Villagers accuse media [Deum Ampil] of bias in land dispute [-Soy Sopheap is also accused by Kg Speu villagers]

Nao Khun displays a newspaper that has angered Kandal villagers. (Photo by: Pha Lina)

Wednesday, 12 May 2010
May Titthara
The Phnom Penh Post

On April 20, Soy Sopheap attended a land dispute meeting between authorities and villagers in Kampong Speu province’s Thpong district, during which, villagers say, he attempted to coerce them into placing their thumbprints on documents that they feared could later be used to cheat them out of land.

VILLAGERS involved in a land row with the Heng Development Company in Kandal province’s Kandal Stung district publicly accused Deum Ampil News publisher Soy Sopheap of disseminating disinformation Tuesday after he published and broadcast stories that the villagers say demonstrated bias towards the company.

A print story, published Tuesday, quoted at length the owner of the company, Seang Chan Heng, as well as two letters issued on May 7 by Prime Minister Hun Sen’s cabinet.

The letters stated that on October 5 of last year, Hun Sen decided that the Heng Development Company was the rightful owner of the 200 hectares of disputed land because the company had obtained the proper land titles.

The Deum Ampil story also cited a letter from the Council of Ministers dated December 24, 2008, that reached the same conclusion. But the story did not include any quotes from villagers affected by the dispute.

Oeung Chanry, a village representative, said that Deum Ampil Radio had broadcast comments that also were akin to disinformation.

Soy Sopheap “accused the villagers of having sold that land already, but said that we wanted to take the land back so we could sell it again because now land is getting a high price”, she said.

She reiterated earlier claims that the cabinet’s letters were “fake”, and demanded that Soy Sopheap explain his actions.

Him Sophal, a village representative, said that Soy Sopheap should not make false accusations against villagers or take the side of companies involved in land disputes. “We plan to go to the Deum Ampil office to ask Soy Sopheap to explain why their story supported the company,” he said.

But Soy Sopheap denied his story was biased. “What I did was balanced because I took quotes from sources to write the story and I wrote what sources said,” he added.

On April 20, Soy Sopheap attended a land dispute meeting between authorities and villagers in Kampong Speu province’s Thpong district, during which, villagers say, he attempted to coerce them into placing their thumbprints on documents that they feared could later be used to cheat them out of land.

The Kandal villagers say they have been farming the land since 1986, but officials say the company purchased it in 1996 for rice cultivation.

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Labels: Biased news media | Deum Ampil Newspaper | Kampong Speu | Land dispute | Soy Sopheap

Hot weather, lack of supply causes Phnom Penh's blackouts

May 12, 2010
Xinhua

Rolling blackouts are being conducted in areas of Phnom Penh because the city's power usage is exceeding its capacity, local media reported on Wednesday.

The Electricite du Cambodge (EDC) official, who declined to be named, was quoted by the Cambodia Daily as saying that the current stretch of hot weather was to blame for the blackouts in Phnom Penh.

"The requirement of people using power is higher than our ability .... It is 10 percent higher than our ability," he was quoted as saying. "The blackout relates to the hot weather and the electricity generator being broken from overuse."

The official said EDC has been cutting power to difference areas in Phnom Penh for one to two hours each day to mitigate the problem.

The official said that Phnom Penh customers currently demand about 270 megawatts of power, but EDC only has the ability to supply 240 megawatts.

Keo Rattanak, director of EDC, confirmed that the blackouts were due to a lack of supply, but added that other factors were involved, such as equipment maintenance before the coming rainy season and the renovation of the Phnom Penh roads and drainage system.

Oum Ryna, deputy director of the meteorology department at the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology, said that the weather in April and May was hotter this year than last year.

Ryna said the temperature had risen to 40 degrees in Phnom Penh on Monday, adding that the temperature had been averaging about 41 degrees in Battambang and Siem Reap provinces since the end of April.

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Labels: Electricity shortage | Increased heat

Cambodian men run slavery risk on region's fishing boats

Wed, 12 May 2010
Robert Carmichael
DPA

Phnom Penh - Sok Sopheng was 21 when an employment agent offered him the chance of a job in neighbouring Thailand.

As one of nine children from a small village in rural Cambodia, his prospects were limited. His family owned just half a hectare of land, and his father was ill with beriberi.

Along with three friends, Sok Sopheng (name changed on request to protect identity) decided to cross illegally into Thailand and get the promised factory or construction work paying 110 US dollars a month. The four of them ended up virtually slaved on a fishing boat.

The issue of male trafficking is generally ignored - though that is starting to change.

Manfred Hornung, legal adviser at Cambodian human-rights group Licadho, said that Sok Sopheng's experience is typical of more than 60 Cambodian men his organization interviewed who were trafficked into slave-like conditions aboard Thai and Malaysian fishing boats.

In rural Cambodia, where many of the victims are recruited, the risks are not well understood. Hornung said the process generally starts with an agent visiting a village, where there is usually little work or opportunities.

Sok Sopheng and his companions were taken to Pak Nam, a fishing port 30 kilometres south of Bangkok. It was only when they were locked in a guesthouse that they realized something was wrong. Days later, they were sold to a fishing boat captain.

Sok Sopheng told researchers from Licadho that they were press- ganged onto the boat. The captain said they would get paid once they had completed three years work.

Six months later, Sok Sopheng jumped ship.

Hornung explained: "(The agent) approaches a group of young males to convince them to go to Thailand. In most cases this broker won't tell these youngsters that they have to work on a fishing boat."

The victims are lured with stories of construction or plantation jobs, which sound more promising than the meagre livelihoods available at home.

Once in Thailand, they are at the mercy of the agents.

Hornung stresses that not all fishing boat crews are coerced, but that conditions on the worst boats amount to modern-day slavery. He said the men are usually unable to escape because the captains and Thai crews are often armed.

"Once they are on the boats, they have to work long hours - in most cases these young fishermen tell us that they have maybe two to three hours rest per night," Hornung said.

They get meagre rations of food, are regularly beaten and are drugged to keep them awake and working.

"We have had reports that men who fell sick were thrown overboard," he said, adding that many of the worst ships stay at sea for months at a time, loading their catches onto motherships on the South China Sea.

In one recent case, a Cambodian man was kept at sea for three years without seeing land.

"He was basically sold on the high seas from boat to boat over a three-year period. And these cases are not infrequent," Hornung said.

Although little research has been done on the topic, a recent conference on migration in Phnom Penh did broach the subject.

Louise Rose, a victim protection officer for The Asia Foundation (TAF), a non-governmental organization, said that 100,000 men, women and children were deported last year from Thailand.

Among those were 258 men whom TAF questioned in what remains the largest survey to date on Cambodian male trafficking. Rose said more than 90 per cent of those men surveyed had worked on fishing boats, and one in five of them had experienced the slave-like conditions that Sok Sopheng encountered.

Researchers were keen to understand what motivated the men to leave Cambodia, as this would help them draft a programme to protect others. Half of the men cited debt as a motivator in looking for work in Thailand. Even more blamed a lack of food.

"Three-quarters of the men reported not enough food being a motivator for migrating," she said. "And the other one that was even higher again was no source of income. That was about 78 per cent."

Lack of income and opportunity were what compelled Sok Sopheng to move. After jumping ship in Malaysia, he was sold to a plantation owner, where he was again forced to work for free.

It took Sok Sopheng another year to get home, where he now works as a farmer and part-time labourer.

Cambodia's economy remains weak, and prospects remain poor for the 350,000 young people entering its job market each year. The agents scouring the countryside are unlikely to run out of candidates for the region's fishing fleets any time soon.

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Labels: Cambodian fishermen slaves | Cambodian migrant workers | Human trafficking | Joblessness in Cambodia

Court rules in favour of Kasit

12/05/2010
Bangkok Post

The Constitution Court on Wednesday ruled that Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya, in sending two letters to Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva suggesting ways of dealing with problems in the Thai-Cambodian relations and former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, had not violated the constitution and was therefore not liable to removal from his porfolio.

The court was ruling on a petition from Senator Ruangkrai Leekijwattana. It was co-signed by a number of senators and forwarded to the court by Senate Speaker Prasopsuk Boondej.

According to the petition, Mr Kasit sent a "top secret" and "most urgent" letter, dated Nov 16, 2009, to the prime minister suggesting ways of dealing with problems in Thai-Cambodian relations.

In another "top secret" letter, dated Nov 10, 2009, Mr Kasit suggested that the prime minister speed up a backlog of cases against Thaksin.

The petition said Mr Kasit had violated Articles 266 and 268 of the constitution prohibiting a cabinet minister, MP or senator from using his or her position to interfere in the work of state officials, directly or indirectly, for their own interests.

It said Mr Kasit was therefore liable to removal from his ministerial post under to Article 182(7) of the constitution.

The court ruled that Mr Kasit, in sending the letter about Thai-Cambodian relations to the prime minister had acted within his authority as stated in the Foreign Ministry Act.

The court ruled the letter about Thaksin was not interference in the work of the courts of justice.

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Labels: Cambodian-Thai relationships | Kasit Piromya | Thai political soap opera | Thaksin Shinawatra

Sacrava's Political Cartoon: The Leeches

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

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Labels: Cambodia | CPP | Political Cartoon | Royalist | Sacrava | Vietnam

Ta An Srok Khmer May 2010 Bulletin

Click here to read Ta An Srok Khmer's monthly bulletin (PDF)

For further information, click here

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Labels: Cambodia politics | Political Op-Ed

LGBT Rights Workshop


LGBT Rights Workshop on Saturday 15th May 2010, 10 am – 12 pm @ Baitong

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Cambodians suffer from discrimination and abuse; including violence, workplace discrimination, and social and familial exclusion. In this context, a series of social events will take place during Cambodia Pride Week (10th to 16th of May 2010) in order to express the solidarity of the LGBT movement in Cambodia and to support the realisation of human rights for the LGBT community in Cambodia.

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Labels: Baitong restaurant | CCHR | Workshop

Hun Xen visits Preah Vihear province … but won’t go anywhere near the border with Thailand

12 May 2010
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

The Cambodia Daily reported that Hun Xen is traveling to visit Preah Vihear province this Wednesday to inaugurate a government office there. Nevertheless, Chhum Socheat, spokesman for the ministry of Defense, said that Hun Xen will not travel to any location near the border or near the Preah Vihear temple. Chhum Socheat said that Hun Xen’s visit is not related to the border issues, he is traveling there to inaugurate a new office located in Preah Vihear city located about 116-km from the border. Chhum Socheat told The Cambodia Daily that Preah Vihear city is very far from the border, therefore, there is no reason for Thailand to be suspicious about Hun Xen’s visit. Um Mara, the Preah Vihear provincial governor, confirmed that Hun Xen’s visit was for an inauguration in the province only.

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Labels: Border dispute with Thailand | Hun Xen | Visit to Preah Vihear

Mekong countries look to cut dependence in air transport from Thailand

May 11, 2010
By Luc Citrinot
eTN

Will Thailand’s status as the natural gateway to the Greater Mekong Sub-Region be soon passé? The question would have raised scepticism or even sarcasm a decade ago. But today, the Kingdom’s lasting political instability might indeed endanger the role it has played to build up the Mekong community. At the Mekong Tourism Forum, officials felt rather uncomfortable to tell their opinion. But by carefully analyzing answers provided by NTOs of each country, the conclusion is simple: everyone tends to recommend alternative gateways to come into the area, despite the attempt by Mrs. Runjuang Tongkrut, director for the policy planning division at the Tourism Authority of Thailand, to reassure the tourism community. “No tourists have been targeted so far by the various political incidents. The protests [have] take[n] place in a small area of Bangkok, and the rest of the Kingdom – including our airports - is safe for travel,” she indicated.

But unfortunately, most visitors would rather avoid a country where instability turns chronic. Such a point of view is comprehensible. Especially as the spectrum of the closure of both Bangkok’s airports in December 2008 continues to haunt both consumers and officials. “We rely a lot on Thailand for incoming overseas travelers. We advise our potential travelers to look at all options such as Malaysia and Singapore,” said Mr. Htay Aung, director, general ministry of hotels and tourism in Myanmar. Laos and Myanmar are indeed the most dependant countries in terms of air access from Thailand. In Cambodia, alternatives are easier as many airlines from ASEAN, and also China and Korea, now operate on a daily basis to both Phnom Penh and Siem Reap international airports.

Vietnam is probably the least dependent in the region on Thailand’s troubles. For Mr. Tran Phong Binh, head of the overseas market division at the Vietnam National Tourism Administration, Vietnam is lucky to have “a strong airline with a comprehensive international network.” Yunnan or Guangxi are also less dependant on Bangkok as a main gateway for air travelers, as good connections exist via Vietnam or China’s major airports.

Thailand’s lack of fortune could even be perceived as the necessary incentive for governments in Indochina to upgrade their airlines or to become more flexible in according traffic rights. Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar have no intercontinental flights for the time: Bangkok’s situation might pressure their respective government to allow their national airline to venture overseas.

The step could help to diminish the risk of relying too much on Bangkok Suvarnabhumi airport as a transfer point. In fact, even transiting via Thailand is turning more complicated due to travel warnings issued by 47 countries – including Vietnam! “Travel warning plays a devastating role for us. For example, as a Laos-based company, we lose many groups, as tour operators from foreign countries do not want to take the risk to financially support themselves [or] tourists in the case of a problem occurring. They [would] rather prefer to cancel,” said Vianney Catteau from Green Discovery, an agency based in Vientiane.

The evolution of Thailand tourist arrivals in 2010 will also certainly influence total arrivals to the Greater Mekong sub-region. “We now expect to receive 14 million tourists, roughly the same number than in 2009. We will then rely more on domestic tourism, which could generate this year some 97 million trips,” said Mrs. Tongkrut. Thailand will certainly lose some market share to other countries as a gateway to the GMS. For now - at least in the short term - Thailand will continue to hold its position as a Mekong regional hub. “This is still the best connected airport in the region with the most extensive network to Europe and excellent connections to Australia or the USA,” said Luzi Matzig from Asian Trails. But the competition will turn increasingly ferocious.

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Labels: Air traffic | Mekong regional countries | Thailand | Thailand political instability | Tourism

China, Cambodia seek to strengthen military ties

BEIJING, May 11 (Xinhua) -- China and Cambodia pledged to strengthen military ties when senior military officials from the two countries met here Tuesday.

Cambodia is China' s good neighbor, friend and partner, China' s Defense Minister Liang Guanglie told Pol Saroeun, commander-in-chief of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces.

Liang said recent years have witnessed high-level contacts, a deepening of economic and trade cooperation, productive exchanges in science and technology, and sound growth in military relations between China and Cambodia.

Both countries have also supported each other on major issues concerning their respective core interests, Liang added.

China hopes to make joint efforts with Cambodia to consolidate their traditional friendship, promote reciprocal cooperation, and constantly enrich their comprehensive cooperative partnership, Liang said.

Chen Bingde, chief of the General Staff of the People' s Liberation Army (PLA) of China, also had talks with Pol Saroeun Tuesday.

Chen said China-Cambodia military relations have smoothly developed with pragmatic and meaningful cooperation in personnel training and the building of military schools and hospitals.

China is ready to work with Cambodia to further boost their military relations, Chen said.

Pol Saroeun said the Cambodian government attaches great importance to its relationship with China and will continue to adhere to the one-China policy.

The Cambodian armed forces would like to work with China to enhance cooperation in various fields, he added.

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Labels: China-Cambodia relation | Chinese military aid | Military cooperation with China

So many schools with ... highly underpaid teachers and the highest adult literacy rate in SE Asia

Cambodia proud with increase of educational institutions

May 11, 2010
Xinhua

While the census showed the adult literacy rate has shown a fairly good increase during 1998-2008, Cambodia is the lowest in the Southeast Asia region after Laos.

Cambodia has recorded a large increase of educational institutions at all level across the country, the government report showed Tuesday.

In the report filed by Ministry of Education said up to date, there are 11, 706 educational institutions or schools and as many as 3,471,867 students are enjoying their education.

The report said, of the total figure, there are 3,410 kindergartens with 186,086 school children, 6,664 primary schools with 2,239,794 students, 1,172 junior high schools with 585,151 students, 383 senior high schools with 323,583 students, and 77 higher educational institutions with 137,253 students.

Cambodia's education has been increased year by year due to the country's development in all fields.

Last year, Cambodia's new census showed that literacy rate in the country was impressively risen over the past ten years.

The census results received showed that "the number of literate population aged 7 and more in the country has spectacular risen from about 5.78 million to 8.96 million during the ten-year period, registering a decadal growth rate of nearly 55 percent as against the population growth rate of about 17 percent."

It said the general population literacy rate, which is the percentage of literate population to total population aged 7 and more, has increased from 62.80 in 1998 to 78.35 in 2008.

The urban literacy level has increased from 78.51 to 90.17 percent and the rural literacy rate has gone up from 59.07 percent to 75.33 percent.

While the census showed the adult literacy rate has shown a fairly good increase during 1998-2008, Cambodia is the lowest in the Southeast Asia region after Laos.

It is also observed that the number of children aged 6 and more attending school or educational institution have increased from 36.27 percent during 1998-2008, but the proportion of females attending school continues to be less than the corresponding proportion for males both in the urban and rural areas.

The 2008 population census results showed that the Cambodian population has increased by 1.96 million over the last 10 years from 11.4 million in 1998 to 13.4 million in 2008.

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Labels: Child education | Literacy | Low teachers' salary

"K'sach Khmer Thao-kè Baum Luok" a Poem in Khmer by Sam Vichea

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Neak Chhneah Teng Ter Chuob Pier ... - "The winner usually faces torment..." - Op-Ed by Ven. Hok Savann


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Labels: Buddhism | Buddhist philosophy | Hok Savann | Op-Ed

The Forgotten Victims Of Priest Sexual Abuse: Girls

KI-Media Note: We received the request to post following article from I.J, one of KI-Media Readers

Originally posted here

A few weeks ago, Slate's June Thomas asked a new question about abuse in the Catholic Church: "What about the girls?" It's a question that's just starting to receive attention in a scandal that has mostly focused on young boys.

Pat Wingert and Barbara Kantrowitz tackle the issue in Newsweek, writing that previous conceptions of priest sexual abuse "seemed to suggest that this scenario ignored a whole segment of victims: young girls." In talking to experts, they found that girls were less likely to face abuse at the hands of priests — at least among reported cases, there were four male victims for every one female — but that it did happen. Girls were typically younger at the time of the abuse, but they were also more likely to be their abusers' only victim, and perpetrators who had just one victim were less likely to abuse for more than a year. Thus Wingert and Kantrowitz paint a picture of abuse of girls as a one-time event, in contrast to the serial abuse of boys that has become such a scandal. A Daily Dish reader echoes this portrayal, writing that "the abusers of females seem to have been less compelled to abuse multiple victims." The reader also draws another distinction between abusers of girls and abusers of boys:

[T]he really, really creepy thing about many of the abusive priests was that so many of them were such popular, charismatic figures within their parishes. They would "get" their victims by cozying up to the boys' families, creating bonds of affection with the mothers and fathers, taking the boys under their wings, going on camping trips, etc. Then they'd rape them, knowing that their very popularity would make it unlikely that anyone would believe some crazy kid's accusation about good Father So-and-So.

With the girls, again, not so much. The victimizers of girls appeared (to me) to be basically very lonely, socially misfit, heterosexual guys with absolutely no outlet for the sexual aspect of their personalities. [...] a lot of these guys were generally pretty shy and awkward around the opposite sex, and for some of them, an 11-year old girl was just an easier mark than an adult.
The message: abusers of boys were crafty villains, abusers of girls were misfit losers. The reader does add, "I don't mean for a moment to belittle the act that transpired - rape is rape, lives were destroyed, and it is unforgivable." However, the account does seem to back up what Barbara Dorris, national outreach director for Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) has found: that people think of priests' abuse of boys as worse than their abuse of girls. She tells Wingert and Kantrowitz, "In part because of sexism and homophobia, journalists, police, prosecutors, attorneys, and sometimes even parents feel even more outraged when a boy is sexually abused by a powerful man than when a girl is assaulted, and are thus more apt to take action, pursue charges, file lawsuits, and talk publicly." Church officials too, she thinks, are more likely to take action against abuse of boys, which is one reason it appears to be more common.

The Daily Dish reader thinks abuse of girls happens less because girls have less sustained contact with priests, and it's also possible that this lack of contact makes abuse of multiple female victims more difficult. However, the reader's comments do reveal an interesting dichotomy: the girl-abuser is sad, pathetic, and fuxxed-up, while the boy-abuser is evil. Might this idea permeate the Church, and might it stem at least in part from the idea that homosexuality is itself a sin, and that gay men are naturally predatory and depraved? One Slate commenter thinks so, writing, "[T]he reason they focus so closely on the male victims is that then the church can (very, very wrongly) claim that homosexuality, not pedophilia, is the true sin in this situation." But the true sin, of course, is abusing a position of trust to harm children — and this is no less wrong when the victim is female.

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Labels: Child sex abuse | Christian church | Religion and faith

Policy Alone Inadequate: Youth Advocate

Cambodian students from the Royal Cambodian Administration school in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. (Photo: AP)

Pich Samnang, VOA Khmer