Thai soldiers pull back from encroachment into Cambodia (2nd Lead)

By Puy Kea
PHNOM PENH, March 25 KYODO

(EDS: UPDATING WITH THAI TROOPS PULLING BACK) A tense standoff between Thai and Cambodian troops ended late Wednesday afternoon when as many as 100 fully armed Thai soldiers pulled back from Cambodian territory near a disputed border temple. Gen. Yim Pim, commander of Cambodia 's Brigade 43 in the area, told Kyodo News the Thai troops returned to their previous position around 5 p.m., about four hours after crossing into Cambodian territory.

The general said that after negotiations between the two sides the Thai troops agreed to leave the dispute up to a joint Cambodian-Thai border commission.Earlier Wednesday, Phay Siphan, spokesman for Cambodia 's Council of Ministers, told Kyodo News the Thai troops crossed into Cambodia at 1:45 p.m. at a site known as Eagle Field where the Cambodian and Thai militaries had a tense confrontation last year.

Eagle Field is about 2 kilometers west of the disputed Preah Vihear Temple . Initial reports said the Thai troops planned to reoccupy the area, but the Cambodians wanted them to return to their previous position about 800 meters away.

In Bangkok , Thai army sources rejected Cambodia 's version of the incursion. In late February, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen met with his Thai counterpart on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Thailand , during which the two leaders reaffirmed their intent to solve the seven-month-old border dispute, but they set no deadline.

The area near Preah Vihear Temple was the scene of a tense standoff between Cambodian and Thai armed forces that left several dead on both sides. The situation has since eased, but the military presence remains.

The Cambodian government insists that Thai troops are deployed on Cambodian soil, while Thailand says its troops are only in a disputed zone. Since the border issue erupted last year, many rounds of talks at different levels, including at the defense and foreign ministerial levels, have been held but a concrete agreement or solution has proved elusive.

KyodoMarch 25, 2009

Cambodia says Thai soldiers again encroach on Cambodian soil (Lead)

PHNOM PENH, March 25 KYODO

(EDS: UPDATING) As many as 100 fully armed Thai soldiers have entered Cambodian territory near a disputed border temple, a spokesman for Cambodia's Council of Ministers said Wednesday. Phay Siphan told Kyodo News the Thai troops crossed into Cambodia at 1:45 p.m. at a site known as Eagle Field where the Cambodian and Thai militaries had a tense confrontation last year.

Eagle Field is located about 2 kilometers west of Preah Vihear Temple . Initial reports said the Thai troops plan to reoccupy the area, but the Cambodian side is trying to convince the Thai troops to return to their previous position about 800 meters away. However, Thai army sources in Bangkok rejected Cambodia 's accusation.

In late February, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen met with his Thai counterpart on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Thailand , during which the two leaders reaffirmed their intent to solve the seven-month-old border dispute but set no deadline. The area near the temple was the scene of a tense standoff between Cambodian and Thai armed forces that left several dead on both sides.

The situation has since eased but the military presence remains. The Cambodian government insists that Thai troops have deployed on Cambodian soil, while Thailand says its troops are only in a disputed zone. Since the border issue erupted last year, many rounds of talks at different levels including defense and foreign ministerial levels have been held but a concrete agreement or solution has proved elusive.

KyodoMarch 25, 2009

Cambodia says Thai soldiers again encroach on Cambodian soil

PHNOM PENH, March 25 KYODO

As many 100 fully armed Thai soldiers have entered Cambodian territory near a disputed border temple, a spokesman for Cambodia's Council of Ministers said Wednesday. Phay Siphan told Kyodo News the Thai troops crossed into Cambodia at 1:45 p.m. at a site known as Eagle Field where the Cambodian and Thai militaries had a tense confrontation last year. Initial reports said the Thai troops plan to reoccupy the area, but the Cambodian side is trying to convince the Thai troops to return to their previous position about 600 meters away. Thailand and Cambodia have yet to fully demark their common border and a dispute last year over ownership of a World Heritage-named temple in Cambodia spilled into violence several times before settling into a tense border standoff.

Kyodo

Sacked Cambodian military leader named as deputy premier

PHNOM PENH, March 5 KYODO

Cambodia's recently sacked top military leader Gen. Ke Kim Yan will be made a deputy prime minister and oversee the operations to counter drug trafficking, Prime Minister Hun Sen said Thursday. The general, a loyalist of Cambodian People's Party President Chea Sim, was sacked in January as military commander-in-chief, a position in which he had served for 10 years, and replaced by Hun Sen's close ally Gen. Pol Saroeun in a surprise move that prompted rumors of a rift in the ruling party. Hun Sen had earlier said the removal of Ke Kim Yan was merely part of military reforms, though officials later suggested the general had been sacked for using his position to profit from shady land deals, something said to be rife in the military. There was also speculation that it might have had something to do with the general's performance during Cambodia 's military standoff with Thailand along the disputed border last year. But some analysts saw the move as Hun Sen consolidating his grip on power. The CPP is widely believed to have two main factions, one comprised of Hun Sen's loyalists and the other one of loyalists of Chea Sim, who doubles as party president and Senate chairman. According to veteran political analyst Chea Vanath, the naming of Ke Kim Yan to another position of power was likely done to ensure unity in the CPP. Once Ke Kim Yan's appointment is approved by parliament, the number of deputy prime ministers in the government formed after last July's general election will reach 10.

KyodoMarch 05, 2009

ASEAN agrees on using military assets for disaster relief

By Puy Kea
PATTAYA, Thailand , Feb. 26 KYODO

Defense ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations agreed Thursday to use military assets and capacities in humanitarian and disaster relief as well as in non-traditional security threats.

Thai Defense Minister Gen. Prawit Wongsuwon, who chaired the meeting, said such use of military assets will not be commenced until a new task force is formed.

Gen. Prawit told reporters shortly after the meeting that the agreement on the matter was necessary so as to ensure security in the Asia-Pacific, especially in the ASEAN region. In the meeting, the defense ministers focused on the establishment of a special force to provide humanitarian assistance for member countries which are affected by natural disasters.

The participants also exchanged ideas on expanding security operations with countries outside ASEAN, but in the Asia-Pacific Rim region. Moving forward on the matter, the defense ministers signed three concept papers including the ASEAN Defense Establishments and Civil Society Organizations Cooperation on Non-Traditional Security to counter new security threats.

According to one of the concept papers seen by Kyodo News, military personnel deployed in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations will not carry weapons while performing official duties, unless otherwise agreed. The defense ministers cited experiences gained from the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, Cyclone Nargis that struck Myanmar last year and the recent earthquake in China as motivations for the use of military assets and capacities. The meeting, however, did not touch on the border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia nor the issue of Myanmar migrants, according to officials.

According to a security source, the border and illegal migrant issues were excluded from agendas, since the defense ministers decided to resolve those problems via bilateral cooperation. The meeting was held ahead of the 14th ASEAN summit, to be held in the beach resort of Hua Hin from Friday to Sunday. ASEAN groups Brunei , Cambodia , Indonesia , Laos , Malaysia , Myanmar , Philippines , Singapore , Thailand and Vietnam .

KyodoFebruary 26, 2009

Cambodian, Thai leaders pledge to resolve border dispute

By Puy Kea
HUA HIN, Thailand , Feb. 27 KYODO -- Top leaders of Cambodia and Thailand reaffirmed Friday their intent to solve a seven-month-old border dispute but set no deadline. After a half-hour meeting in Thailand 's Hua Hin resort with his Thai counterpart, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen told Kyodo News that the two countries agreed to use all existing mechanisms to solve the border problem peacefully. The premier did not mention a time frame for finding a solution, but suggested it was good and fruitful discussion. It was the first time for Hun Sen to meet with Abhisit since the latter came to power last year. The meeting was held on the sidelines of the 14th ASEAN summit.
In a separate statement, Abhisit said both countries had agreed to set up a panel of technical experts to work on the overlapping maritime border, particularly, in the disputed oil and gas area.
“Out understanding has been improved a lot recently and we are looking into possibilities to start our energy cooperation,” he told reporters.
The territorial dispute between the two countries stems partly from the use of different border maps, and the military standoff began soon after Cambodia's Preah Vihear temple was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in July last year. The area near the temple was the scene of a tense standoff between Cambodian and Thai armed forces. The situation, however, has eased but the military presence remains. The Cambodian government insists that Thai troops have deployed on Cambodian soil, while Thailand says its troops are only in a disputed zone. Since the border issue erupted last year, many rounds of talks at different levels including defense and foreign ministerial levels have been held but a concrete agreement or solution has proved elusive. Hun Sen said the two countries will use the memorandum of understanding made in 2000 as a basis for resolving the conflict. Hun Sen is on a three-day official working visit to Thailand during which he is attending the 14th summit of leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. ASEAN groups Brunei , Cambodia , Indonesia , Laos , Malaysia , Myanmar , the Philippines , Singapore , Thailand and Vietnam .

KyodoFebruary 27, 2009

Brother No. 2 ordered all prisoners killed, says defense lawyer

Brother No. 2 ordered all prisoners killed, says defense lawyer
By Puy Kea PHNOM PENH , Feb. 18 KYODO -- A defense lawyer for a notorious Khmer Rouge-era prison jailer charged Wednesday that Nuon Chea, known as Brother No. 2, ordered all prisoners killed four days before the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia toppled Jan. 7, 1979.

Kar Savuth, a Cambodian co-lawyer for Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Duch, 66, said on the last day of an initial hearing against his client that ''S-21 received an order from Nuon Chea on 3 January 1979 to kill all prisoners, including children.'' The lawyer, however, did not say how many were killed on the order of Nuon Chea that day or the following days.

It is the first time the accused, through his lawyer, revealed to the public that Nuon Chea, now also being detained at U.N.-backed court facilities, was one of the top Khmer Rouge leaders responsible for the deaths of the prisoners. Duch was the chief at Tuol Sleng Prison in central Phnom Penh , codenamed S-21, from 1976 to 1979. He is blamed for the deaths of between 13,000 and 16,000 prisoners.

During the one-and-a-half day initial hearing, Duch appeared in the courtroom but was not allowed to give any statement because the hearing is designed for the five judges, including three Cambodians, to consider motions from the two sides, the case profile, legal and procedural issues and to finalize the scheduling of witness and experts to be heard at a full trial at a date yet to be set.

Duch is one of the five Khmer Rouge figures being at a detention center of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, a special tribunal set up with U.N. blessing and the participation of two foreign judges. The Khmer Rouge are blamed for the deaths of at least 1.7 million Cambodians in the late 1970s. Concluding the last day of the hearing, Nil Nonn, president of the Trial Chamber, said decisions resulting from the hearing will be handed down soon, but no specific date was given.

But Helen Jarvis, chief of the ECCC public affairs section, said she expected the decisions to be announced in one to two weeks. By then, the exact date for Duch's full trial should be set. On Tuesday, a defense lawyer said Duch will ask for forgiveness from the victims, likely during the trial. In a separate statement Wednesday, defense lawyers rejected a co-prosecutor appeal to incorporate two new films taken by a Vietnamese military cameraman that aimed to impose further blame on their client. The defense lawyers argued the films were fabricated by Vietnam , with ''political motivation.''

They pointed out eight parts of the films are contradictory to fact, including using the designation ''Tuol Sleng Prison'' instead of ''S-21'' as used by the Khmer Rouge at least until Jan. 7, 1979. The motion will be decided by the five judges of the Trial Chamber.

KyodoFebruary 18, 2009

Vietnamese cameraman, Khmer Rouge victim reunite ahead of trial

By Puy Kea
PHNOM PENH , Feb. 16 KYODO -- A former Vietnamese military cameraman who was the first outsider to document the horrors of a Khmer Rouge prison and torture center after the regime fell in 1979 was reunited over the weekend with one of four child survivors. Ho Van Tay, 76, who arrived in Cambodia on Saturday ahead of a pre-trial hearing for the former prison chief, met Sunday with survivor Norng Chan Phal, 39, for the first time in three decades. Appearing with Tay at a press conference, Norng Chan Phal said he was happy to meet with the man who had helped him and his younger brother leave Tuol Sleng prison in central Phnom Penh after the invading Vietnamese army took it over while capturing the city.

Both said they would both attend Tuesday's initial hearing for 66-year-old Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Duch, who allegedly oversaw the deaths of between 13,000 to 16,000 Cambodians while the prison was under his command from 1976 to 1979, historians say. Duch is the first of five detained Khmer Rouge figures to be tried by the U.N.-backed tribunal for their roles in the regime that is blamed for the deaths of at least 1.7 million Cambodians between 1975 and 1979.

When asked about his onetime tormentor, Norng Chan Phal said, ''It's a right time for Duch to be on trial because he was a direct killer of many Cambodians in Tuol Sleng prison.'' He said Khmer Rouge soldiers took him, his mother and his younger brother to the prison, a former schoolhouse located in the center of the city, several months after his father was first taken there in 1978. Neither parent survived. Norng Chan Phal and his younger brother were among five child survivors. One of them, however, died of malnutrition shortly after the prison was liberated.

Tay, who is in Cambodia at the invitation of the Documentation Center of Cambodia, a nongovernmental organization that documents Khmer Rouge atrocities, has offered to help it with its activities, including identification of victims.

In late December, the Vietnamese government donated to Cambodia archival footage, largely taken by Tay , that will be used as one of the key pieces of evidence in the trial of Duch. Duch, a former mathematics schoolteacher, has been indicted for his direct or indirect role in crimes against humanity, including murder, torture and enslavement, and other violations of domestic and international law. Tay spent seven years in Cambodia from 1979, making documentary films that reveal the atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge. He traveled with Vietnamese troops to various parts of the country to take the footage.

KyodoFebruary 16, 2009

Symbolic killer of Cambodia 's genocide to face trial 30 years later (FOCUS)

By Puy Kea
PHNOM PENH , Feb. 2 KYODO -- The notorious Khmer Rouge prison jailer commonly known as Duch goes to trial at a hybrid international court in the next two weeks in Cambodia for his role in the systematic genocide of Cambodians 30 years ago.
The U.N.-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal set Feb. 17 as a date for the initial hearing on Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Duch. He is one of five Khmer Rouge figures being detained at a detention center of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia.
Although Duch is considered a symbolic killer as he was in charge of the most prominent of many prisons established in Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge regime, some Cambodians question why he will be the first to be tried.
The answer is simple -- Duch was the first one arrested in 1999 and has been detained at and investigated ever since.
He was transferred to the ECCC in 2007 and was charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes.
The other four suspects were arrested and charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity only in late 2007.
They are Nuon Chea, better known as Brother No. 2 in the Khmer Rouge hierarchy after Pol Pot, Khieu Samphan, who was its head of state, Ieng Sary, who was foreign minister, and Ieng Sary's wife Ieng Thirith, who was social affairs minister.
Duch, 66, was chief of Tuol Sleng Prison in central Phnom Penh , code named S-21, from early 1976 through 1979.
Scholars and historians claim Duch was responsible for the deaths of more than 13,000 Cambodians while the prison was under his command.
Beyond the question ''Why Duch first?'' some also wonder why the court is going after someone who was not a senior Khmer Rouge leader.
''Duch's hearing will generate more questions than clarifications,'' said Chhang Youk, director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia, a nonprofit organization that archives Khmer Rouge atrocities.
Some others, however, support the court's move, saying it is finally on track to long-awaited justice for the victims.
Chum Mey, one of only three surviving victims from Duch's time at the S-21 torture center, said he will be satisfied only once Duch and the other four are tried and convicted.
Chum Mey, 76, who was jailed and tortured for more than three months from late 1978 until the Khmer Rouge regime collapsed on Jan. 7, 1979, said he is ready to question Duch during the upcoming trial on why he committed the crimes and who was behind the orders.
Chum Mey said he had his toenails pulled out, was beaten ''uncountable'' times with rattan canes and subjected to electric shocks while in Tuol Sleng.
He added the tortures were designed to force confessions of spying for the U.S. or then Soviet Union intelligence services even though many prisoners did not even know those agencies existed.
The co-investigating judges of the ECCC have said that of the more than 13,000 men, women and children detained at Tuol Sleng prison only a handful are still alive.
The judges have also said Duch has ''recognized his responsibility.''
He has declared S-21 ''was run directly by the Central Committee,'' the judges have said.
Duch added he primarily dealt directly with Son Sen and ''Person J,'' both of whom he believed to be acting for the leadership.
Son Sen, minister of security in the Khmer Rouge regime, ''perished'' in 1997, apparently killed on the order of Pol Pot who accused Son Sen of being a traitor.
It is unclear to whom ''Person J'' refers, but some researchers suggest it could be Nuon Chea.
According to the judges, Duch has regularly expressed remorse for the victims and their families and also for the S-21 staff under his command.
''He stated that none of his personnel volunteered, or were proud of what they had done, but rather were terrorized and constantly in fear for their lives,'' the judges have said.
Pol Pot, believed the mastermind of the ''Killing Fields,'' denied until his death in 1998 he was responsible for the deaths of 1.7 million Cambodians under his rule from 1975 to 1979.
He claimed number of deaths was ''fabricated'' by ''outside enemies.''
Similar denials have come from the four Khmer Rouge leaders who are charged and detained at the ECCC facilities.
Duch, however, has said he spoke out in 1999 because ''it was impossible not to tell the truth about S-21'' after he had heard ''Pol Pot denied the existence S-21 and claimed it was an invention of the Vietnamese.''
Duch was arrested in May 1999, less than a month after he was found in Cambodia 's northwestern Battambang Province by an American journalist who and obtained a partial confession from him.
Duch said, ''I joined the Khmer Rouge in order to liberate my people and not to commit crimes,'' but ''from 1971 onwards, when I was forced to supervise M-13 (a security organ), I became both an actor in criminal acts and also a hostage of the regime.''
Duch also said that on Aug. 15, 1975, Son Sen called him to a meeting at the Phnom Penh Train Station to plan the establishment of S-21.
S-21 was unique in the network of security centers given its direct link to the Central Committee and its role in the detention and execution of cadres of the Communist Party of Kampuchea.
While millions of Cambodians still want to see justice, many also express disappointment that the three Khmer Rouge accused of being the architects of the brutal regime -- Pol Pot, Son Sen and Ta Mok, better known as ''Butcher'' -- are already dead.
Of the four remaining senior leaders, Ieng Sary, 85, and Nuon Chea, 83, are watched by doctors daily because their health is precarious, and Kheiu Samphan and Ieng Thirith are said to be frail.
The ECCC has not said when those four will be tried and some Cambodians fear only Duch will ever be prosecuted, the others dying before they are brought to trial.

KyodoFebruary 02, 2009

Cambodia, Thailand affirm commitments to solve border issue

PHNOM PENH , Jan. 26 KYODO -- Cambodia and Thailand reaffirmed Monday to solve their six-month-old border conflict peacefully and amicably, without setting a deadline.

After a one-and-a-half-hour meeting in Phnom Penh with his Thai counterpart, Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong told reporters that border issues are often complicated and not easily solved, thus time and patience are needed.

However, he warned that Cambodia still reserves the right to seek the intervention of a third party such as the international court if bilateral negotiations fail. Echoing the remarks, Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said he hopes the similar culture and tradition enjoyed by the two countries plus commitments taken by the new Thai government will help resolve the problems. Hor Namhong said both governments had scheduled a meeting of a joint border committee for Feb. 2-4, followed by a defense ministerial-level meeting on Feb. 6 on redeployment of troops at Keo Sikhakiri Svara Pagoda and the area near Cambodia 's ancient Preah Vihear temple.

The area around Preah Vihear temple, which was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in July last year, was the scene of a tense standoff between Cambodian and Thai armed forces in recent months. The Cambodian government insists that Thai troops have deployed on Cambodian soil, while Thailand says its troops are only in a disputed zone.

According to military sources based at Preah Vihear temple, there remain about a dozen Thai soldiers at Keo Sikhakiri Svara Pagoda. The territorial dispute stems partly from the use of different border maps. Kasit is on a two-day visit to Cambodia , his first since he came to office last month. He is to return to Thailand later Monday.

KyodoJanuary 26, 2009

Cambodia's Hun Sen to attend ASEAN summit in Thailand

PHNOM PENH , Jan. 11 KYODO

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen will take part in next month's summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Thailand even though he had earlier suggested skipping it, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Hor Namhong said Sunday.
Last Thursday, Hun Sen expressed his dissatisfaction with the arrangements by Thailand as day after Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva suddenly announced a change of the meeting format and venue, leaving out back-to-back meetings between ASEAN leaders and those from Japan, China, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand as is normally the case.
Hun Sen argued the change means he would have to visit Thailand at least three times this year, including the ASEAN summit now set for Feb. 27 to March 1 in the Thai beach resort Hua Hin and again in late April for the meetings with leaders of ASEAN's dialogue partners in a location yet to be announced.
Sources close to Hun Sen told Kyodo News he changed his mind after he received phone calls from the Thai prime minister urging him to attend.
The ASEAN summit was originally set for Bangkok last December, but massive antigovernment protests in the Thai capital prompted the Thais to change the venue to the northern city Chiang Mai.
Then, on Dec. 2, the government postponed the summit indefinitely.
The Cambodian-Thai relationship has worsened in recent months, particularly after fighting erupted along disputed areas of their border last year.
ASEAN also includes Brunei , Indonesia , Laos , Malaysia , Myanmar , the Philippines , Singapore and Vietnam .
KyodoJanuary 11, 2009

Japan to provide another $21 mil. for Khmer Rouge trial

By Puy Kea
PHNOM PENH , Jan. 11 KYODO -- The Japanese government pledged Sunday to provide another $21 million to the U.N.-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal, brining its contributions since 2005 to $45.5 million. Announcement of the new pledge was made Sunday by Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone during a one-hour meeting with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen in Phnom Penh .

Eang Sophalet, a spokesman for Hun Sen, told reporters after the meeting that the $21 million pledged will be used by the U.N. side of the court, not the Cambodian side. He added that Hun Sen was also seeking financial assistance for the Cambodian side and that the request will be considered by the Japanese government. Japan is the top financial contributor to the Khmer Rouge trial process. It provided $21.6 million to the U.N. side in 2005 and $2.95 million to the Cambodian side in 2008.

According to sources close to the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, the Cambodian side of the court needs an extra of $5.3 million for its work from April through the end of this year. Of the current five suspects, Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, who is accused of having a leadership role in the deaths of 14,000 people in Tuol Sleng prison during Khmer Rouge rule, is expected to be tried in the first quarter this year.

The four other former Khmer Rouge figures charged and detained at ECCC facilities are Nuon Chea, better known as Brother No. 2 in the Khmer Rouge hierarchy after leader Pol Pot; Khieu Samphan who was head of state; Ieng Sary who was the regime's foreign minister; and Ieng Sary's wife Ieng Thirith who was the social affairs minister.

The Khmer Rouge leadership is blamed for the deaths of at least 1.7 million Cambodians during its rule.

Also, during his visit to Cambodia , Nakasone signed agreements providing Cambodia grants of up to 255 million yen for a dam project and infectious disease control. He also attended a ceremony to deliver three Japanese demining vehicles to Cambodia . Nakasone is to visit Laos later Sunday before returning to Japan on Monday. Before arriving in Cambodia on Saturday, Nakasone met with Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya in Bangkok .

KyodoJanuary 11, 2009

Co-prosecutors dispute charging more Khmer Rouge suspects

By Puy Kea
PHNOM PENH , Jan. 5 KYODO

The U.N.-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal released a statement Monday revealing disputes between Cambodian and international co-prosecutors over whether or not to charge more suspects beyond the five now being detained. According to the court, international co-prosecutor Robert Petit filed Dec. 1, 2008 a note concerning the appropriateness of opening new judicial investigations against additional suspects for crimes committed under the Khmer Rouge, while the Cambodian co-prosecutor filed a response last Monday objecting to the filing by her colleague.

On Dec. 1, 2008, the international co-prosecutor proposed filing two new Introductory Submissions and one Supplementary Submission, saying the crimes were committed, the crimes are within the jurisdiction of the Court, and those should be investigated by the Co-Investigating Judges. He said the charges would lead to a more comprehensive accounting of crimes that were committed under the Khmer Rouge's Democratic Kampuchea regime during 1975-79, according to the statement.

He added he did not believe that such prosecutions would endanger Cambodia 's peace and stability. But, Cambodian co-prosecutor Chea Leang said investigations should not proceed on account of Cambodia 's past instability and the continued need for national reconciliation, the spirit of the agreement between the United Nations and Cambodia , the spirit of the law that established the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia and the limited duration and budget of the ECCC.

She said the ECCC should instead prioritize the trials of the five suspects already detained. When asked how many new suspects being identified by the international co-prosecutor, Reach Sambath, spokesman for the ECCC, said he didn't know but an ECCC source suggested the number could be six. Of the current five suspects, Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, who is accused of having a leadership role in the deaths of 14,000 people in Tuol Sleng prison during Khmer Rouge rule, is expected to be tried in the first quarter of this year.

The four other former Khmer Rouge figures charged and detained at ECCC facilities are Nuon Chea, better known as Brother No. 2 in the Khmer Rouge hierarchy after leader Pol Pot; Khieu Samphan who was head of state; Ieng Sary who was the regime's foreign minister; and Ieng Sary's wife Ieng Thirith who was the social affairs minister. The Khmer Rouge leadership is blamed for the deaths of at least 1.7 million Cambodians during its rule.

KyodoJanuary 05, 2009

Cambodians debate Vietnam 's military presence 30 years later (FOCUS)

By Puy Kea
PHNOM PENH , Jan. 5 KYODO

Ahead of the 30th anniversary on Wednesday of the entry of Vietnamese forces into Cambodia to fight the Khmer Rogue, arguments still rage here over its historical significance.

Sam Rainsy, leader of his self-named opposition party, objects to the move by the ruling Cambodian People's Party of Prime Minister Hun Sen to signify the day as the second birthday for millions of Cambodians. Hun Sen and his party have been claiming that without Jan. 7, 1979, Cambodia would not have been able to achieve anything that it has achieved since and that they never forget the help from Vietnam .

But Sam Rainsy compared the day to what had happened to most Eastern and Central European countries after Stalin's Red Army invaded them to ''free'' them from the Nazis. ''When the Vietnamese communist army invaded Cambodia to 'free' us from the Khmer Rouge, we quickly realized that we were caught between Scylla and Charybdis,'' Sam Rainsy said. He said that without April 17, 1975, the date of the Khmer Rouge takeover and the beginning of the Cambodian genocide, there would have been no need for Jan. 7, 1979. And without the Vietnamese and Chinese communist intervention in the early 1970s to help the Khmer Rouge, the latter would not have been able to seize power and there would have been no April 17, 1975.

He said therefore April 17 and Jan. 7 are inextricably associated, calling them ''communist Frankensteins.'' ''Celebrating Jan. 7 without keeping in mind a broader historical perspective is playing into the hands of the current Phnom Penh regime whose only raison d'etre was to 'free' the Cambodian people from the Khmer Rouge with communist Vietnam 's decisive but not unselfish help,'' he said.

This week, ignoring criticism, the CPP celebrates the country's second-largest event marking the day as a liberation day from the genocidal regime with some 50,000 participants. It held the largest event in 1985 with some 70,000 participants. Just days before the event is to take place, a nongovernmental organization, the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, said it was concerned about people being forced to celebrate the anniversary. ''The people are being forced to pose with Cambodian flags outside their houses to show support for the ceremony,'' said Ou Virak, president of the CCHR. ''They force people to support them. This is a communist style like in North Korea . No democratic countries do this,'' he said.

But Information Minister Khieu Kanharith, a senior member of the CPP, said no one was being forced to take part and that the event was merely being staged in a disciplined manner. Khieu Kanharith said money spent by the CPP on the event will come entirely from the CPP's coffers. Bun Pov, a high school teacher, said some 5,000 students and 130 teachers from his school, one of six selected high schools in Phnom Penh, were chosen to take part in the event. He said each participant will be given 6,500 riels (about $1.6) and a CPP cap and T-shirt. Other critics, however, said Jan. 7 marks the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia .

''The Khmer People Committee for Freedom considers Jan. 7 the date of Vietnam 's invasion of Cambodia , the date of their plundering of Cambodian wealth, and their total occupation of Cambodian land,'' it said in a statement. It suggested that Oct. 23, 1991, the date of the signing of the Paris Peace Accords which brought national reconciliation, should instead be celebrated. But Khieu Kanharith argued that if there were no Jan. 7, 1979, there would not be Oct. 23, 1991, either. ''Jan. 7 doesn't belong exclusively to the CPP, but to all the Cambodian people,'' he added. Sorn Samnang, a Cambodian historian and president of the Royal Academy of Cambodia, said that without Jan. 7, 1979, he would have been killed along with millions of other Cambodians.

He added that some 50,000 Vietnamese soldiers were killed or died during Vietnam 's 10-year presence in Cambodia , and billions of dollars were spent. Vietnamese troops came to Cambodia in 1979 and remained here until 1989.

KyodoJanuary 05, 2009

Cambodia to seek support until 2010 for land mine clearing

PHNOM PENH , Dec. 18 KYODO

Cambodia said Thursday it will seek international support to extend its land mine-clearing operations until 2020. In a roundtable discussion organized by the Club of Cambodian Journalists, Som Sotha, secretary general of the Mine Action Authority, said that due to the number of mined fields remaining in the country an extension is a must.

He said Cambodia began to clear landmines in 1992 and since then more than 800,000 land mines and 1.5 million pieces of unexploded ordnance strewn across 500 million square meters have been cleared. According to the Ottawa Convention, of which Cambodia is a signatory, Cambodia was supposed to clear its land mines and the unexploded ordnance by January 2010, 10 years after it signed the convention.

But with mines and other explosives still in more than 2,000 square kilometers, Cambodia will need at least until to 2020, he said. Millions of land mines have been planted in Cambodia since 1967 and accidents caused by land mines and unexploded ordnance are still common, killing or maiming about 400 people every year. Still, about 50 percent of the land covered by land mines and unexploded ordnance has been cleared and many Cambodians have become among of the world's most experienced demining experts.

KyodoDecember 18, 2008

Cambodia looks to Japan as its next market for garment exports

By Puy Kea
PHNOM PENH , Dec. 1 KYODO

Cambodia 's garment industry is now looking to Japan for its next targeted market after winning orders in the United States and European Union, a senior garment industry official said Monday. Van Sou Ieng, president of the Garment Manufacturers Association of Cambodia, told Kyodo News that Japan is the world's third largest garment importer. He said the United States, which buys about 70 percent of Cambodia's textile exports, has been hit by the economic slowdown and that has meant fewer purchase orders are coming to Cambodia. Data from the GMAC showed about 30 factories have been closed this year and some 20,000 workers have been laid off in Cambodia .

Still, at a summit of trade leaders from the world's poorest countries held in Cambodia 's northern province of Siem Reap on Nov. 21, Prime Minister Hun Sen said Cambodia 's garment sector has so far had no ''serious impact'' from the global financial crisis. But new markets are needed, and Van Sou Ieng led an industry delegation on a five-day visit to Japan through Sunday that resulted in a trade deal between the two countries. ''In a move to begin our trade exchanges with Japan , we will export 10,000 jackets and 100,000 pairs of shoes in early 2009,'' he said, adding, ''We hope Japan will make more purchase orders afterward.'' But, he said, it is clear Cambodia has to improve the quality of its products because Japan demands high quality in all imports. Cambodia 's industry, therefore, will dispatch garment entrepreneurs and union workers to Japan for study the quality needs firsthand.

According to government data, there are 319 garment factories employing 380,000 workers in Cambodia .

And garments are Cambodia 's biggest export earners, with exports last year worth $2.9 billion. According to Van Sou Ieng, Japan currently buys about 90 percent of its imported garments from China .

KyodoDecember 01, 2008

Thailand political crisis costs Cambodia $1 mil. a day in tourism loss

PHNOM PENH , Nov. 29 KYODO

The ongoing political crisis in Thailand is costing Cambodia some $1 million a day in lost tourism revenue, Cambodian Tourism Association President Ho Vandy said Saturday. Antigovernment protesters in Thailand have occupied Bangkok 's Suvarnabhumi and Don Muang airports, and three airlines -- Thai Airways, Bangkok Airways and Air Asia -- have canceled 10 daily flights between Cambodia and Thailand .

Echoing the revenue loss in Cambodia 's tourism sector, Sathol Miura, head of the Japanese travel agency APEX in Cambodia , said the cancellations of international flights through Thailand are affecting hotels, guesthouses, tourist guides, taxi drivers and restaurants in Cambodia .

But Miura said the unrest in Thailand has had little impact on Japanese tourists traveling on APEX tours to Cambodia , saying they normally fly to Cambodia through Vietnam . ''Some 65 percent of Japanese tourists come to Cambodia through Vietnam ,'' he said. Miura said more than 2,000 Japanese tourists have visited Cambodia on APEX tours in November, a figure comparable to previous years.

KyodoNovember 29, 2008

Millions gather in Phnom Penh for annual Mekong boat race

PHNOM PENH , Nov. 11 KYODO

Cambodia's water festival, a three-day annual event featuring boat races on the Mekong River, kicked off Tuesday with an estimated 2 million people flocking from the countryside into the capital Phnom Penh. Chea Kean, deputy secretary general of the National and International Festival Committee that gave the estimate, said 424 boats with 26,000 boat racers from across the country are taking part in the races, held to recall Cambodia 's long history of repelling invaders using boats. Many boats participating in the race are named after top government officials, with Prime Minister Hun Sen's name being the dominant one every year. King Norodom Sihamoni presides over the races, which are attended by the foreign diplomatic corps and government leaders, including the prime minister. The 1,700-meter race course is located just in front of the Royal Palace on the Mekong River in the capital.

KyodoNovember 11, 2008

Cambodia, Thailand agree to survey border markers pillars by yearend

By Puy Kea
SIEM REAP, Cambodia , Nov. 11 KYODO

Cambodia and Thailand agreed Tuesday to conduct a joint field survey of border markers placed along the two countries' land boundary more than a century ago. Var Kimhong, chairman of Cambodian National Border Commission, told reporters after a meeting with his Thai counterpart that the two sides agreed to conduct the joint survey work by the end of the year. He said the joint survey of 73 old pillars would be followed by a survey of other boundary pillars, especially in a hotly disputed area near Cambodia 's ancient temple of Preah Vihear . Var Kimhong made the statement after a nine-hour meeting with his Thai counterpart Vasin Teeravechyan in Cambodia 's northern province of Siem Reap. He said that despite some progress achieved in the meeting, many issues remain to be solved such as those relating to military redeployment and topographical, technical and legal matters. The area around Preah Vihear Temple , which was inscribed as World Heritage Site on July 7, has in recent months been the scene of a tense standoff between the two sides' militaries, which twice last month erupted in fighting that left dead and injured on both sides. Since then, numerous meetings have been held at various levels, including foreign ministers and prime ministers, but the dispute remains unresolved with Cambodia insisting Thai troops remain on its soil and Thailand saying its troops are only in the disputed zone. The territorial dispute stems partly from the use of different border maps.
Cambodia has been using the 7 maps as agreed upon by France and Siam ( Thailand ) in 1904 and 1907 and the judgment of the International Court of Justice in 1962, but Thailand insists to use its unilaterally drawn map with the U.S. assistance in late 1960s and early 1970s.

KyodoNovember 11, 2008

Cambodia's police chief dies in helicopter crash

PHNOM PENH , Nov. 9 KYODO

Cambodia 's national police chief Hok Lundy died in the crash of a helicopter in eastern Cambodia on Sunday, the chief government spokesman said. Khieu Kanharith told Kyodo News that all three others aboard the helicopter were also killed in the crash which occurred around 8 p.m. in Rumduol district, Svay Rieng Province, about 120 kilometers east of the capital Phnom Penh.

The three are Gen. Sok Saem, deputy military commander of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, and two copilots.
Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak said the helicopter took off around 7:20pm from Phnom Penh Airport and lost a radio contact about 15 minutes later. Both spokesmen said bad weather may have caused the crash.

Kyodo

Thailand rejects Cambodia's accusation of damaging temple

BANGKOK, Oct. 26 KYODO

The Thai Foreign Ministry on Sunday issued a statement denying Cambodia's accusation that Thai troops damaged an ancient temple during a recent border clash. Cambodia said Saturday that it had filed a complaint with the U.N. Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization alleging Thai soldiers damaged statues and a staircase at Preah Vihear temple with rocket launchers. However, the Thai ministry's statement said it received an explanation from the Thai military about the Oct. 15 clash that Thai troops did not use rockets or heavy weapons in the clash. The ministry added that Cambodian troops attacked Thai troops with rockets on the day, wounding two soldiers. During the just-ended Asia-Europe Meeting summit in Beijing, Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen held a bilateral meeting on the border conflict and vowed to solve this issue in a bilateral framework.

Kyodo

LEAD: Fighting breaks out on the Thai-Cambodian border: Cambodian military

By Puy Kea PHNOM PENH, Oct. 15 Kyodo

Fighting erupted Wednesday between Cambodian and Thai troops along a hotly disputed stretch of the two countries' border, Cambodian military officials said.

Two officials at the border told Kyodo News separately that the fighting broke out shortly before 2:30 p.m. in the disputed area near Cambodia's ancient Preah Vihear Temple, which has been the scene of tense confrontations between the two sides since mid-July. Sounds of explosions could be heard over the telephone. The fighting involves rifle firing and rocket firing by both sides, one of the officials said. Thailand on Tuesday deployed more troops and weapons to the disputed area, saying it was in response to Cambodia's beefing up of its own forces in the area.

On Oct. 3, the border standoff boiled over into a brief firefight that caused injuries on both sides. The latest fighting comes two days after Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen warned that the disputed area would become a ''life-or-death battlefield zone'' if Thai soldiers who he alleged had crossed about 1,000 meters into Cambodian territory Monday morning were not withdrawn. On Tuesday, Hun Sen gave Thailand a noon deadline for it to redeploy its troops to their previous position, saying, ''Even at any cost, Cambodia will not allow Thais to stand in our land.''

Thailand, which claims the disputed 4.6-kilometer area in question as its own, has denied that its troops ever crossed into Cambodian territory. The heads of Thailand's armed forces, under Supreme Commander Gen. Songkitti Chakkabatra, issued a joint statement Tuesday saying Thai troops will not be withdrawn from the disputed border with Cambodia despite Hun Sen's ultimatum. ''The three armed forces reaffirmed that we are ready for any confrontation, both in terms of forces and weapons to protect our territorial integrity,'' it said. But the statement went on to say that ''resolving the conflicts by dialogue would be better and Thailand is ready to continue the dialogue.''

KyodoEEEE

Cambodian king grants amnesty to Prince Ranariddh

PHNOM PENH , Sept. 25 KYODO

Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni on Thursday granted amnesty to Prince Norodom Ranariddh, who was sentenced in absentia to 18 months in jail for breach of trust. The amnesty paves the way for the prince to return home any time he wishes to do so. According to a royal decree signed Thursday by the king, the amnesty was made following a request from Prime Minister Hun Sen. Suth Dina, spokesman of the Norodom Ranariddh Party, said the prince will arrive in Cambodia on Sunday and is planned to meet with reporters on Oct. 2.

Ranariddh, 64, who has lived in self-imposed exile for nearly two years and is currently in Malaysia , was not available for comment. Ranariddh, a former prime minister and a son of retired King Norodom Sihanouk, was sentenced in absentia to 18 months in jail by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court in March 2007 for breach of trust in connection with the sale of his former party's headquarters. The prince had acknowledged the sale of FUNCINPEC's headquarters in Phnom Penh to a private company for $3.6 million in 2005, but claimed it was done with the consent of the party's members. Ranariddh was a president of the royalist FUNCINPEC until he was ousted in 2006 by the party. After his ouster, the prince turned the property into the headquarters of his newly found Norodom Ranariddh Party. Ranariddh and Hun Sen were co-prime ministers from 1993 until the prince was ousted by Hun Sen in 1997.

KyodoSeptember 25, 2008

Cambodia allows Muslim students to wear headscarves in school

PHNOM PENH , Sept. 12 KYODO

The Cambodian government this week issued a directive allowing Muslim students to wear their traditional headscarves in school. The directive signed Wednesday by Prime Minister Hun Sen advised all public and private schools to allow Muslim students to wear headscarves if they wish to do so. The premier said in the directive that allowing Muslim students to wear the hijab, or headscarf, was in conformity with the country's Constitution, which states that all Cambodians have the same rights under the law, regardless of their ethnicity, religion, belief, or language. The Cham ethnic group, Cambodia 's Muslim minority, represents some 4 percent of the Buddhist country's 13.4 million people.

Unlike as in neighboring Thailand , there are no religious tensions in Cambodia . Zakariya Adam, secretary of state of the Cults and Religion Ministry, said the move was warmly welcomed by the Cham community. He said some Muslims, especially females, have dropped out of school because the school uniforms go against their beliefs.

The government's move comes as Cambodia is having closer ties with Muslim countries, especially those in the Middle East . Since the start of this year, leaders of oil-rich nations Qatar and Kuwait have paid visits to the country, and Hun Sen is planned to pay official visits to the two countries early next year. But Zakariya Adam said the directive was made as a response to Cambodian Muslim community's request.

KyodoSeptember 12, 2008

Iraqi demining soldiers visit Cambodia for experience

PHNOM PENH , Sept. 8 KYODO

A delegation of Iraqi demining soldiers is making a 10-day visit to Cambodia to get experience, a senior Cambodian demining official said Monday.
Kem Sophoan, director general of Cambodian Mine Action Center , told Kyodo news that the 14-member delegation from Iraqi Mine Risk Education arrived in Cambodia on Sunday and will make visits to at least four provinces and municipalities with areas covered by land mines and unexploded ordnance.
He said during their visit, which is organized by the center and UNICEF, the Iraqis will learn how Cambodia manages to clear the land mines and unexploded ordnance and how it divides demined land among local residents for crop production, among other things.
While visiting mined areas, they will get field experience in clearing land mines.
Kem Sophoan said it is the second time that Cambodia has received such a demining delegation from abroad.
Last year, a similar delegation consisting of people from nine mine-affected countries -- including Angola , Mozambique and Ethiopia -- visited to Cambodia to learn from its demining experience.
Due to long decades of civil war, millions of land mines have been planted in Cambodia since 1967 and accidents caused by landmines and unexploded ordnance are still common, killing or injuring about 400 people every year.
Some 40 percent of the land covered by land mines and unexploded ordnance has been cleared. As a result, many Cambodians have become among of the world's most experienced demining experts.
KyodoSeptember 08, 2008

Cambodia advances 15 places in Doing Business 2009 rankings

By Puy Kea
PHNOM PENH , Sept. 10 KYODO -- Cambodia moved up 15 places to 135th in the ranking of the ease of doing business around the world, according to a report released Wednesday by International Finance Corporation and the World Bank. Cambodia 's significantly higher standing is the result of reforms that make it easier for businesses to get credit and to close a business. ''These are very encouraging results,'' said Stephane Guimbert, senior country economist for the World Bank in Cambodia .

''These positive results show important reforms are being introduced leading to substantial improvement in Cambodia 's ranking this year,'' he said. ''These results are consistent with the survey of 500 firms that we are just completing to assess the investment climate in Cambodia .'' The IFC-World Bank report, Doing Business 2009, which compares 181 economies, uses 10 indicators of business regulation such as starting a business, dealing with construction permits, employing workers, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, and closing a business.

The rankings are derived from reviews of laws and regulations, and in-depth interviews with business service providers such as accountants and lawyers. Doing Business surveys, however, do not assess such areas as macroeconomic policy, quality of infrastructure, currency volatility, investor perceptions, or crime rates. Cambodia 's showing this year is a result of two reforms. The first is passage of the Law on Secured Transactions in 2007 that makes it possible for a business to use its moveable and intangible assets as security for a loan, and the second reform was the passage of the Law on Bankruptcy.

''Enabling banks to accept moveable assets as collateral is a major improvement in access to finance in Cambodia ,'' said Trang Nguyen, IFC's head of Advisory Services for the Mekong Region. She added a successful small and medium enterprise that has valuable moveable assets but lacks land and buildings to use as collateral can now get financing needed to improve its business.

''This, in turn, should enable SMEs, which represent over 99 percent of Cambodia 's firms and 45 percent of employment, to expand, create more jobs, and contribute to economic growth and poverty reduction,'' she said. Creating jobs is especially important given the nearly 250,000 young people who are reaching working age and joining the labor market every year, she added. The statement said Cambodia has also improved indicators on trading across borders by reducing the time required to export from 37 to 22 days and import times from 46 to 30 days.

KyodoSeptember 10, 2008

Cambodian transgender lodges complaint with Khmer Rouge court

PHNOM PENH, Sept. 3 KYODO

A Cambodian transgender woman on Wednesday lodged a complaint with the U.N.-backed Khmer Rouge genocide tribunal alleging she was a victim of gender-based crimes during the country's Khmer Rouge regime.

Sou Sotheavy, 68, said at a press conference that she was persecuted for being a transgender and was raped by Khmer Rouge officials and soldiers during the 1975-1979 regime. Sotheavy said she was punished for having committed ''moral offences'' and for behaving as a woman and placed several times in re-education camps as well as in prisons.

''I was raped by Khmer Rouge prison chiefs and other soldiers and forced into an arranged marriage with a woman whom I had only 10 days with,'' she said. Her lawyer, Silke Stuzinsky, said the application of Sotheavy's complaint was submitted to the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia on Wednesday and hoped that her client's case will be processed by the court. Sou Sotheavy is now the director of a local nongovernmental organization, CNMWD, which fights for the rights of sex workers and sexual minorities.

Sou Sotheavy's action is the first complaint before the ECCC concerning sexual violence under the Khmer Rouge regime. In her complaint, she said she is not seeking compensation but to tell her story to the world on how sexual violence was committed during the Khmer Rouge era. ''I am representing many transgenders who suffered like me during the period, but most of them were already killed or died,'' she said.

The ECCC said that, to date, investigations into sexual violence have not been included for the reason that there is a lack of sufficient evidence. But Sotheavy's complaint will be a step that would encourage other victims of such crimes to come forward and demand acknowledgment and justice for their suffering, which has largely been ignored until now.

''I hope my case will help more victims of sexual violence to speak out and can also help transgenders, other sexual minorities and sex workers in other countries to speak out for their rights and to have serious crimes committed against us recognized by international courts,'' she said. The ECCC was established to bring former senior Khmer Rouge leaders and those responsible for crimes committed in late 1970s.

KyodoSeptember 03, 2008

Cambodia seeks listing of genocide archives in UNESCO register

By Puy Kea
PHNOM PENH , Sept. 3 KYODO

Cambodia has applied for historical materials from a former Khmer Rouge prison and interrogation center in Phnom Penh to be included in an international register as part of a UNESCO-run program to preserve the world's documentary heritage, a government official said Wednesday. Tan Theany, secretary general of the Cambodian National Commission for UNESCO, told Kyodo News that Cambodia formally submitted its application to UNESCO last Friday in the hope that UNESCO will include it next year in its Memory of the World Register.

The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum Archives elucidate the fate of over 15,000 prisoners who were held at Tuol Sleng, a former schoolhouse, during the 1975-1979 reign of the Khmer Rouge. Few of them survived the ordeal. The archive materials listed in Cambodia 's nomination form include photographs of prisoners taken before and after they were killed, documents containing biographical records and ''confessions'' extracted under torture, and various torture instruments.

According to the form, the archives constitute the ''most complete existing documentary picture'' of the Khmer Rouge prison system, ''which was a fundamental part of the regime under which perhaps 2-3 million people (25-30 percent of the population) lost their lives in a period of 3 years, 8 months and 20 days.'' ''Its significance as a part of the Memory of the World stems from its testament to man's inhumanity to man and its documentation of one of the most extreme examples of crimes against humanity in the 20th century with a major impact on world history.''

The archives are currently being mined for evidence used in the pre-trials and trials of surviving senior Khmer Rouge leaders at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, which was established in 2006 with U.N. backing. The archives were earlier this year accepted for inclusion in a regional UNESCO register covering Asia and the Pacific. But Tan Theany said Cambodia wants them listed also in the international register of the Memory of the World Program, which UNESCO says is intended ''to guard against collective amnesia'' by preserving and disseminating valuable archive holdings and library collections worldwide.

KyodoSeptember 03, 2008

Cambodia's population grows 8.5% in 10 years to top 13 million

PHNOM PENH , Sept. 3 KYODO
Cambodia 's population has increased by nearly 2 million over the past decade to reach 13.4 million, according to the government's provisional census data released Wednesday.

The census data, collected in March, put the population at 13,388,910, for an increase of 1.95 million or 8.54 percent since 1998 when the country had 11,437,656 people. Cambodia 's first census, which was held in 1962, had put the population then at 5.7 million. The next census was not until 36 years later.

The country's annual population growth rate during the last decade averaged 1.54 percent, higher than the average growth rate of 1.3 percent for Southeast Asia as a whole. Population density during the same period increased from 64 to 75 people per square kilometer, significantly lower than the current average of 126 for Southeast Asia as a whole.
KyodoSeptember 03, 2008

Cambodia's first lady visits disputed border area

By Puy Kea
PHNOM PENH, Aug. 1 KYODO -- Cambodia's first lady on Friday led a huge delegation to visit an ancient temple on Cambodia's tense border with Thailand, amid an ongoing military standoff between the two countries in an area adjacent to the temple. Bun Rany, wife of Prime Minister Hun Sen, was accompanied to the temple of Preah Vihear by spouses of other government leaders and more than 1,000 others, including military and government officials, police, bodyguards, civilians and Buddhist monks, said Hang Soth, director general of National Authority for Preah Vihear.

Hang Soth told Kyodo News by telephone that the two-hour ''religious event'' at the temple, which is perched atop a 600-meter cliff in the Dangrek Mountains , was dedicated to peace and stability. He said the visitors prayed for nonviolence and for the departure of some 400 Thai troops from adjacent land that Cambodia claims as its own. Bun Rany presented mosquito nets, medical supplies, instant noodles and canned fish to soldiers and police stationed in the Preah Vihear area and to residents of the area, the official said.

She also stopped briefly at Keo Sikha Kiri Svara Pagoda, the hotspot of the military standoff between Cambodia and Thailand , another military official said. The visit by Hun Sen's spouse comes nearly a month after Preah Vihear temple was inscribed by UNESCO as a World Heritage site over Thailand 's objections. The military standoff between the two countries began July 15 after Cambodia detained three Thai activists who Cambodia authorities allege illegally crossed into Cambodian territory.

Since then, both Thailand and Cambodia have been building up their forces in the area adjacent to Preah Vihear. Thailand and Cambodia both claim ownership of a 4.6-square-kilometer area adjacent to Preah Vihear temple, which was built between the mid-10th and early 12th centuries and dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. In talks last Monday, the foreign ministers of the two countries agreed in principle on redeployment of troops out of the disputed area and concurred that both countries ''should exercise utmost restraint to avoid the possibility of armed confrontation, so that the current problem may be settled through peaceful means.'' But the two sides' troops have not yet been withdrawn.

KyodoAugust 01, 2008

Standoff continues on Thai-Cambodia border as Hun Sen weighs in (Lead)

By Puy Kea
PHNOM PENH, July 17 KYODO -- A standoff between hundreds of Cambodian and Thai troops along the two countries' disputed border continued for a third day Thursday as Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen sent his Thai counterpart a letter urging the withdrawal of Thai troops from what he claimed is Cambodian soil.

In his letter to Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, Hun Sen said Thai troops began encroaching on Cambodian territory Tuesday and have since then ''increased in number rather than withdrawing.'' ''The deteriorating situation is very bad for the relations between our two countries, and therefore, I would like to ask Your Excellency to take measures to ease the tensions and order the Thai troops to withdraw,'' he said. Hun Sen said he was pleased to hear that Samak has agreed to meet with Cambodian Defense Minister Tea Banh next Monday in Thailand 's Sakao Province to discuss the issue. Cambodian officials said Thursday that some 400 Thai troops are now on Cambodian territory, an increase of some 200 from Wednesday.

Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said Cambodia has not increased its troops in the area but has other troops on standby in case any ''worse situation might erupt.'' He added, however, that Cambodian troops will not use force unless first attacked. Thailand insists it has no troops in Cambodia but only in an undemarcated area of the border near the Cambodia-controlled Preah Vihear temple, which has been at the center of a bitter 50-year dispute between the two countries.
Kyodo
July 17, 2008

Cambodia says Thai troops on its soil increase to about 200

By Puy Kea PHNOM PENH, July 16 KYODO

Cambodia on Wednesday claimed that more Thai troops entered its territory overnight, with the figure increasing from 170 late Tuesday to about 200 Wednesday morning. Information Minister Khieu Kanharith told a press conference that some 380 Cambodian soldiers are deployed in the same area, near the Preah Vihear temple that has been at the center of a bitter 50-year dispute on the Thai-Cambodian border. The government spokesman said the Cambodian side does not intend to resort to use of force, as it would be counterproductive for bilateral relations, and hopes the Thai side is of the same mind.

If Thailand were to launch a military attack, he said, it would be strongly condemned by the international community and such action would also damage the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, of which both countries are members. Cambodia will use all bilateral and diplomatic channels to avert fighting, he said, adding that representatives of two governments will soon meet in Thailand.

Cambodia claimed Tuesday that some 30 Thai soldiers had entered its territory in the vicinity of the temple -- just hours after Cambodian border authorities detained three Thais around 9 a.m. for illegally entering the temple, which is under Cambodian control. The three -- a Buddhist monk, a clergyman and a clergywoman -- were released later in the day and returned to Thailand. The ancient cliff-top temple was last week inscribed as a World Heritage site, capping seven years of efforts by Phnom Penh over Bangkok's objections. Thailand had occupied the area from 1949 when Cambodia was a French protectorate, but Cambodia won possession of the temple through an International Court of Justice ruling in 1962.

Kyodo
July 16, 2008

Cambodian journalist from opposition newspaper shot dead

PHNOM PENH , July 12 KYODO

A Cambodian journalist working for an opposition newspaper has been shot dead along with his son in the capital Phnom Penh , police and witnesses said Saturday. Khim Sambor, 47, who worked for the Moneaksekar Khmer (Khmer Conscience) newspaper, which is allied with the opposition Sam Rainsy Party, was attacked along with his 21-year-old son by a pair of motorbike-riding assailants at around 6:30 p.m. Friday. Police sources and witnesses said the journalist was shot in the back as he was riding on motorbike driven by his son Khat Sarin Theata after they had left a sports stadium where they had been exercising. A gunman riding pillion on the assailants' motorcycle then shot the son in the chest as he was going to the aid of his father and telephoning for help.

The Sam Rainsy Party issued a statement Saturday calling the killing of Khim Sambor an ''assassination'' and ''a political threat,'' while expressing doubt that his killers would be apprehended. ''When one who dares to write or argue against those with absolute power is assassinated, the perpetrators behind the killing are never found nor tried according to the law. This clearly demonstrates the nature of those in power,'' it said.

The Moneaksekar Khmer newspaper has been involved in disputes with the government led for almost three decades by the Cambodian People's Party, most recently one that led to the arrest and detention last month of its editor-in-chief Dam Sith. Dam Sith, a senior Sam Rainsy Party member and parliamentary candidate, was charged with defamation and disinformation and sent to prison for pre-trial detention after Foreign Minister Hor Namhong filed a complain against him for printing allegations that the foreign minister had ties to the Khmer Rouge. The charge was later dropped under international pressure.

The killing of Khim Sambor comes amid the month-long official campaign season for the July 27 general election, which opened June 26. In its statement, the Sam Rainsy Party urged the international community to push for investigation of a series of assassinations in recent years, including those of Chea Vichea, leader of the Cambodian workers' trade union, Om Rasadi, a former parliamentian, ''as well as countless numbers of journalists, political activists and others.'' It also sought protection for Oum Sara, the party's information officer, who it said faced an assassination attempt on July 6.

Meanwhile the Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee issued a statement on the incident, saying the security and safety of journalists and human rights workers in Cambodia is being ''seriously threatened'' ahead of the election. It said the motive for Khim Sambor and his son was most likely related to his work as a journalist, and it called for the culprits to be arrested so that the incident does not make voters fearful ahead of the election.

KyodoJuly 12, 2008

Court denies bail for ex-Khmer Rouge minister

PHNOM PENH , July 9 KYODO

The U.N.-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal in Cambodia dismissed Wednesday a bail request by former Khmer Rouge Cabinet minister Ieng Thirith. Presiding Judge Prak Kimsan said the request was denied to ensure her presence at trail, and protect her personal safety. Ieng Thirith, 76, made the appeal for bail May 21. She was minister of education and of social affairs during the Khmer Rouge reign from 1975 to 1979.

Ieng Thirith, who is the wife of former Khmer Rouge Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ieng Sary, was charged with crimes against humanity in November last year. Ieng Sary, 83, is also charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity. Ieng Thirith was the third of the five Khmer Rouge leaders who are in detention awaiting trial whose appeals for release have been denied.

The court earlier dismissed appeals by Kaing Kek Ieu, known as Duch, chief of Tuol Sleng torture center and Nuon Chea, known as Brother No. 2. No decision has yet been rendered on Ieng Sary's appeal. Tribunal ECCC sources said Duch will be the first person to be tried, sometime in August or September. The trials of the others -- Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Ieng Thirith and former head of state Kheiu Samphan -- are not expected before next year.

The Khmer Rouge regime is blamed for the deaths of at least 1.7 million Cambodians during their rule.

KyodoJuly 09, 2008

Cambodian temple becomes World Heritage site over Thai objections

By Puy Kea
PHNOM PENH , July 8 KYODO

After seven years of efforts by the Cambodian government, the cliff-top temple of Preah Vihear on the border with Thailand was inscribed as a World Heritage site on Tuesday over Bangkok 's objections. The application received the unanimous approval of the 21 members of the World Heritage Committee, meeting in Quebec City , Canada , the government said in a statement. ''The inscription of the Sacred Temple of Preah Vihear on the World Heritage List is a matter very dear to the hearts of all Cambodians as it represents one of the great triumphs of Khmer civilization,'' said Deputy Prime Minister Sok An, who headed a Cambodian delegation to the meeting.

The committee's approval followed two weeks of controversy surrounding the position of the Thai government concerning the proposed listing. The Khmer temple, built between the mid-10th century and early 12th century, sits atop a 600-meter cliff in the Dangrek Mountains on the Thai-Cambodian border. Cambodia won possession of it through the International Court of Justice in The Hague and regained it in 1962 from Thailand , which had occupied it from 1949 when Cambodia was a French protectorate.

Thailand had been hesitant to see the temple become a World Heritage site since the two countries have not yet arrived at a demarcation agreement on land around the ruins. Last month, Thailand and Cambodia signed a joint communique in which Thailand agreed to actively support World Heritage listing for the temple, after receiving assurances the move would not affect Thailand 's claims to territory around the temple.

In a sudden turnabout, however, the Thai government later the same month withdrew its support for the move following antigovernment protests demanding annulment of the endorsement. Thai Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama subsequently traveled to Canada in a failed attempt to persuade the committee to postpone its vote. Welcoming the committee's decision Tuesday, Prime Minister Hun Sen released a statement calling it another source of pride for Cambodia .

It marks the second Cambodian site to be inscribed on the World Heritage List, following the famed temples of Angkor , inscribed as a World Heritage site in 1992. In addition, Cambodia 's classical dance was listed as a World Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2003.

KyodoJuly 08, 2008

Former Khmer Rouge foreign minister appears in court for 1st time

PHNOM PENH , June 30 KYODO -- Former Khmer Rouge Foreign Minister Ieng Sary appeared Monday in a U.N.-backed court to appeal for his release on bail, in what marked his first appearance in court and before the public since his arrest late last year. Ieng Sary appeared in the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia in front of five Cambodian and foreign judges and several hundred spectators, including Khmer Rouge victims and their relatives as well as dozens of local and foreign journalists. His lawyer Ang Udom told reporters earlier that Ieng Sary is innocent of the charges against him -- crimes against humanity and war crimes committed during the bloody reign of the Khmer Rouge in the latter half of the 1970s. He also argued that the ECCC has no jurisdiction to investigate or prosecute Ieng Sary because the defendant was already prosecuted, tried, convicted and sentenced to death in absentia in 1979, only to later be amnestied by the government for breaking away from the Khmer Rouge and leading a mass defection in August 1996. But the prosecution argues that the ECCC is not bound by domestic pardons, even if validly granted, saying a national amnesty for international crimes like genocide and crimes against humanity cannot bar prosecution before an internationalized tribunal. Ieng Sary, 83, is one of the five suspects identified by the court set up to bring former Khmer Rouge leaders to trial for crimes committed during the 1975-1979 genocide in which at least 1.7 million Cambodians died. He was arrested in November along with his wife Ieng Thirith, who was a social affairs minister in the Khmer Rouge government. One week before their arrest, Ieng Sary told Kyodo News at his home in Phnom Penh that he had ''never ordered anyone killed'' during the reign of the Khmer Rouge and that he was merely in charge of foreign affairs.

Kyodo June 30, 2008

Jailed Cambodian publisher appeals for release on bail

By Puy Kea
PHNOM PENH , June 13 KYODO

The jailed publisher of a Cambodian opposition newspaper has appealed for release on bail, saying his detention is not according to law, a journalists' group said Friday. Club of Cambodian Journalists said a five-member delegation made a visit Friday to Dam Sith in Prey Sar Prison, where he has been detained since Sunday after being charged with ''disinformation, defamation and insult'' by Foreign Minister Hor Namhong. ''Through the Club of Cambodian Journalists, Mr. Dam Sith has appealed to Phnom Penh Municipal Court to expedite legal procedures so he can be released soon,'' the Club said in a statement.

In a separate statement released just hours after Dam Sith's arrest Sunday, the CCJ said that according to the press law a lawsuit shall not be filed against a newspaper whenever the newspaper quotes ''politicians, lawmakers or senators.'' Dam Sith, 39, is the publisher of Moneaksekar Khmer and was charged for running an article quoting Sam Rainsy, leader of his self-named opposition party, that allegedly accused Hor Namhong of having been a Khmer Rouge official. Hor Namhong has denied any involvement with the regime during his time as a prisoner at the Boeung Trabek camp in Phnom Penh .

He has successfully sued people in the past after they accused him of Khmer Rouge links. Dam Sith, is also standing as an opposition candidate in next month's parliamentary election. In the wake of his arrest, local and international human rights advocacy groups, in addition to media groups, have expressed concern over the press freedom ahead of Cambodia 's general election set for July 27 and called for his release.

They said the arrest betrays the Cambodian judiciary's ''continued disregard for the civil provisions of the 1995 Press Law.'' The Southeast Asian Press Alliance, a coalition of press advocacy groups from the Philippines, Thailand, and Indonesia, joined the Cambodian groups in calling for Dam Sith's release and urged the government to allow free expression and press freedom.

KyodoJune 13, 2008

WFP extends breakfast program for poor Cambodian students

PHNOM PENH , June 10 KYODO

The U.N. food agency said Tuesday that a popular breakfast program for poor Cambodian children which was suspended last month due to a budget shortfall has resumed.

Thomas Keusters, country director of the World Food Program in Cambodia , told Kyodo News that the WFP headquarters in Rome extended the program by infusing $5.4 million, allowing the program to feed children until July 5, the end of their 2007-2008 school year.

His agency decided to suspend the program on May 1 due to the soaring cost of rice.
Keusters along with many teachers across the country had expressed concern that the suspension would affect some 450,000 schoolchildren across the country.

The program was considered to play an important role in attracting children to school and helping them pay attention in class.

The WFP earlier explained that the program was suspended because of a budget shortfall in the wake of the price of rice shooting up to about $630 per ton in March this year compared to $265 per ton in March last year.

The breakfast consists of 100 grams of rice supplemented by 25 grams of yellow split peas from the United States , 20 grams of canned fish from Japan or Thailand , 10 grams of vegetable oil and 3 grams of salt. The ration, which the WFP launched in 1999, was delivered to 1,344 out of some 6,500 elementary schools across the country.

Cambodia is one of the poorest countries in the region, with some 35 percent of its 14 million people earning less than $1 a day.
KyodoJune 10, 2008

Cambodia on Tier 2 in 2008 human trafficking: U.S. report

By Puy Kea
PHNOM PENH , June 5 KYODO -- The United States released its annual report Thursday on 2008 trafficking in persons and placed Cambodia on the Tier 2 Watch List. The report, released by the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh , said Cambodia had made some improvements and increased engagement in combating the continued, serious problem of trafficking in persons.

The report recommends Cambodia continue implementation of anti-trafficking legislation and improve the number of prosecutions and convictions among others. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sar Kheng said he welcomed the report and hoped Cambodia will not fall back in its classification to Tier 3 or Tier 4, instead, he said Cambodia will catch Tier 1 in the future.

In a separate 2008 TIP Report, released by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Washington on Wednesday, it said Cambodia is a source and destination country for trafficked persons. ''Women and girls are trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation to Thailand and Malaysia . Some Cambodian women who migrated to Taiwan as the result of brokered international marriages were subsequently trafficked for prostitution,'' it said.

''Sex trafficking of women and girls, including ethnic Vietnamese, occurs within the country, from rural areas to the urban areas of Phnom Penh , Siem Reap, and Sihanoukville,'' the report added. '' Cambodia is a destination for Vietnamese women and girls trafficked for prostitution. Cambodia is also a destination country for foreign child sex tourists, with increasing reports of Asian men traveling to Cambodia in order to have sex with underage virgin girls,'' it said.

Countries determined to have a significant number of trafficking victims are assigned to one of three tiers. Countries assessed as meeting the ''minimum standards for the elimination of severe forms of trafficking'' are classified as Tier 1.

And countries assessed as not fully complying with the minimum standards, but making significant efforts to meet those minimum standards, are classified as Tier 2, whereas countries assessed as neither complying with the minimum standards nor making significant efforts to do so are classified as Tier 3.

KyodoJune 05, 2008

Khieu Samphan released hospital, returns to court detention

PHNOM PENH, June 5 KYODO

After a two-week stay in hospital, ailing former Khmer Rouge head of state Khieu Samphan was sent back to U.N.-Cambodia tribunal facilities, a tribunal official told Kyodo News on Thursday. Helen Jarvis, chief of public affairs of the Extraordinary Chambers of the Courts in Cambodia , said he returned to the ECCC detention center at 3:30 p.m. Thursday.

''His health condition allows him to return to the ECCC,'' she quoted doctors as saying. Khieu Maly, his daughter, confirmed her father was taken back to the ECCC on Thursday afternoon while she was together with her mother at the hospital.

On Wednesday, a senior doctor who is in charge of Khieu Samphan's health at Calmette Hospital told Kyodo News that Khieu Samphan's health has improved ''step by step.'' The 76-year-old was hospitalized after suffering high blood pressure on May 21. Khieu Samphan was nominal head of the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia in the late 1970s and has been charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes by the ECCC.

He is one of the Khmer Rouge's five prime suspects who have been charged and detained at the ECCC. The other four are: Nuon Chea, better known as the Khmer Rouge's Brother No. 2; Kaing Khek Ieu, alias Duch, head of the Tuol Sleng torture center in Phnom Penh ; Ieng Sary, deputy prime minister and foreign minister, and his wife Ieng Thirith, education and social affairs minister. The Khmer Rouge is blamed for the deaths of at least 1.7 million Cambodians during their rule from 1975 to 1979.

KyodoJune 05, 2008