humanity and grave breaches of the 1994 Geneva Conventions including killing, deprivation and the right to fair trial of prisoner of wars and civilians deportation.

Block Cambodia's military-business ties, donors urged

via CAAI News Media

05 March 2010

Global Witness urges Cambodia’s donors to condemn sponsorship of military units by private businesses

Aid donors to Cambodia, including the US, EU, Japan, China and the World Bank, should send a strong message to the government that they will not countenance the bankrolling of Cambodia’s military by private businesses, said Global Witness today.

The call follows the announcement last week by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen of the formation of 42 official partnerships between private businesses and Cambodian military units. The partnerships will “solve the dire situation of the armed forces, police, military police, and their families through a culture of sharing” according to a government memo.

Global Witness is concerned that this policy officially sanctions an arrangement where businesses get military protection in return for financial backing. A number of the companies named as military sponsors already have track records of using the military to protect their business interests. For example, Global Witness’s 2009 report, Country for Sale, described how the Try Pheap Company used armed forces to guard a mine in Stung Treng Province.

Other high-profile Cambodian companies allegedly providing sponsorship include the Mong Reththy Group, the Ly Yong Phat Company, and the Chub Rubber Plantation Company.

“Since the end of Cambodia’s civil war, the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces has operated as a vast organised crime network,” said Gavin Hayman, Campaigns Director at Global Witness. “It is unacceptable for private companies to be financing a military renowned for its corruption and involvement in illegal activities and human rights abuses.”

The arrangement also threatens to undermine the legitimacy of international aid, especially in the case of donors such as the US who are directly funding the military. In 2009 the US spent more than $1 million on military financing, education and training in Cambodia.

“Yet again, Cambodia’s donors are being mocked by the government’s blatant violation of basic governance and transparency standards. The existence of a strong patronage system between the military and private business is not new. But what is different and shocking is that it has become official government policy,” said Hayman. “Donors should send a firm and decisive message that Cambodia’s military exists to protect the people, not the financial assets of a privileged few.”

“This fire-sale of military units represents an appalling breach of governance standards and threatens to undermine the country’s future stability,” said Hayman. “The donor community has collectively poured billions into the restoration of peace and democracy in Cambodia since the fall of the Khmer Rouge. Surely they are not going to stand by and allow this to be undercut by a policy of selling off the armed forces to private business interests? This is tantamount to sanctioning a mercenary force.”

Notes

1. Global Witness has worked in Cambodia for over 15 years and published 18 reports on corruption within the management of the country’s natural resources. For examples, see www.globalwitness.org

2. The policy of military-business partnerships was first reported in the Cambodia Daily on Friday 26 February in an article titled Businesses Tie Official Knot With Military. For a full list of companies and military units allegedly involved, contact Global Witness.

3. In the 2009 financial year, the US spent an estimated $1,106,000 on Foreign Military Financing and International Military Education and Training in Cambodia, according to the US Department of State’s Executive Budget Summary: Function 150 & Other International Programs Fiscal Year 2011, accessed at

Global Witness investigates and campaigns to prevent natural resource-related conflict and corruption and associated environmental and human rights abuses.

Cambodia's campaign to clear capital of poor and homeless draws fire


via CAAI News Media

By Brendan Brady

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — At night in Cambodia's capital, parks once populated by sex workers fell silent. Streets and abandoned lots in the center of Phnom Penh where drug addicts and homeless slept lay empty. The city's underbelly had been washed away.

Then reports of abuse emerged. Sex workers said police had detained them for weeks, taking the cash they had on hand and raping them — even those who protested by saying they had HIV. There were accounts of government facilities where drug users, street kids and the mentally ill were beaten and starved. Rights workers reported a security crisis for the groups they served, and a facility was shut down after they and the U.N. raised concerns.

That was more than a year ago and the uproar has since eased. Now, a new report has put the government's street sweep campaign front and center again.

In a report released Jan. 25, Human Rights Watch describes a climate of "sadistic violence" in the government's drug rehabilitation centers. Drug users face beatings and arduous forced labor, while being deprived of effective treatment for their addiction, the watchdog group says.

"He had three kinds of cable … he would ask you which one you prefer. On each whip the skin would come off and stick to the cable," the report quotes a 16-year-old identified as M'noh as saying.

In its own study, the World Health Organization found a nearly 100 percent relapse rate in people coming out of the government's drug rehabilitation facilities. "This is a common approach globally," says Graham Shaw, a technical adviser for the World Health Organization in Cambodia. "It's cheap and easy and it allows the government to show the public that it's responding to drug dependence problems amongst the population, but it doesn't provide a solution."

The facilities are presided over by a mix of authorities, including local government offices, the Social Affairs Ministry as well as civilian and military police. Human Rights Watch says officials running the rehabilitation centers profited by renting out detainees as laborers and by selling blood they forced detainees to donate. More than 2,000 people were detained in 11 of these facilities throughout the country in 2008, the vast majority involuntarily, according to the group.

"The real motivations for Cambodia's drug detention centers appear to be a combination of social control, punishment for perceived moral failure of drug use and profit," says the report.

The report sheds light on the government's controversial use of holding centers for drug users, homeless people, sex workers and beggars — who are often rounded up before national holidays and visits by foreign dignitaries, when the capital is on display. Rights groups have long called for the closure of such facilities, citing frequent allegations of violence and forced detention, and questioned the effectiveness of the treatment programs they supposedly offer.

The issue came into the spotlight in 2008, after the government launched a contentious law that outlawed prostitution. In the months following the law's implementation, police carried out a series of raids on brothels and street-based prostitution that rights groups said gave police free rein to rape and rob sex workers they detained. They say the law has done little more than drive prostitution deeper underground, making sex workers more vulnerable to trafficking and pushing them further away from the public health groups that have been instrumental in curbing the country's HIV/AIDS rates.

"This sort of 'cleaning' the streets of undesirable people has been happening for a long time, but there's been more attention towards it recently," said Mathieu Pellerin, who works with the local rights group Licadho.

According to Pellerin, when a Licadho outreach team was able to gain access to one of the government's main poorhouses in 2008, they found an elderly women in her dying moments being left untreated and a young mother nine months pregnant who would have given birth in her cell without any assistance had they not been able to convince the facility to release her.

The government has denied reports of violence and mistreatment in its facilities. "There's no violence, rape, nothing like that" in the drug centers, said Neak Yuthea, who is head of the government's rehabilitation program. "Drug addiction is a new problem in Cambodia. This is good for them. … Maybe Human Rights Watch wants to see the drug users living on the street."

The government says most drug users are interned at the request of their families and that many homeless volunteer to live temporarily in the centers because they are given food, a roof over their heads, and, in some cases, basic vocational training. It has also cited a lack of resources in some cases to explain substandard facilities.

Licadho's director, Naly Pilorge, says, however, it isn't simply a matter of underperforming social welfare. "You have people who have done nothing wrong who are detained like criminals," she said. "It could be a construction worker who doesn't look like he belongs on the street where he is … or a poor-looking kid who is just walking along the street."

Skyscrapers and condos are fast rising in Phnom Penh but rights groups here say real development will remain illusory as long as the government sweeps the country's social problems under the rug.

Cambodia's proposed NGO law stirs suspicion and concern

via CAAI News Media

05 Mar 2010
Written by: Thin Lei Win

Cambodian school children are served rice for breakfast as part of a feeding programme in Somrong Tong district , Kampong Speu province, about 60km (35 miles) west of the capital Phnom Penh in this file photo taken June 17, 2008. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

PHNOM PENH (AlertNet) - A proposed law regulating non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Cambodia is raising concerns among advocacy and aid groups that it will be used by the government to restrict their activities in the impoverished Southeast Asian country.

During a ceremony in November to mark 30 years of NGO-government cooperation, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said a law governing the non-profit sector would be next on the agenda after the enactment of an anti-corruption bill.

Hun Sen has talked about enacting an NGO law since 2008, but this was the first time he indicated a time frame -- the anti-corruption bill is headed to the National Assembly and many expect it to be passed soon after.

"NGOs demand that the government shows transparency, but they can't show the same to us," The Phnom Penh Post newspaper quoted Hun Sen as saying.

"We respect the local and international NGOs whose activities serve humanity and help the government of Cambodia ... They will not be threatened by this draft law," he added. "But we believe that some NGOs whose activities seem to serve the opposition party will be afraid of it."

Detractors say the draft law is an attempt to muzzle a burgeoning civil society that has become openly critical of Hun Sen who has been prime minister for the past 25 years.

His ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) has faced growing criticism that it has abused its power by using its parliamentary majority to interfere with the judiciary and restrict political freedom since its last election win in 2007.

"DETERIORATING" HUMAN RIGHTS

Last year, Cambodia passed legislation tightening defamation laws and outlawing public protests by more than 200 people, which rights groups and donors said were moves to stifle criticism of the ruling party.

The United Nation's special rapporteur for human rights, Surya Subedi, has also flagged up concerns about many of Cambodia's institutions, like the courts, saying they were weak.

Against this backdrop, the Cooperation Committee for Cambodia (CCC), an umbrella organisation representing more than 100 local and international NGOs, released a statement in December to say the time was not right for an NGO law. It was signed by some 230 NGOs.

"NGOs are also concerned about possible restrictions of activity on grounds of discretionary interpretation and use of the law, particularly given the deterioration of human rights situation in Cambodia since 2008," Borithy Lun, CCC's executive director, told AlertNet.

NGO officials say they have not seen a draft of the law and there have been no discussions, despite formal requests to various government ministries.

"We are not against the law. If we are spending money on behalf of the people of Cambodia, it is right that we should report to them," Sharon Wilkinson, CARE International's Cambodia country director, told AlertNet.

However, she expressed concern that a 2002 draft law was vague on the basis on which the government may refuse to register an NGO whose staff, it said, could face a fine and jail if found to be operating without the necessary registration.

TOO MANY NGOS?

Supporters of the draft law say, in a country of only 15 million people, it would help regulate a sector accommodating more than 3,000 NGOs and associations -- according to some estimates -- working on issues ranging from health, education and infrastructure to environmental protection and governance.

Although Cambodia has been peaceful for over a decade and recently enjoyed several years of economic growth and political stability, 40 percent of its population still live below the poverty line.

According to the latest U.N. human development index, four out of 10 people live below the poverty line of $1.25 a day, more than a third of children under five are underweight, life expectancy at 60.6 years is just above Namibia and Gabon and close to a quarter of the adults are illiterate.

"In Cambodia, it is easy to set up shop or register as an NGO and relatively easy to hire expatriates. It is very open and there is almost no restriction," said Francis Perez, country director of Oxfam in Cambodia.

However, he added: "The concerns of different sectors around the NGO law are legitimate and should be discussed openly."

The plethora of NGOs in Cambodia has raised questions about their own levels of transparency and accountability as well as the hefty salaries earned by expatriate staff compared to Cambodian ones.

However, it is still unclear to what extent a new NGO law would address these issues.

"The need for regulation should not be determined by the amount of NGOs, but by the actual need for further regulation," said CCC, which says self-regulation through the Good Practices Project, a voluntary certification system it has set up, is the best way to ensure NGO transparency.

CAMBODIA – THAILAND Phnom Penh fires 200 rockets, ASEAN leader concerned it might lead to military escalation


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Cambodia fires 200 rounds from Soviet-made rocket launcher in mountainous province in the centre of the country. ASEAN secretary general says action sends the “wrong” signal, suggesting regional instability. Phnom Penh and Bangkok downplay the episode, but fears of conflict persist.

Friday, March 05, 2010
By Asia News

Phnom Penh – Cambodia tested its Soviet-made BM-21 multiple rocket launcher firing 200 rounds in a mountain region of Kampong Chhnang province, some 80 kilometres north of Phnom Penh. The exercise, which took place yesterday, is raising concern among leaders of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) that it might send the wrong signal to the world. Diplomatic relations between Cambodia and Thailand are strained and a military escalation between the two neighbours is still possible.

ASEAN Secretary General Dr Surin Pitsuwan noted that test-firing the rocket launcher could be perceived as a sign of regional instability. "We are very concerned with such development," he said, pledging a closer look at the situation.

Cambodia fired about 200 rounds from its Soviet-made BM21 rocket launcher in the mountains of remote Kampong Chhnang province within a range of 20 to 40 kilometres.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen reportedly said that the exercise was to prepare for the defence of his country and not about showing any military capabilities even though Cambodia and Thailand were at loggerheads.

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said yesterday that Thailand had no problem with the test, as it was a normal practice for a country to conduct military exercises.

Thailand and Cambodia have long outstanding border claims over an area surrounding the ancient Preah Viher Hindu temple, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The World Court ruled in 1962 that the temple belonged to Cambodia but it did not settle the issue of sovereignty over the disputed surrounding area, which has seen clashes between troops from the two sides.

When Cambodia named fugitive former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra as its economic advisor late last year Thai-Cambodian relations took a nosedive. Mr Thaksin is on trial in Thailand where a court has recently ordered the confiscation of half of his wealth.

Carlyle Thayer, a military expert at Australia’s University of New South Wales, said the launch was “a bit of theatre” on Hun Sen’s part to maintain the support of the Cambodian military.

Rocket test fire successful


Cambodian MPs to debate long-awaited anti-graft law

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2010-03-05 17:03
PHNOM PENH, March 5 (AFP) - Cambodia's parliament announced Friday that lawmakers will start debating a long-awaited anti-corruption law next week, more than 15 years after the legislation was first proposed.

Cambodia is consistently ranked as one of the most corrupt countries in the world, and the government has repeatedly come under fire from international donors and activists over its apparent unwillingness to tackle rampant graft.

"The National Assembly of the kingdom of Cambodia will hold an extraordinary meeting to debate and approve the draft law on anti-corruption," a parliament statement said.

The statement added that the debate will begin Wednesday.

Legislation to tackle corruption was first proposed for the country in 1994.

Local media reported that copies of the draft law, which was approved by the government in December, were hand-delivered to all lawmakers on Thursday.

Cambodia was ranked 158 out of 180 countries on anti-graft organisation Transparency International's most recent corruption perception index.

Despite the strong concerns over corruption and demands by rights groups that donors get tough on the government's sluggish reform, donors pledged nearly one billion dollars in development aid to Cambodia for 2009.

Last year, a US diplomat said that graft costs the country up to 500 million dollars every year, an allegation the government rejected as "unsubstantiated."

ASEAN FEARS CAMBODIA MAY SEND WRONG SIGNAL

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BANGKOK, March 5 (Bernama) –- Asean fears that Cambodia may send a wrong signal to the world when that country conducted multiple rocket test yesterday in the wake of its cold relations with Thailand.

Asean Secretary-General Dr Surin Pitsuwan said today that Cambodia might have signaled as though the region was unstable.

"We are very concerned with such development," he told Bernama after attending the International Conference on Changing Global Landscape and its Implications on Regional Architecture, at the Bangkok Convention Centre here.

Asked whether Asean considered the test as an act of provocation by Cambodia, he said: "I have no details. I have to look into the details first."

Cambodia fired about 200 rounds from the Soviet-made BM21 rocket launcher in the mountains of remote Kampong Chhnang province, about 80km north of Phnom Penh and hit target within a range of 20km to 40km.

-- MORE

THAILAND-CAMBODIA 2 (LAST) BANGKOK

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen was reported as saying that the exercise was to prepare for the defence of his country and not about showing any military capabilities even though Cambodia and Thailand were at loggerheads.

Thailand Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said yesterday that Thailand had no problem with the exercise as it was a normal practice for a country to conduct military exercises.

Thailand and Cambodia have long outstanding border claims over an area surrounding an ancient Hindu temple, known as Preah Viher in Cambodia and as Phra Viharn in Thailand, which was named a World Heritage Site by Unesco.

The world court ruled in 1962 that the temple belonged to Cambodia but it did not touch on the disputed surrounding area.

Thai-Cambodian relations took a nose dive when Cambodia named fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra as its economic advisor late last year and refused to extradite him to Thailand despite requests.

Thaksin was reported to be living in self-exile in Dubai to avoid a two-year jail term for corruption.

-- BERNAMA

Cambodia railway to be fully open by 2013

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PHNOM PENH, March 5 (AFP) – Cambodia's rail network should be restored by 2013 with the help of millions of dollars in international aid, the country's finance minister said.

Trains have only run sporadically in Cambodia since the country's civil war ended in the 1990s, but finance minister Keat Chhon said workers will complete an overhaul of the rail system in the next few years.

''The project implementation started in 2007 and expects to be complete in 2013,'' Keat Chhon said during a ceremony in which the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Australian government gave more funds to complete the rail network.

Officials hope patching up Cambodia's railways will boost the country's economic growth and facilitate trade with other countries in Southeast Asia.

The total cost to reconstruct the 600 kilometers (373 miles) of rails, connecting them to highways and ports, is expected to be 141.6 million dollars, Keat Chhon said.

The minister made his remarks after receiving an additional loan of $42 million from the ADB and a grant of $21.5 million from Australia for the project.

The ADB has provided $84 million in total loans to restore Cambodia's railway, he said.

Another $13 million come from the OPEC Fund for international development, while Malaysia had contributed 106 kilometers of track worth $2.8 million, Keat Chhon added.

It has long been a regional dream to connect Asia by rail, and many of the gaps in the railway are in Southeast Asia, with only Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand operating cross-border links.

Cambodian DPM Dr. Sok An Says Khmer Rouge Court, Angkor Safeguarding are Models

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Friday, 05 March 2010 09:04 By Ek Madra

PHNOM PENH - The international community saw Cambodian achievements in establishing the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) for the trial of the "Killing Fields" leaders and the programme for the safeguarding of Angkor: The International Co-ordinating Committee (ICC) for the safeguarding and Development of the Historic Site of Angkor are the models, Dr. Sok An told the Laotian ambassador.

"The ICC and the ECCC are regarded as the model," Deputy Prime Minister Sok An told Laotian ambassador Chanthavy Bodhisane in the a farewell meeting late Thursday.

Established in 1993 in Japanese Tokyo, The International Co-ordinating Committee (ICC), which designed as an effective tool for ensuring proper co-ordinating procedure for all concerned organizations, for the Safeguarding and Development of the Historic Site of Angkor (ICC) under the Co-Chairmen, Japan and France lobbied 15 countries to support the preservation and sustainable developments of Angkor complex where more than 90 ancient temples located.

The biannual meeting between the Cambodian state run agency, the APSARA Authority and the ICC secretariat is to evaluate the over-all performance of various ongoing conservation projects as well as providing insightful adhoc expert recommendations to the ongoing conservation projects.

The meeting also discussed any information or any new coming projects.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which listed the famed Cambodian Angkor Temple in 1992, also regarded the ICC's works as a great success, Sok An said in the meeting.

"ICC has been regarded by UNESCO as a model," Sok An told the ambassador.

He also recalled his meeting with Professor Surya P. Subedi, who was appointed as UN Special Rapporteur for human rights in Cambodia, said that "U.N. is considering a possible establishing a tribunal in Sudan".

There are five main points which credited the tribunal became a model court are:

"We spent less compared with other U.N.-funded courts."

"Our court's operation has been smooth and just within 11 months we approved all the relevant regulations," he said.

"We have massive participations of more than 28,000 people witnessed the trial," said Sok An.

"Just within one month we arrested all five suspects."

"ECCC is the only court we have allowed the civil parties to have voices at the tribunal," said the Deputy Prime Minister Sok An.

He also said Cambodia and the United Nations went through seven years of tortuous round of talks before an agreement was reached in 2003 and followed by the establishment of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) officially in 2006 to try those most responsible leaders of murderous regime of Khmer Rouge 1975- 1979 during which as estimated 2 million peoples died of starvation, execution, diseases and overworked.